Wine Spectator Glossary of Wine Terms – SarahSommelier WineStudy

A.O.C.: See Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.

Acetic Acid: All wines contain acetic acid, the active ingredient in vinegar, but usually the amount is quite small—from 0.03 percent to 0.06 percent—and not perceptible to smell or taste. Once table wines reach 0.07 percent or above, a sweet-sour vinegary smell and taste becomes evident. At low levels, acetic acid can enhance the character of a wine, but at higher levels (over 0.1 percent), it can become the dominant flavor and is considered a major flaw. A related substance, ethyl acetate, contributes a nail polish-like smell.

Acid: A compound present in all grapes and an essential component of wine that preserves it, enlivens and shapes its flavors and helps prolong its aftertaste. There are four major kinds of acids–tartaric, malic, lactic and citric–found in wine. Acid is identifiable by the crisp, sharp character it imparts to a wine.

Acidic: Used to describe wines whose total acid is so high that they taste tart or sour and have a sharp edge on the palate.

Acidification: The addition of acid to wine by a winemaker. The goal is to balance the wine’s soft components (sugar, alcohol and fruit). It is legal in some areas—such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Australia and California—to correct deficient acidity by adding acid. When overdone, acidity leads to unusually sharp, acidic wines. It is illegal in Bordeaux and Burgundy to both chaptalize (add sugar to) and acidify a wine.

Acidity: Identified as the crisp, sharp character in a wine. The acidity of a balanced dry table wine is in the range of 0.6 percent to 0.75 percent of the wine’s volume.

Acrid: Describes the harsh, bitter taste or pungent, nose-biting odor caused by excessive amounts of sulfur added during winemaking. When used properly, sulfur dioxide plays a beneficial role in winemaking; it kills unwanted organisms, protects wines from spoilage and cleans equipment.

Aeration: This process of encouraging a wine to absorb oxygen is also called breathing. Simply pulling the cork out of a bottle may not allow for sufficient air contact; decanting or even swirling the wine in a glass are preferred methods. The goal is to allow the wine to open up and develop, releasing its aromas into the air. Ten to 30 minutes of aeration can help open tight young red wines that are meant to age. Some wines can also develop off odors or a bottle stink that blows off with a few minutes of aeration. Since older (15-plus years) red wines are more delicate and can lose their fruit during aeration, aeration is not recommended; the wines can evolve quite quickly in the glass.

Aftertaste: The taste or flavors that linger in the mouth after the wine is tasted, spit or swallowed. The aftertaste or “finish” is the most important factor in judging a wine’s character and quality. Great wines have rich, long, complex aftertastes.

Ageworthy: Describes the small number of top wines that have sufficient flavor, acidity, alcohol and tannins to gain additional complexity with time in the bottle. Most popular wines are meant to be enjoyed shortly after release and will only diminish with age.

Aggressive: Unpleasantly harsh in taste or texture, usually due to a high level of tannin or acid.

Aging: Storage in barrels, tanks or bottles for a period of time allows wine components to knit together or harmonize and develop additional complexity, sometimes referred to as secondary and tertiary aromas and flavors.

Alberello: See Head-trained.

Alcohol: Ethyl alcohol, a chemical compound formed by the action of natural or added yeast on the sugar content of grapes during fermentation.

Alcohol by Volume: As required by law, wineries must state the alcohol level of a wine on its label. This is usually expressed as a numerical percentage of the volume. For table wines the law allows a 1.5 percent variation above or below the stated percentage as long as the alcohol does not exceed 14 percent. Thus, wineries may legally avoid revealing the actual alcohol content of their wines by labeling them as “table wine.”

Alcoholic: Used to describe a wine that has too much alcohol for its body and weight, making it unbalanced. A wine with too much alcohol will taste uncharacteristically heavy or hot as a result. This quality is noticeable in aroma and aftertaste.

Alcoholic Fermentation: Also called primary fermentation, this is the process in which yeasts metabolize grape sugars and produce alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat. The final product is wine.

Allier: A forest in France that produces oak used for wine barrels.

American Oak: An alternative to French oak for making barrels in which to age wine. Marked by strong vanilla, dill and cedar notes, it is used primarily for aging Cabernet, Merlot and Zinfandel, for which it is the preferred oak. It’s less desirable, although used occasionally, for Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. New American oak barrels can be purchased for about half the price of French oak barrels.

American Viticultural Area (AVA): A delimited, geographical grapegrowing area that has officially been given appellation status by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Two examples of AVAs are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley.

Amontillado: Amontillado is a category of Sherry which begins aging in the same manner as a fino Sherry, with a flor yeast cap to protect from oxidation and keep the wine fresh-tasting, but amontillado is then exposed to oxygen, allowing the wine to darken, becoming richer than a fino but still lighter than an oloroso.

Ampelography: The study of and identification of grape varieties.

Amphora: A ceramic vessel (typically made of earthenware such as clay or terra cotta and sometimes lined with wax or resin) used to make, age and store wine. For millennia, amphorae were the most popular vessels for storing wine; the earliest known examples date to around 6,000 B.C.

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer : The tracking number that appears on German wines indicating that the wine has passed a number of tests and meets all German legal requirements.

Ancestral Method: An inexpensive but risky and difficult-to-control method of producing sparkling wine, and almost certainly the oldest, in which the primary fermentation is stopped before completing, and a secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle, ending when the yeast cells deplete the supply of residual sugar. There is no dosage, or sugar addition, to kick-start the secondary fermentation, and the wine is not disgorged to remove any sediment or lees remaining afterward.

