Describe a wine eloquently with this GLOSSARY Flashcards
Learn linguistic descriptions to descripe wine in more detail
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with a sharp, sweet-sour, and vinegar-like tang and having increased levels of volatile acidity.
ACESCENCE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine having TCA.
CORKED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has gone beyond its optimum stage of development. Its aromas has faded, its color turned brown and veers towards orange for red wines, and brown or chestnut for white wines.
TIRED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has small amounts of visible matter.
HAZY
Characteristic of wines that are unfined and unfiltered.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that appears slightly murky.
CLOUDY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine which is transparent and bright and contains no particles in suspension.
CLEAR
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with a very clear color whose glints reflect the light well.
BRIGHT
A sign of a wine’s quality.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A sparkling clear wine.
BRILLIANT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is in the process of alcoholic fermentation. It is still cloudy and contains yeasts in suspension. It is rich in sugars, which have not yet been transformed into alcohol. This new sparkling, sweet wine is low in alcohol and cannot be kept for long.
BOURRU (rough) wine
(What is the descriptor for….) …A dry white wine that shows tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide which originate from fermentation. On the palate, a sensation of freshness and liveliness is expressed by this type of wine, which is categorised in between a still wine and a sparkling wine.
BEADY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A smooth wine in which the moelleux aspect dominates the astringency.
SUPPLE
It is obtained by brief barrel or tank fermentation and has a fluid and light texture. Can generally be drunk young.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A pleasantly moelleux wine that is velvety on the palate. It recalls a sweet, therefore sugary sensation.
SMOOTH
Dry wines are smooth, rather than lively or nervy.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A supple, smooth, moelleux and velvety wine with fine, soft tannins.
SILKY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A very sweet wine
RICH
(What is the descriptor for….) …A white wine rich in residual sugar (natural, non-fermented sugar) and very fat on the palate. It typically can achieve exceptional aromatic intensity and sweetness.
SYRUPY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A sweet white wine that is unbalanced due excess sugar and a lack of acidity.
HONEYED
The heavy sugar expression is reminiscent of honey.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with unbearable, candy-like sweetness.
CLOYING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is unpleasantly sweet with low acidity
MAWKISH
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is dull in flavor and unbalanced due to insufficient acidity.
FLAT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is unbalanced due to insufficient acidity, lacking backbone.
FLABBY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has a smooth rather than crisp mouthfeel, typically having a low amount of acidity.
SOFT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine higher in acidity that makes your mouth water.
BRIGHT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with refreshing acidity.
CRISP
The word Crisp with wine is more often used to describe a white wine. A crisp wine is most likely simple but goes really well with a porch swing on a hot day.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A slightly, but not unpleasantly acidic wine that creates a sensation of mouthwatering freshness prized for its thirst-quenching aspect.
REFRESHING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A fresh, pleasant and light wine that has a slight, but not excessive, acidic flavor. Less acidic than ‘nervy’ and more than ‘refreshing’.
LIVELY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that makes an impression on the palate with well-defined characteristics and high yet not excessive acidity.
NERVY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine tasting sharp.
TART
(What is the descriptor for….) …An excessively acidic wine. More acidic than ‘nervy’ and less than ‘hard’.
GREEN
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that lacks body, it is often very tannic and/or acidic.
HARD
This is due either to an excessively long barrel or tank fermentation, or excessive acidity (the result of a premature decision to harvest the grapes).
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is smooth and silky.
VELVETY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A drying mouthfeel typically resulting in a rough sandpapery sensation in the mouth.
ASTRINGENT
Is caused by tannins, which bind to salivary proteins, causing them to depart the tongue/mouth.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that with each subsequent sip, makes your mouth dries up making it hard to drink, better to sip.
GRIPPY (tannins)
(What is the descriptor for….) …A very astringent wine. It’s tannin structure is pronounced or rustic. On the astringency scale, it is stronger than unripe and weaker than inky.
RASPY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A harsh, very astringent unsophisticated wine, lacking finesse and which gives the impression of significant dryness in the mouth.
COARSE
A synonym of abrasive
(What is the descriptor for….) …An astringent wine that is tannic and of low quality.
HARSH
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is rich in alcohol but not spirity, in contrast to a heady wine. Often produced during warm and sunny vintages.
GENEROUS
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine whose alcohol content creates an impression of heat.
WARMING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A thick wine with a high percentage of alcohol.
HEAVY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with a high alcohol content, may even be overpowering.
HEADY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine (very) high in alcohol.
HOT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has an excessive alcohol content, and is therefore unbalanced on the palate. It is expressed by excessive fullness and an ‘alcoholic’ character sometimes with a drying sensation on the finish.
BURNING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with no flavor a/o substance
HOLLOW, EMPTY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with low tannins and insufficient body, unbalanced.
THIN
(What is the descriptor for….) …light- to medium-weight wines with good flavors.
DELICATE
A desirable quality in wines such as Pinot Noir or Riesling
(What is the descriptor for….) …A delicate and elegant wine whose balance creates a velvety harmony of flavors and aromas.
