General Wine Knowledge Flashcards
Acidity
Describes how tart a wine is or isn’t
Body
How heavy or full wine feels in the mouth. Light, medium, or full.
Appellation
A specific geographic region where a wine comes from
Decanting
Pouring wine from the bottle into a decanter. A serving vessel that allows wine to “breathe” or aerate.
Aeration/Breathing
The act of allowing wine to oxygenate. This opens the wines aromas.
Jammy
A term used to describe red wines with a cooked fruit flavor.
Minerality
Similar to a wine’s earthiness, a wine with strong minerality tastes of the earth, though minerality typically refers to the flavor of stones rather than dirt. This term is more commonly used to describe white wines, though it can be used to describe reds as well.
Oaked
Both white and red wines can be matured in oak barrels (or with oak chips). Oaked wines are sometimes described as having notes of vanilla, cloves, butter, or caramel.
Tannins
Bitter compounds in the skin and seeds of grapes that give red wine structure. (White wines have little to no tannins as they’re typically not fermented on the skins.) While some tannins are desirable, overly tannic wines can cause a drying sensation in your mouth.
Varietal
A single variety of grape
Vintage
A vintage wine doesn’t always mean old — it’s one made from grapes that were all (or mostly) produced in a single year. A nonvintage wine comes from grapes that were harvested over two or more years. Champagne is typically nonvintage (or NV) for consistency’s sake.
Principal Red Grape of Argentina
Malbec. Malbecs are usually classified as spicy or jammy or a mixture of both.
What does Classico mean
An Italian term applying to certain DOC or DOCG wines whose vineyards are in the original, classic part of the territory where that particular type of DOC/DOCG can be made
DOC/DOCG meaning
The initials DOC stand for the Denominazione di Origine Controllata. This is a quality rating for wines in Italy.
The DOCG is the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. In Italy, this is a step up from the standard DOC rating, and as it requires that every bottle be counted and traced, it is usually only done for the more expensive wines.
Difference between a Shiraz and Syrah
Same grape different regions of growth.
It is called Syrah in its country of origin, France, and throughout most of the winemaking world. It was the Australians who took up the name change to Shiraz.
What is the modern interpretation of aroma and bouquet?
Bouquet is all smells Aroma is single smell
What happens to the color of a white wine as it ages?
It becomes more golden
What happens to the color of red wine as it ages?
It softens and becomes lighter in color
Food that have sweetness or nmami tend to make wine taste.
a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)
b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)
c. no change
a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)
Foods that are naturally acidic or have acid added tend to make wines taste.
a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)
b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)
c. no change
b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)
What is Tawny Port
Tawny Port is a sweet or medium-dry dessert wine made from red grapes grown in Northern Portugal’s Douro Valley, fortified with grape neutral spirit (brandy) and aged in wood casks.
What is Ruby Port
It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, though it also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.
What is Port
Port is a fortified wine. Fortified wines are made by adding a proportion of grape spirit, or brandy, to the wine at some point during the production process.
Astringent/Astringency
A mouth puckering sensation caused by the acid and tannin in a wine. Astringency often declines as a wine ages.
What would a wine with too much acid taste like?
Too much acid will make your wine taste sharp or tart. Too little acid will make it taste flat and not refreshing.
What would a wine with too much alcohol taste like?
Too much alcohol will make it taste overly sweet and hot and biting as it’s swallowed.
What would a wine with too much tannin taste like?
Too many tannins will make your wine astringent and will make your mouth pucker. Tannins give wine its body and will soften as a wine ages and is exposed to more air.