Anthocyanins: The pigments found in red grape skins that give red wine its color.

Appassimento: Italian term for drying harvested grapes, traditionally on bamboo racks or straw mats, for a few weeks up to several months to concentrate the sugars and flavors. This process is used in making Amarone, Recioto and Sforzato.

Appearance: Refers to a wine’s clarity, not color. Common descriptors refer to the reflective quality of the wine; brilliant, clear, dull or cloudy for those wines with visible suspended particulates.

Appellation: A named geographical area (may be as large as an entire region or as small as a vineyard) from which wine may be labeled and marketed as having come from. Regulations vary widely from country to country and appellation to appellation, but typically require that appellation-labeled wine be made entirely or mostly from grapes grown within the appellation’s boundaries. Some appellations also regulate which grape varieties are permitted, how they are grown and harvested and how the wine is made. Prominent examples of appellation certifications around the world include France’s Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), Italy’s Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) and the United States’ American Viticultural Area (AVA).

Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée: The French system of appellations, begun in the 1930s and considered the wine world’s prototype. To carry an appellation in this system, a wine must follow rules describing the area the grapes are grown in, the varieties used, the ripeness, the alcoholic strength, the vineyard yields and the methods used in growing the grapes and making the wine.

Appellation d’Origine Protégée: This is the European Union’s new designation, meant to replace the old Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée for recognition across the member states. It was officially adopted in January 2016.

Aroma: Aromas are smells, which originate with the grapes, in contrast to bouquet, which defines smells acquired during bottle-aging. In the process of sensory evaluation, purists also discriminate between wine’s aroma (smells sensed by sniffing the wine through the nose) and its flavor (smells sensed via the mouth).

Aromatic: Describes a wine with intense, often floral, aromas. Particularly aromatic varieties include Gewürztraminer, Muscat and Viognier.

Aspersion: The process of using water sprinklers to protect budding vines from late-spring frosts. The sprinklers are turned on just as temperatures dip below freezing, forming a protective barrier of ice that shields young vine buds from colder temperatures.

Assemblage: French term for blending various lots of wine before bottling, especially in Champagne.

Astringent: Describes wines that leave a coarse, rough, furry or drying sensation in the mouth. Astringency is usually attributed to high tannin levels found in some red wines (and a few whites). High tannin levels are frequently found in Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Aszú: Hungarian dessert wine classification for Tokaji made from individually picked, botrytized grapes.

Auslese: German classification based on the ripeness level and sugar content of the grapes. Auslesen are made from individually-selected bunches of very ripe grapes that have higher sugar concentrations than those selected for spätlesen, but lower than those selected for beerenauslesen. Auslesen are nearly always sweet wines but can be fermented in drier styles.

Austere: Used to describe relatively hard, high-acid wines that lack depth and roundness. Usually said of young wines that need time to soften, or wines that lack richness and body.

Autolysis: A chemical reaction between the wine and the lees by which enzymes break down the dead yeast cells, producing amino acids and releasing proteins and carbohydrates into the wine. It imparts characteristics in a wine such as richness and creaminess as well as aromas of bread dough, toast or brioche. It is a key element of the traditional method of making sparkling wine, such as Champagne.

Awkward: Describes a wine that has poor structure, is clumsy or is out of balance.

Azienda: Italian term for Estate.

Bacchus: Roman god of wine.

Backbone: Describes the structure of a wine, referring to balanced acidity, alcohol and, in red wines, tannin. Wines lacking structure are thin or flabby.

Backward: Describes a young wine that is less developed than others of its type and class from the same vintage.

Balance: A wine is balanced when its elements are harmonious and no single element dominates. The “hard” components—acidity and tannins—balance the “soft” components—sweetness, fruit and alcohol.

Balthazar: A large-format bottle that holds the equivalent of 12 to 16 standard bottles.

Barbaresco: Nebbiolo-based red wine made in Italy’s Piedmont region.

Barolo: One of Italy’s most important wines, Barolo is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo grapes in Piedmont.

Barrel Aged: Denotes a wine that has spent a period of time in barrels before bottling. This affects wine in numerous ways—the flavors in newly blended wines knit together, tannins in red wines soften and white wines become richer and more full-bodied. Aging in new oak barrels (barrels used for the first few times) can add aromas and flavors of vanilla, spice and smoke.

Barrel Fermented: Denotes wine that has been fermented in small casks (usually 55-gallon oak barrels) instead of larger tanks. Advocates believe that barrel fermentation contributes greater harmony between the oak and the wine, increases body and adds complexity, texture and flavor to certain wine types. Its liabilities are that more labor is required and greater risks are involved. It is mainly used for whites.

Barrel Making: After the wood for a barrel is cut and dried, the cooper heats the wood while shaping it into a barrel. Steam, natural gas, boiling water, the burning of oak chips or some combination of these is used in the three-part heating process. The first application of heat (the warming stage) is called chauffage, the bending of the wooden staves into a barrel shape is called cintrage and, finally, the toasting of the wood for flavor is called bousinage.

Barrique: French term for small oak barrel.

Bâtonnage: French term for stirring the lees during the aging and maturation of wine.

Baumé: A measurement of the dissolved solids in grape juice that indicates the grapes’ sugar level and ripeness and therefore the potential alcohol in the wine. Commonly used by winemakers in France and Australia. Other sugar measurement scales include Oechsle and Brix.

Bead: The stream of tiny bubbles found in sparkling wines; a small, persistent bead is an indicator of quality.