FINESSE
Finesse implies that the wine is polishd and sophisticated. Hearty, rustic country wines would not be descriped as having finesse.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with such finesse and balance that it tastes refined rather than rustic. A wine that is NOT big, NOT fruity, NOT opulent and NOT bold.
ELEGANT
Off-vintages are often referred to as elegant vintages as they have higher acid and tend to have more ‘green’ characteristics. Elegant wines may taste like crap when they first release but they also tend to age better.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with a ‘less-is-more’ character
REFINED
Refined is a subset of elegant
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine whose suppleness, smoothness and body create a pleasantly sensation on the palate.
ROUND
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that combines a good constitution (structure and flesh) with a warm character (high alcohol).
BODY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is well made, especially when it has a good structure.
SOLID
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has a good constitution, with richness and tannins, in contrast to a watery, or thin wine.
WELL-STRUCTURED
A well-structured wine usually has good bottle ageing potential.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A (red) wine with a powerful and pronounced tannin structure on the palate
FULL-BODIED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A well-structured, full-bodied and powerful wine.
VIRILE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that gives the impression of filling up the mouth.
VOLUME
(What is the descriptor for….) …A balanced wine which gives the impression of filling the mouth completely with a lingering sensation.
AMPLE
(What is the descriptor for….) … A wine with good extract and a smooth texture.
FLESHY
The sensation of drinking the wine recalls biting into ripe, fleshy fruit such as a plum.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A complex wine, at once in terms of its pronounced color, strength and the diversity of its aromas.
CONCENTRATED
The concentration of a wine is often the result of a long maceration process during fermentation. It is made possible when the grapes are fully ripe and have a high tannin concentration.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has both thickness and volume. A wine that dries out the interior of your mouth so that you need to clean out the insides of your mouth.
CHEWY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with massive flavor in your mouth that takes up all sections of your mouth and tongue. Not necessarily a fruit-forward wine, it can also mean that it has high tannins.
BIG
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with a pronounced color that gives a sensation of heaviness and thickness on the palate.
THICK
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has substance and sweetness (though it might be perfectly dry).
FAT
Its viscosity is down to its alcohol content, but especially glycerol, which is produced by yeasts during fermentation
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is rich, smooth and bold
OPULENT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine trying to get your attention with an abundance of fruit.
FLAMBOYANT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has concentrated aromas on the nose and palate.
DENSE
A good sign in young wines.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine not ready to drink usually having very high tannins and hard-to-identify fruit characteristics.
TIGHT
This wine could benefit from being decanted
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with long length of flavors and aromas being a positive sign of a wine’s power.
PERSISTENCE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A very unfriendly wine, that hits your mouth and then turns it inside out. It usually means the wine has very high acidity and very little fruit flavors.
AUSTERE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that hits you in specific places with high impact and not elsewhere. It’s like getting punched in the arm in the same place over and over again. Having also high acidity.
ANGULAR
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine, especially an aged wine, in which the various characters mingle harmoniously together to form an even and balanced wine.
MELLOW
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine whose components have not been well-knit, harmonious or become out of balance. Its components no longer complement each other or the timing of the components may be off. For example, a white wine whose acidity is too high (due to unripe grapes) or whose tannins are too harsh (excessive barrel fermentation time).
DISJOINTED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with no immediate or apparent faults, either in terms of aroma or flavor.
CLEAN
Also used as synonym of straightforward
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with spicy aromas
SPICY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that expresses the aroma of big game meat.
GAMEY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with odors or aromas which recall dried hay, tobacco or fresh grass.
HERBY
A negative connotation because it derives from grapes that have been harvested before they have ripened correctly.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine expressing a group of tertiary aromas that derive from perfumery such as vanilla, incense, sandalwood, pine resin, as well as beeswax and camphor.
BALSAMIC
These aromas appear when a wine develops during its bottle ageing process. They are generally very highly prized.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A non-scientific term used to describe flavors that smell or taste like rocks or organic matter (soil). Thought to be presence of trace minerals in wine, recent research suggests the majority of these aromas in wine are due to sulfur compounds derived from fermentation.
MINERALITY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with aromas of the bushy, fragrant plants that grow wild in southern France, such as juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender.
GARRIGUE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with notes of toasted bread in young wines, and gradually transforms into vanilla, mocha, chocolate or coconut.
OAKY
Oaky aromas derive from the tannins in the barrels during the maturation process.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A tasting term to describe a wine that has a freshly fermented flavor.
VINOUS
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is balanced, at its very best. Just like in a floral sense, it refers to a wine whose bouquet is at its peak. A wine at the peak of its ageing process, its point of balance, right before it begins its decline.
IN FULL BLOOM, OPEN
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that seems to have potential, but it flavors are muted and not exhibiting well.
