Wine Glossary
Aroma: Most people like to smell their wine before enjoying it. The smell of the wine helps to determine the taste experience that potentially awaits.
Balance: The balance of the wine is tantamount to enjoyment. Since a mature wine is comprised of various blended flavors, a more balanced wine ensures no one taste is too overbearing.
Balance: The balance of the wine is tantamount to enjoyment. Since a mature wine is comprised of various blended flavors, a more balanced wine ensures no one taste is too overbearing.
Body: This refers to how a wine feels in your mouth. A full-bodied wine will be heavier and robust while a lesser-bodied wine will be smoother and fainter.
Bouquet: The smell of a wine.
Cellar: The recommended storage place for wine, where controlled temperatures and low-lighting work to preserve and enhance a wine's flavor.
Color: The color of wine offers hints about a wine's development. Deeper colors relay the maturity and length of the winemaking process. The deeper and richer the color, the higher the likelihood is of a quality product.
Cork: A wine bottle's stopper. Wine should be kept at an angle to ensure a moist cork, which prevents air from contaminating the bottle.
Color: The color of wine offer hints about a wine's development. Deeper colors relay the maturity and length of the winemaking process. The deeper and richer the color, the higher the likelihood is of a quality product.
Decanter: A glass or crystal container that assists in separating the wine from harmful sediment.
Dryness: The counterpoint of sweetness in wine lingo. If a wine is dry, it is likely to have an earthier taste and not be as sweet.
Fermentation: The process in which a grape turns into wine.
Finish: The taste of wine has beginning notes, middle notes, and a finish. The finish of a wine is the final, lasting taste intended by the winemakers.
Oak: The wood that is most commonly used to make the barrels that many wines ferment in. Barrel aging can be a years long process where the wine matures. Many drinkers commonly associate barrel-aged wines with an oaky finish.
Proof: The method of which alcohol content is expressed in a wine.
Reserve: Typically a signal of quality from a wine vineyard. If a bottle states its part of a "reserve collection," it's of a higher quality than their regular production or output.
Sediment: The remnants of the winemaking process. Sediment is tiny parts of a barrel, tank or cork that collect themselves and formulate within a wine after it's been bottled. Decanting is recommended to remove sediment before drinking, giving the wine its true, uninterrupted taste.
Spice: Many wines contain hints of various spices. Notes of cinnamon or black pepper are typical in many of today's popular reds.
Sweetness: The opposite of a dry wine. A balanced wine will have equal notes of sweet and dry. The sweetness of a wine provides insight into how much sugar was used to make the wine. A wine that is too sweet is referred to as "cloying."
Tannin:A chemical compound that resides in the skin and stems of grapes. White wine uses very little skin or grape stem, therefore they have less tannins in their makeup. Tannins also protect red wines during the aging process. An overly tannic wine results in a bitter taste.
Vineyard: A grouping of grape vines where the grapes are cultivated to begin the winemaking process.
Vintage: Refers to the year that a grape was harvested.