Beans: Small bean-shaped pieces of wood added to wine during winemaking to impart oak flavors. Less expensive than oak barrels, beans are used primarily in inexpensive wines. They are rounder in shape and thought to add fewer harsh flavors than oak chips.

Beerenauslese (BA): German classification based on the ripeness level and sugar content of the grapes. Beerenauslesen are made from individually selected grapes that are very ripe. Usually these grapes have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, further concentrating their high sugars. These wines are rare and costly.

Bentonite: A clay compound used in the fining process of white wines. The clay binds with solids that might otherwise cause a white wine to become cloudy, removing them from the wine, although some molecules that would contribute to the wine’s flavor profile are also removed in the process.

Berry: This term has two meanings. An individual grape is called a berry by grapegrowers. It also describes the set of fruit flavors found in many wines, which includes strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, etc.

Bin Number: A term sometimes used to designate special wines, but often applied to ordinary wines to identify a separate lot or brand.

Biodynamic: A farming strategy that combines principles of organic farming and concepts developed by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher. Some of these include the use of manure and compost as a substitute for artificial chemicals; incorporating livestock into plant care; and the following of an astronomical planting calendar.

Bite: A marked degree of acidity or tannins. An acid grip on the finish should be more like a zestful tang, and is in general prized only in richer, fuller-bodied wines.

Bitter: Describes one of the four basic tastes (along with sour, salty and sweet). Some grapes—notably Gewürztraminer and Muscat—often have a noticeable bitter edge to their flavors. Bitterness can also be imparted by the use of underripe or green stems during the fermentation and aging processes. If the bitter quality dominates the wine’s flavor or aftertaste, it is considered a fault. In sweet wines a trace of bitterness may complement the flavors. In young red wines it can be a warning signal, as bitterness doesn’t always dissipate with age. Normally, a fine, mature wine should not be bitter on the palate.

Black Grapes: Another term for red grapes. Also, in medieval times, used specifically in reference to Malbec in Bordeaux and Cahors in France.

Blanc de Blancs: “White from whites,” meaning a white wine made entirely of white grapes, such as Champagne made only of Chardonnay instead of a mix of white and red grape varieties.

Blanc de Noirs: “White from blacks,” meaning a white wine made of red or black grapes, where the juice is squeezed from the grapes and fermented without skin contact. The wines can have a pale pink hue. This term is used for Champagne that is made entirely from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier instead of a mix of both red and white grape varieties.

Blending: Wines are blended for many reasons. To make a more harmonious or complex wine, wines with complementary attributes may be blended. For example, a wine with low acidity may be blended with a high-acid wine or a wine with earthy flavors may be blended with a fruity wine. To create a uniform wine from many small batches is another goal, since grapes from different vineyards, stages of the harvest and pressings are frequently vinified separately and the small batches differ slightly. Red Bordeaux offers a prime example; five different grapes may be used, each contributing its own nuances to the blend.

Blind Tasting: The act of tasting without knowing certain information about the wine. There are two main types of bling tasting: single blind and double blind. Single blind is how editors at Wine Spectator conduct their official reviews, by “blinding” the producer and price of a wine (the region, varietal(s) and vintage are known), in order to ensure full objectivity. Double blind indicates that none of the wine’s characteristics are known.

Blunt: Strong in flavor and often alcoholic, but lacking in aromatic interest and development on the palate.

Blush: Also known as rosé, this term describes a pink or salmon-colored wine made from red grapes. The wine may be dry or sweet.

Bodega: Spanish term for Estate.

Body: The impression of weight, fullness or thickness on the palate; usually the result of a combination of alcohol, sugar, dissolved solids (including sugars, phenolics, minerals and acids) and, to a lesser extent, glycerin. Common descriptors include light-bodied, medium-bodied and full-bodied. For example, skim milk could be considered “light-bodied,” whole milk “medium-bodied” and cream “full-bodied.” Although a fuller-bodied wine makes a bigger impression in the mouth, it is not necessarily higher in quality than a lighter-bodied wine.

Botrytis Cinerea: Also known as “noble rot,” it is a beneficial mold that grows on ripe wine grapes in the vineyard under specific climatic conditions. The mold dehydrates the grapes, leaving them shriveled and raisinlike and concentrates the sugars and flavors. Wines made from these berries have a rich, complex, honeyed character and are often high in residual sugar. Botrytis contributes the unique, concentrated flavors in such wines as BA and TBA Rieslings from Germany, Sauternes from Bordeaux, Aszú from Hungary’s Tokay district and an assortment of late-harvest wines from other regions.

Bottle Aging: A period of time spent in bottle prior to release and/or consumption; a small percentage of wines gain complexity and bouquet during extended bottle aging. The vast majority of wines produced are meant to be consumed shortly after release.

Bottle Shapes: Although a standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters, or 25.4 ounces, wine bottles vary in shape, depending on regional, cultural and marketing considerations. The basic shapes identify wines by type in most parts of the world. Bordeaux-style wines (red wines made of blends relying on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc; whites made of Sauvignon Blanc and/or Sémillon) are put in Bordeaux-style bottles with straight sides and high shoulders. Burgundy’s traditional varieties (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) go into slope-shouldered Burgundy-style bottles. Aromatic wines (such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer) usually go into tall, narrow German-style bottles and sparkling wines go into thick, heavy Champagne bottles with deep punts designed to withstand the gas pressure inside.

Bottle Shock: A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile, older wines) are shaken in travel; a few days of rest is the cure.