CLOSED(-IN)
A wine can be closed in for a variety of reasons. It is young and needs additional bottle ageing time. Or it is densely concentrated and needs oxygen from carafing to breathe and open up.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that temporarily has little taste. This can be a wine, usually white, that is served to cold that it tastes as though it is not altogether there. Or it can be a wine, usually red, in an akward stage of its development when it tastes neither full or fruity and young, nor mature (adolescence)
DUMB
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is loosing color, fruit or flavor.
FADING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has lost some or all of its bouquet after oxidation.
MUSTY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has neither aromas nor any particular flavor.
TASTELESS
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that during its excessive ageing process it has acquired a madeira-like taste and an amber color.
MADERIZED
A maderized wine is a wine that has reached the end of its life.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that smells and tastes of grape stems or has leaf- or hay-like aromas.
STALKY
(What is the descriptor for….) …Wines with too pronounced aromas such as hay, green pepper or licorice. They are usually the result of prematurely harvested grapes.
VEGETAL
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with green flavors of unripe fruit or wood, frequently a result of a wine being fermented too long with the grape stems.
STEMMY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine having an off-putting moldy or mildewy smell.
MUSTY
The result of a wine being made from moldy grapes, stored in improperly cleaned tanks and barrels, or contaminated by a poor cork.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that is both refreshing and fruity
FRUIT-DRIVEN
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has layers of soft, concentrated, velvety fruits and are lush, rich, and intense.
UNCTUOUS
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine having the taste of raisins from ultra-ripe or overripe grapes. Can be pleasant in small doses in some wines.
RAISINY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine wine with a cooked berry sweetness that is syrupy.
JAMMY
Often used to describe American wines like zinfandel, grenache, cabernet franc and Australian shiraz
(What is the descriptor for….) …An overripe wine made from grapes affected by noble rot. Expresses the aromas of oven-roast fruit, citrus peel, dried fruit or toasted bread.
ROASTED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A (table) wine with overripe, caramel like, or even burnt aromas.
BAKED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that expresses a family of aromas that recall burnt, cooked or smoked notes.
EMPYREUMATIC
from the Greek pyros, meaning fire
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with off-flavours and aromas resulting from faulty winemaking
DIRTY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that leaves little after-taste in the mouth after tasting.
SHORT
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that leaves no after-taste that may suggest any sort of fault.
HONEST
It is also said to be clean or straightforward.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine of which the aftertaste remains on the palate for several seconds
LINGERING
(What is the descriptor for….) …The overall impression of a wine or one of its elements (color, bouquet, taste, etc.) that has no flaw or uncertainty.
STRAIGHT-FORWARD
(What is the descriptor for….) …A simple every day drinking wine
QUAFFING (wine)
(What is the descriptor for….) …A basic quality wine
VIN ORDINAIRE
French term used to denote an ‘ordinary wine’ as opposed to a premium quality wine
(What is the descriptor for….) …A light, supple wine that is easy to drink and should be enjoyed while it produces fruity aromas. An easy drinking wine is also soft, pleasant and smooth.
GOULEYANT (easy drinking)
From the old French term ‘goule’ which refers to the mouth and throat.
(What is the descriptor for….) …An ordinary wine.
PINARD
A popular French nickname entered into the dictionary of the Académie Française in 1935, and it has three possible origins. The Greek word pino meaning to drink, a certain Jean Pinard from the 17th century, or indeed a derivative of pineau, a Burgundian grape variety. The word pinard was also used to describe a comforting companion for infantrymen in the trenches during the First World War.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that falls on its face unless you have it with food. It’s lacking something that eating something will fulfill.
FOOD-FRIENDLY
Keep in mind, wines that stand on their own are better drunk without food.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with aromatic expression associated with the components in the soil. It gives the wine its own specific characteristics, typical of the location where the grapes were grown. For example, Pomerol’s violet aroma.
TERROIR (taste of)
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine expressing the characteristics inherent to the variety of grape
TYPICITY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine made by old-fashioned methods or tasting like wine made in an earlier era.
RUSTIC
Can be a positive quality in distinctive wines that require aging. Can also be a negative quality when used to describe a young, earthy wine that should be fresh and fruity
(What is the descriptor for….) …An excellent wine of high quality; balanced, complex and persistent.
FINE (wine)
(What is the descriptor for….) …A distinctive and original wine.
RACY
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that satisfies on a hedonistic level
INTELLECTUALLY SATISFYING
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with qualities such as smoothness, roundness, gentleness, finesse, elegance and delicacy.
FEMININE
Usage of ‘feminine’ is in decline in favor of these more specific terms.
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine with firmness, power and strength.
MASCULINE
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine which is ample, full-bodied, generous and with a complex bouquet.
POWERFUL
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has undergone a treatment that has destabilised it, for example immediately after racking (change of oak barrel), after filtering or transportation. It is therefore more difficult to taste.
TIRED
(What is the descriptor for….) …A wine that has lost all of its qualities. It is worn out.
PAST ITS BEST
Usually the wine has spent too long in a cellar, and is at the end of its life.