Bottle Sickness: A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile, older wines) are shaken in travel. A few days of rest is the cure.

Bottled By: Means the wine could have been purchased ready-made and simply bottled by the brand owner, or made under contract by another winery. When the label reads “produced and bottled by” or “made and bottled by” it means the winery produced the wine from start to finish.

Bottling: Putting wine into bottle is an automated process. The bottle is washed, dried and then filled with wine. Before the cork is inserted, a puff of inert gas displaces any oxygen remaining in the bottle to prevent spoilage.

Bouquet: The smell that a wine develops after it has been bottled and aged. Most appropriate for mature wines that have developed complex flavors beyond basic young fruit and oak aromas.

Box wine: Wine sold in a cardboard box, as an alternative packaging to glass bottles. More accurately referred to as bag-in-box wines, the wine is packaged in a plastic bladder fitted with a spout and contained by a cardboard box. Another category of box wines is packaged in aseptic foil-and-paper containers called Tetra Paks.

Brawny: Describes wines that are hard, intense and tannic with raw, woody flavors. The opposite of elegant.

Breathe: See Aeration.

Brettanomyces (Brett): A spoilage yeast that can cause what are commonly described as barnyard aromas and flavors in a wine. Some people feel that, in small amounts, it can add a pleasant spicy, leathery component or complexity to a wine. Others feel that it is a flaw in any amount. Sensory thresholds and tolerance of brett vary.

Briary: Describes young wines with an earthy or stemmy wild berry character.

Bright: Used for fresh, ripe, zesty, lively young wines with vivid, focused flavors.

Brilliant: Describes the appearance of very clear wines with absolutely no visible suspended or particulate matter. Not always a plus, as it can indicate a highly filtered wine from which many of the components that contribute flavor have been stripped.

Brix: A measurement of the sugar content of grapes, must and wine, indicating the degree of the grapes’ ripeness (meaning sugar level) at harvest. Most table-wine grapes are harvested at between 21 and 25 Brix. To get an alcohol conversion level, multiply the stated Brix by .55.

Browning: Describes a wine’s color, and is a sign that a wine is mature and may be faded. A bad sign in young red (or white) wines, but less significant in older wines. Wines 20 to 30 years old may have a brownish edge yet still be enjoyable.

Brut: A general term used to designate a relatively dry-finished Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Brut (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 0 to 12 g/l of residual sugar.

Brut Nature: The driest Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Brut Nature (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 0 to 3 g/l of residual sugar.

Brut Zero: See Brut Nature.

Budbreak: Refers to the start of the new growing season, when tender green buds emerge in early spring’s warm temperatures; typically March in the Northern Hemisphere and September in the Southern Hemisphere. The vines are especially vulnerable to frost at this stage.

Bung: The rubber, glass or plastic stopper that can be placed into a barrel’s bung hole, similar to a cork placed in a wine bottle. Barrels are usually filled through the bung hole.

Burnt: Describes wines that have an overdone, smoky, toasty or singed edge. Also used to describe overripe grapes.

Buttery: Indicates the smell of melted butter or toasty oak. Also a reference to texture, as in “a rich, buttery Chardonnay.”

By-the-Glass: Refers to the section of a restaurant’s wine list that offers wines by the glass as opposed to by the bottle. Convenient for small parties and/or moderate drinking, these selections tend to have higher mark-ups.

Cane: A branch of a vine.

Canopy: The green foliage of a grapevine is called the canopy. The canopy can be trimmed or thinned to manage the amount of air and sun reaching the fruit, improving fruit quality, increasing yield and controlling disease.

Cap : The thick layer of skins, stems and seeds that forms at the surface of fermenting red wine. Cap management, or breaking up the cap to increase contact between the skins and the liquid, is important since red wines extract color and flavor from the skins.

Capsule: The metal or plastic protective coating that surrounds the top of the cork and the bottle. Before pulling out the cork, at least the top portion should be removed to expose the cork and the lip of the bottle.

Carbonic Maceration: Most frequently associated with Beaujolais, this is a method of producing light-bodied, fresh and fruity red wines. Instead of crushing the grapes and releasing the juices to be fermented by yeasts, whole grape bunches are placed in a tank and the oxygen is displaced by carbon dioxide. Fermentation starts on an intracellular level inside the berry, producing some alcohol as well as fruity aromatics. In practice, the weight of the grapes on the top crushes the grapes on the bottom and yeasts ferment the juice; the wine is partly a product of carbonic maceration and partly of traditional yeast fermentation.

Carboy: Sometimes referred to as a “demijohn,” a carboy is a nonreactive vessel, usually glass or plastic, used to ferment alcoholic beverages. Due to their relatively small size (typically ranging from 20 to 60 liters) and portability, they are most popularly used in home winemaking, but are also employed by commercial winemakers for experimental lots or test batches.

Casa: Spanish for house. In wine terms, synonymous with “bodega.”

Case: A case of wine in the United States typically contains 9 liters or 12 standard 750ml bottles of wine. The size of wineries is most frequently measured in the number of cases produced annually.

Casein: A dairy-based protein used in the fining process. Casein is particularly effective at clarifying cloudy or off-colored white wines.

Cask Number: A term sometimes used to designate special wines, as in Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, but often applied to ordinary wines to identify a separate lot or brand. Synonymous with bin number.

Cava: Spanish term for sparkling wine made using the traditional méthode Champenoise.

Cave: French term for wine cellar.

Cedary: Denotes the smell of cedar wood associated with mature Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet blends aged in French or American oak.

Cellar: The room in a winery where wine is made or stored. Can also refer to a personal wine collection in a residence.

Cellared By: Means the wine was not produced at the winery where it was bottled. It usually indicates that the wine was purchased from another source.

Cépage: French term for grape variety.

Chai: French term for wine cellar.

Chaptalization: The addition of sugar to juice before and/or during fermentation, used to boost sugar levels in underripe grapes and alcohol levels in the subsequent wines. Common in northern European countries, where the cold climates may keep grapes from ripening, but forbidden in southern Europe (including southern France and all of Italy) and California.

Charmat: A less expensive, mass-production method for producing bulk quantities of sparkling wine. The second fermentation takes place in a pressurized tank, rather than in a bottle, decreasing lees contact and producing larger, coarser bubbles. The wine is filtered under pressure and bottled. Also known as the bulk process or tank method. Wines made this way cannot be labeled méthode Champenoise.

Château: French term for “castle.” In the wine world, it translates loosely as “estate.” However, in France, the term is protected.

Chef de Cave: French term for cellarmaster or head winemaker.

Chewy: Describes highly extracted, full-bodied and tannic wines that are so rich they seem as if they should be chewed, rather than simply swallowed.

Cigar Box: Aroma frequently associated with mature Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet blends, this descriptor refers to the cedary and tobacco leaf scents associated with cigar boxes.

Claret: The British term for red wines from Bordeaux. Originally the wines were quite pale or nearly clear in color, giving rise to the term clairet.

Clarity: Referring to the amount of suspended particulate matter in a wine, clarity is described in terms of the wine’s reflective quality; brilliant, clear, dull or hazy. A pronounced haziness may signify spoilage, while brilliant, clear or dull wines are generally sound.

Classified Growth: Included in Bordeaux’s 1855 Classification, which ranked châteaus from first-growth to fifth-growth. The original classification was set by the prices that the wines fetched and was intended to be synonymous with quality.

Clean: Fresh on the palate and free of any off-taste.

Climat: French term for a vineyard site defined by its micro-climate and various other aspects of terroir. The term is most commonly associated with Burgundy.

Climate: The long-term weather pattern—including temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine—in a specific region. In contrast, weather is associated with a specific event, such as a hailstorm.

Clonal Selection: Vineyard management term for a technique by which dead or under-performing vines are replaced with new vines grown from a single superior vine, or mother vine.

Clone: A group of vines originating from a single, individual plant propagated asexually from a single source. Clones are selected for the unique qualities of the grapes and wines they yield, such as flavor, productivity and adaptability to growing conditions.

Clos: A French term used to describe a walled vineyard, such as Clos du Vougeot in Burgundy.

Closed: Describes wines that are concentrated and have character, yet are shy in aroma or flavor. Closed wines may open up to reveal more flavors and aromas with aging or aeration.

Cloudiness: Lack of clarity to the eye. Fine for old wines with sediment, but it can be a warning signal of protein instability, yeast spoilage or re-fermentation in the bottle in younger wines. Cloudiness may also represent a deliberate choice by the winemaker not to filter a wine.

Cloying: Describes ultra-sweet or sugary wines that lack the balance provided by acid, alcohol, bitterness or intense flavor.

Cluster: A grape bunch.

Coarse: Usually refers to texture, and in particular, excessive tannin or oak. Also used to describe harsh bubbles in sparkling wines.

Col Fondo: Sparkling wine production method for traditional Prosecco, in which the spent yeast cells, or lees, left over from the secondary fermentation are not disgorged.

Cold Stabilization: A clarification technique that can prevent the formation of crystals in wine bottles. Prior to bottling, the wine’s temperature is lowered to approximately 30° F for two weeks, causing the tartrates and other solids to precipitate out of solution. The wine is then easily racked off (separated from) the solids.

Colheita: Portuguese term for “vintage.”

Commune: French term for village.

Complexity: An element in all great wines and many very good ones; a combination of richness, depth, flavor intensity, focus, balance, harmony and finesse.

Composite cork: Also known as an agglomerated cork. A wine bottle stopper made of particles or granules of natural cork pressed together and bound by an FDA–approved glue.

Cooked: Describes a dull, stewed flavor associated with wines adversely affected by excessive heat during shipping or storage.

Cooper: A wine barrel maker.

Cooperage: The facility where wine barrels are made.

Cooperative: A wine company that is owned and managed by a group of vineyard owners who bottle their wine under one label, sharing the profits. Wine cooperatives are typically associated with cheaper, often bulk, wine.

Coravin: An appliance that allows wine to be removed from an unopened bottle of wine via a hollow needle.

Cordon-trained: Refers to a method of vine training. Cordon-trained vines are supported by a trellising system; typically one or two cordons, or branches, are trained horizontally out of the main trunk.

Corkage Fee: The fee charged by restaurants when guests bring their own bottle of wine rather than ordering from the wine list.

Corked: Describes a wine having the off-putting, musty, moldy-newspaper flavor and aroma and dry aftertaste caused by a tainted cork.

Cosecha: Spanish term for “vintage.”

Coulure: Also known as “shatter.” During flowering in the spring, wind and rain as well as chemical deficiencies can keep grapevine flowers from being properly fertilized, causing these flowers to drop off the cluster. This dropping of flowers is called coulure. Since each flower is responsible for a grape, the cluster of grapes that eventually forms is loose and missing grapes. If the improperly fertilized flower stays attached, it produces a puny, seedless grape called a “shot” grape. Although the yield is reduced, there is a corresponding benefit—loose clusters that allow for increased air circulation are less susceptible to rot in humid conditions.

Crianza: One of Spain’s quality classifications, it requires that reds are aged for two years, with at least a year in wood, and whites a total of six months.

Crisp: Describes a wine with moderately high acidity; refreshing and bright with a clean finish.

Cru : A French term, “cru” generally refers to a vineyard or group of vineyards that have similar characteristics.

Cru (French): The term “cru” is officially codified in some old world countries and regions. In Bordeaux, the highest quality wines are called Premiers Crus and in Burgundy, Grands Crus.

Cru (Other): In other countries like Italy, “cru” can simply refer to a single-vineyard bottling that may or may not be classified.

Cru Beaujolais: Wines from the ten subregions—Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly—as opposed to the regional Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages AOCs. They are typically better in quality.

Crush: Harvest season when the grapes are picked and crushed.

Cuvée: A blend or special lot of wine.

D.A.C.: See Districtus Austriae Controllatus.

Decanting : A technique that removes sediment from wine before drinking. After allowing the sediment to settle by standing the bottle upright for the day, the wine is poured slowly and carefully into another container, leaving the sediment in the original bottle.

Dégorgement: See Disgorgment.

Degree Days: A method of classifying the climate based on the number of days the temperature is within a range that vines can grow. In California, climates are rated from coolest (Region I) to the warmest (Region V). This classification can help winemakers determine where to plant which variety.

Délestage: French term for racking and returning a wine back to the tank. Wine is pumped out of the fermenting tank and back over the cap to facilitate extraction of color and flavor.

Delicate: Used to describe light- to medium-weight wines with good flavors. A desirable quality in wines such as Pinot Noir or Riesling.

Demeter: A non-profit organization that promotes and certifies biodynamic farming.

Demi-Muid: A French term for 600-liter capacity oak barrels, typically used in the Rhône Valley.

Demi-Sec: Designates a medium-sweet wine, though the term—which translates literally to half-dry—is potentially confusing. Most often used for Champagne or other sparkling wines, the term also appears on semi-sweet wines from the Loire Valley and other French regions.

Demi-Sec (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 32 to 50 g/l of residual sugar. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Demijohn: See Carboy.

Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.): One of Spain’s regulatory classification systems, created in the early 1990s, and the highest given to a wine region. Rioja and Priorat are the only two Spanish wine regions to have earned the D.O.Ca.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C.) : The Italian system for defining wine regions and wine names. In addition, the D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) covers regions willing to submit their wines to tougher requirements, including tasting approval.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (D.O.C.G.) : The Italian system for defining wine regions and wine names. D.O.C.G. wines are submitted to tougher requirements than those labeled D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), including tasting approval.

Dense: Describes a wine that has concentrated aromas on the nose and palate. A good sign in young wines.

Depth: Describes the complexity and concentration of flavors in a wine, as in a wine with excellent or uncommon depth. Opposite of shallow.

Destemming: The process of removing the grape berries from the stems once the grapes have been harvested and brought into the winery. The goal is to minimize the amount of astringent tannins that stems can add to wine.

Desuckering: The removal of young, non-fruit-bearing shoots from a vine.

Deutscher Tafelwein: A wine classification within Germany’s lowest level of wines, Tafelwein; indicates that the grapes were grown in Germany.

Devatting: Also known as délestage, the oxidative winemaking process in which, after the cap of grape musts, skins, seeds and stems forms on the top of a vat of fermenting wine, the wine is drained through a valve at the base of the tank into another vat and reserved while the remaining solids are allowed to drain for a few hours. The reserved wine is then pumped back into the original tank over the top of the drained skins, seeds and stems. Like punch downs and pump overs, the purpose of devatting is to increase the extraction of color, flavor, tannins and aromas from the solids, as well as aerate the fermenting wine.

Developing: Refers to a wine that is starting to show signs of age in flavor, aroma or color.

Dirty: Covers any and all foul, rank, off-putting smells that can occur in a wine, including those caused by bad barrels or corks. A sign of poor winemaking.

Disgorgement: When making sparkling wine, this technique is used to remove frozen sediment remaining in the bottle after the second fermentation. Through the riddling process, the sediment settles in the bottle neck and the neck is then dipped into a brine solution and frozen. Working quickly, the bottle is turned upright and the crown cap removed. The plug of frozen sediment is ejected by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. Also known as Dégorgement.

Disjointed: Describes wine with components that are not well-knit, harmonious or balanced. The timing of the components may be off; upon tasting, a disjointed wine might first reveal big fruit, followed by a blast of screeching acidity and finishing off with a dose of tannins.

Districtus Austriae Controllatus: The Austrian system of appellations, established in the early 2000s and modeled after France’s Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée. To carry an appellation in this system, a wine must follow rules describing the area the grapes are grown in, the varieties used, the ripeness, the alcoholic strength, the vineyard yields and the methods used in growing the grapes and making the wine.

Diurnal Temperature Shifts: The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, which can affect the speed of ripening and grape quality. Shifts can be considerable; parts of Napa Valley regularly experience a 40-degree difference.

Dolce: Italian term for “sweet.”

Dosage: In bottle-fermented sparkling wines, a small amount of wine (usually mixed with sugar) that is added back to the bottle once the yeast sediment that collects in the neck of the bottle is disgorged. Also known as liqueur d’expedition.

Double Blind: See Blind Tasting.

Doux: Designates a sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Doux (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields more than 50 g/l of residual sugar.

Drip Irrigation: An irrigation process associated with grapegrowing. Hoses with individual spouts for each vine deliver precise amounts of water, drop by drop. This saves water and allows grapegrowers to carefully control the water vines receive in dry areas.

Dry: Having no perceptible taste of sugar. Most wine tasters begin to perceive sugar at levels of 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent.

Dry (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 17 to 32 g/l of residual sugar.

Dry (Sparkling): A misleading term, which designates a fairly sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Dry Farming: Agricultural technique that prohibits irrigation; it is mandatory in some wine regions—and in most of Europe—and strongly encouraged in other drought-susceptible areas, such as California’s Paso Robles, Sierra Foothills and Santa Barbara County.

Drying Out: Losing fruit (or sweetness in sweet wines) to the extent that acid, alcohol or tannin dominate the taste. At this stage the wine will not improve.

Dumb: Describes a phase young wines undergo when their flavors and aromas are undeveloped.

Early Harvest: Denotes a wine made from early-harvested grapes, usually lower than average in alcoholic content or sweetness.

Earthy: Describes wines with aromas or flavors of soil or earth. In small amounts the aromas or flavors can add complexity and be positive characteristics, but become negative as the intensity increases. Frequently associated with Pinot Noir.

Ébourgeonnage: French term for debudding vines. This is performed early in the growing season as part of yield control and canopy management.

Éclaircissage: French term for green harvest, or crop thinning. Grape bunches are removed to improve air flow through the canopy, facilitate the ripening of the remaining bunches and reduce the crop yield.

Edelfäule: German term for Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot.

Eiswein: Wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. Since only the water in the grapes freezes, the super-concentrated grape pulp produces a wine that is very sweet and often high in acidity. Eiswein is an official German classification; such wines from other regions are called ice wine.

Elegant: Describes balanced, harmonious, refined wines; subtle rather than a highly-extracted blockbuster.

Élevage: French term for the progression of wine between fermentation and bottling. Comparable to the term “raising” in English; think of élevage as a wine’s adolescence or education. The raw fermented juice is shaped during this period into something resembling its final form, through techniques such as barrel aging, filtering and fining. Good winemaking decisions during élevage can help the juice achieve its full potential; bad decisions can leave it flawed.

Empty: Similar to hollow; devoid of flavor and interest.

En Primeur: Also known as “futures” in the American market, en primeur sales typically refer to Bordeaux, but not exclusively. The en primeur offerings are a winery’s first offer of a particular vintage, when the initial price is set, and offers buyers the opportunity to purchase wines before they are released.

Enologist: A scientist involved with winemaking.

Enology: The science and study of winemaking. Also spelled oenology.

Enophile: A lover of all things vinous.

Estate: A property of land which may include vineyards. See also Estate-Bottled.

Estate-Bottled: A term once used by producers for those wines made from vineyards that they owned and that were contiguous to the winery “estate.” Today it indicates the winery either owns the vineyard or has a long-term lease to purchase the grapes.

Esters: The fragrant chemical compounds responsible for the aromas and flavors found in food and wine.

Eszencia: Hungarian dessert wine classification for Tokaji made from the free-run juice of individually picked, botrytized aszú berries.

Ethyl Acetate: A sweet, vinegary smell that often accompanies acetic acid. It exists to some extent in all wines and in small doses can be a plus. When it is strong and smells like nail polish, it’s a defect.

Extra Brut: A dry Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Extra Brut (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 0 to 6 g/l of residual sugar.

Extra-Dry: A misleading term, which designates a relatively sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.

Extra-Dry (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 12 to 17 g/l of residual sugar.

Extra-Sec: See Extra-Dry.

Extract: Richness, depth and concentration of fruit flavors in a wine. Usually a positive quality, extract adds to wine’s body, yet highly extracted wine can also be very tannic. To calculate extract levels, some winemakers measure the dry residue remaining after the wine is boiled off.

Extraction: The process by which pigment, tannins and flavor and aromatic compounds contained in grape skins are dissolved into wine. Extraction is most commonly achieved through maceration (soaking the skins of the crushed grapes in the wine after fermentation), during which alcohol helps dissolve flavor, aroma and especially tannin molecules—as with a steeping tea bag, the longer and warmer the maceration, the greater the degree of extraction. During fermentation, punching down the cap (floating layer of skins, seeds and stems) and pumping liquid from the bottom of the tank over the cap (pump-over) are other methods of extraction. For reds made in lighter-bodied styles such as Pinot Noir, a pre-fermentation cold soak of the skins in the grape juice can extract water-soluble flavor and pigment molecules while limiting the amount of more alcohol-soluble tannins released into the wine.

Fading: Describes a wine that is losing color, fruit or flavor, usually as a result of age.

Fat: Full-bodied, high alcohol wines low in acidity give a “fat” impression on the palate. Can be a plus with bold, ripe, rich flavors; can also suggest the wine’s structure is suspect.

Federspiel: The middle category in the ripeness classification of white wines in Austria’s Wachau Valley. Federspiel-designated wines are made from medium-ripe grapes, and have mandated alcohol levels between 11.5 and 12.5 percent.

Feinherb: Unregulated German term for wines that are off-dry. Feinherb is often used in place of the less popular designation halbtrocken, as well as for wines that are slightly sweeter than regulations dictate for halbtrockens.

Feminine: Describes wines with qualities such as smoothness, roundness, gentleness, finesse, elegance and delicacy. Usage of “feminine” is in decline in favor of these more specific terms.

Fermentation: The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; turns grape juice into wine.

Fiasco: A fiasco is a rounded, bottom-heavy glass wine bottle partly covered with a straw basket at its base. It is traditionally used for the wines of Chianti in Tuscany, Italy.

Field Blend: When a vineyard is planted to several different varieties and the grapes are harvested together to produce a single wine, the wine is called a field blend.

Fifth-Growth: See Classified Growth.

Fighting Varietal: This term was coined in the 1980s to describe a new category of wines, labeled as varietals but priced nearly as inexpensively as generics (e.g., “Mountain Chablis” or “Hearty Burgundy”). Glen Ellen was one of the first to sell good quality Chardonnay and Cabernet for $4 to $6 per bottle. Since then, the category has expanded; it includes varietals such as Merlot, producers from regions as far-flung as Chile, Australia and the south of France, and prices up to nearly $10 per bottle. But the concept is the same: a varietal wine of good quality at an everyday price.

Fill Level: The amount of wine in a bottle is gauged by its height in the bottle. Common descriptors are good fill, high shoulder (the wine level is even with the sloping part of the bottle just below the neck), or low shoulder. Important since fill level is an indicator of the wine’s condition and whether it has been properly stored. The air space in the bottle, called ullage, can cause harmful oxidation.

Filtering: Pumping wine through a screen or pad to remove leftover grape and fermentation particles. Most wines are filtered for both clarity and stability, although some winemakers believe that flavors and complexity may also be stripped from the wine.

Fining: A technique for clarifying wine using agents such as bentonite (powdered clay), isinglass (fish bladder), casein (milk protein), gelatin or egg whites, which combine with sediment particles and cause them to settle to the bottom, where they can be easily removed.

Finish: One key to judging a wine’s quality is finish—a measure of the taste or flavors that linger in the mouth after the wine is tasted. Great wines have rich, long, complex finishes.

Fino: Fino is the driest classification of Sherry wines. The freshest and palest category of Sherry, finos are protected from oxygenation by a cap of flor yeast while aging in barrel.

First-Growth: See Classified Growth. They are: Château Haut-Brion, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux and Château Mouton-Rothschild.

Flabby: Describes a wine that is unbalanced due to insufficient acidity, lacking backbone.

Flat: Describes a wine that is dull in flavor and unbalanced due to insufficient acidity. Can also refer to a sparkling wine that has lost its bubbles.

Fleshy: Describing a wine with good extract and a smooth texture. The sensation of drinking the wine recalls biting into ripe, fleshy fruit such as a plum.

Flight: A set of wines that are compared and contrasted with one another. A single flight can include as few as two wines, but three to six wines are common.

Flinty: A descriptor for extremely dry white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, whose bouquet can be reminiscent of flint struck against steel.

Flor: Flor is the Spanish term for a cap of yeast that forms over Sherry wine as it ages in barrel, protecting the wine from oxidation.

Floral (also Flowery): Literally, having the characteristic aromas of flowers. Mostly associated with white wines.

Flowering: The emergence of tiny blossoms on grapevines in late spring. An important time of year, since spring rains and winds can disrupt flowering, reducing the potential crop.

Foot trodding: Traditional method by which grapes are crushed by foot. In Portugal, the only major winegrowing country in which foot trodding is still a common method for making high-end wines, foot trodding takes place in large, open vats or troughs known as lagares.

Fortified: Denotes a wine whose alcohol content has been increased by the addition of brandy or neutral spirits.

Foudre: A large wooden vat, popular in France’s Rhône Valley, significantly larger than typical oak barrels, often with the capacity to hold more than a thousand liters of wine.

Fourth-Growth: See Classified Growth.

Foxy: A term used to describe the unique musky and grapey character of many native American labrusca grape varieties.

Free-Run Juice: The juice released by a pile of grapes as their skins split under their own weight, before they are mechanically pressed. With white wines, this initial juice is considered to be the highest quality since it has the least amount of contact with bitter elements in the pips, skins and stems.

French Oak: The traditional wood for wine barrels, which supplies vanilla, cedar and sometimes butterscotch flavors. Used for red and white wines. Much more expensive than American oak, new French oak barrels can cost twice as much as new American barrels.

French Paradox: Despite a high-fat diet, the French have low rates of coronary heart disease. An explanation may be found in scientific evidence that points to the benefits of moderate wine consumption.

Fresh: Having a lively, clean and fruity character. An essential for young wines.

Frizzante: Italian term for sparkling wines with lighter effervescence and fewer bubbles than found in ordinary sparkling wines. Not a fault, it is a stylistic choice in many Italian sparklers.

Frost: Subfreezing temperatures, which can damage or kill vines, are especially harmful in the early spring after budbreak. Heaters known as smudge pots, wind machines that keep cold air from settling in the vineyard and aspersion (using water sprinklers to form a protective barrier of ice around young vine buds) may be used when frosts are forecast. In the winter, before budbreak, a moderate frost can be a blessing; it hardens the vine’s wood and also kills spores and pests living under the bark.

Fruit Set: In late spring or early summer, fertilized flowers swell into tiny bunches of grapes.

Fruity: Having the aroma and taste of fruit or fruits.

Full-Bodied: A rich, extracted wine with a mouthfilling sensation of weight or mass.

Fût de chêne: French term for oak barrel.

Futures: A wine sold to consumers several months, sometimes years, before its release. The initial futures offering is touted as a lower price than will be offered when the wine officially hits the market. The practice is most commonly associated with Bordeaux’s annual en primeur campaign.