Master Taster Flash Card Definitions Reversed csv
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All wines contain acetic acid, or vinegar, but usually the amount is quite small. At low levels, acetic acid can enhance the character of a wine, but at higher levels, it can become the dominant flavour and is considered a major flaw. A related substance, ethyl acetate, contributes a nail polishlike smell.
Acetic Acid
A compound present in all grapes and an essential component of wine that preserves it, enlivens and shapes its flavours 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.
Acid
Used to describe wines whose total acid is so high that they taste tart or sour and have a sharp edge on the palate.
Acidic
The addition of acid to wine by a winemaker.
Acidification
Identified as the crisp, sharp character in a wine.
Acidity
Describes the harsh, bitter taste or pungent, nose-biting odour caused by excessive amounts of sulfur added during winemaking.
Acrid
This process of encouraging a wine to absorb oxygen is also called breathing.
Aeration
The taste or flavours 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.
Aftertaste
Describes the small number of top wines that have sufficient flavour, acidity, alcohol and tannins to gain additional complexity with time in the bottle.
Ageworthy
Unpleasantly harsh in taste or texture, usually due to a high level of tannin or acid.
Aggressive
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 flavours.
Aging
Ethyl alcohol, a chemical compound formed by the action of natural or added yeast on the sugar content of grapes during fermentation.
Alcohol
A forest in France that produces oak used for wine barrels.
Allier
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.
American Oak
A delimited, geographical grape growing area that has officially been given appellation status by the Alcohol and Tobacco, Tax andTrade Bureau (TTB). Two examples of AVAs are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley.
American Viticultural Area (AVA)
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.
Amontillado
An inexpensive but risky and difficult-to-control method ofproducing 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.
Ancestral Method
The pigments found in red grape skins that give red wine its color.
Anthocyanins
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 flavours.
Appassimento
Refers to a wine’s clarity, not color.
Appearance
Defines the area where a wine’s grapes were grown, such as Bordeaux, Gevrey-Chambertin, Alexander Valley or Russian River Valley.
Appellation
The French system of appellations, begun in the1930s 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 Controlle
This is the European Union’s new designation, meant to replace the old Appellation d’Origine Controlee for recognition across the member states. It was officially adopted in January 2016.
Appellation d’Origine Protegee
Aromas are smells, which originate with the grapes, in contrast to bouquet, which defines smells acquired during bottle-aging.
Aroma
Describes a wine with intense, often floral, aromas. Particularly aromatic varieties include Gewerztraminer, Muscat and Viognier.
Aromatic
The process of using water sprinklers to protect budding vines from late spring frosts.
Aspersion
French term for blending various lots of wine before bottling, especiallyin Champagne.
Assemblage
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.
Astringent
German classification based on the ripeness level and sugar content of the grapes.
Auslese
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.
Austere
Describes the structure of a wine, referring to balanced acidity, alcoho land, in red wines, tannin. Wines lacking structure are thin or flabby.
Backbone
Nebbiolo-based red wine made in Italy’s Piedmont region.
Barbaresco
One of Italy’s most important wines, Barolo is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo grapes in Piedmont.
Barolo
Denotes a wine that has spent a period of time in barrels before bottling.
Barrel Aged
Denotes wine that has been fermented in small casks (usually 55-gallon oak barrels) instead of larger tanks.
Barrel Fermented
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 flavour is called bousinage.
Barrel Making
French term for small oak barrel.
Barrique
French term for stirring the lees during the aging and maturation of wine.
Battonnage
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.
Bentonite:
A farming strategy that combines principles of organic farming and concepts developed by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher.
Biodynamic
Describes one of the four basic tastes (along with sour, salty and sweet).
Bitter
“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 Blancs
“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.
Blanc de Noirs
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 flavours may be blended with a fruity wine.
Blending
Spanish term for Estate.
Bodega
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.
Body
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 dehydratesthe grapes, leaving them shriveled and raisinlike and concentrates the sugars andflavours.
Botrytis Cinerea
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.
Bottle Aging
A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed flavours. 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 Shock
A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavours. 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
The smell that a wine develops after it has been bottled and aged.
Bouquet
Describes wines that are hard, intense and tannic with raw, woody flavours. The opposite of elegant.
Brawny
A spoilage yeast that can cause what are commonly described as barnyard aromas and flavours in a wine.
Brettanomyces (Brett):
Used for fresh, ripe, zesty, lively young wines with vivid, focused flavours.
Bright
Describes the appearance of very clear wines with absolutely no visible suspended or particulate matter.
Brilliant
A measurement of the sugar content of grapes, must and wine, indicating the degree of the grapes’ ripeness (meaning sugar level) at harvest.
Brix
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.
Browning
A general term used to designate a relatively dry-finished Champagne or sparkling wine.
Brut
The driest Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale fromdriest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (orSec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Brut Nature
A branch of a vine.
Cane
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.
Canopy
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 flavour from the skins.
Cap
The metal or plastic protective coating that surrounds the top of the cork and the bottle.
Capsule
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.
Carbonic Maceration
Spanish term for sparkling wine made using the traditional Methode Champenoise.
Cava:
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.
Chaptalization
A less expensive, mass-production method for producing bulk quantities ofsparkling 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.
Charmat
Describes highly extracted, full-bodied and tannic wines that are so rich they seem as if they should be chewed, rather than simply swallowed.
Chewy
Aroma frequently associated with mature Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet blends, this descriptor refers to the cedary and tobacco leaf scentsa ssociated with cigar boxes.
Cigar Box:
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.
Clarity
Included in Bordeaux’s 1855 Classification, which ranked Chateaus 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.
Classified Growth
Fresh on the palate and free of any off-taste.
Clean
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.
Climat
The long-term weather patterns including temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine in a specific region. In contrast, weather is associated with aspecific event, such as a hailstorm.
Climate
Vineyard management term for a technique by which dead or underperforming vines are replaced with new vines grown from a single superior vine, or mother vine.
Clonal Selection
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 flavour, productivity and adaptability to growing conditions.
Clone
A French term used to describe a walled vineyard, such as Clos du Vougeot in Burgundy.
Clos
Describes wines that are concentrated and have character, yet are shy in aroma or flavour. Closed wines may open up to reveal more flavours and aromas with aging or aeration.
Closed
Lack of clarity to the eye. Fine for old wines with sediment, but it can be awarning signal of protein instability, yeast spoilage or re-fermentation in the bottle in younger wines. Cloudiness may also represent a deliberate choice by the winemakernot to filter a wine.
Cloudiness
Describes ultra-sweet or sugary wines that lack the balance provided by acid, alcohol, bitterness or intense flavour.
Cloying
A grape bunch.
Cluster
Usually refers to texture, and in particular, excessive tannin or oak. Also used to describe harsh bubbles in sparkling wines.
Coarse
A clarification technique that can prevent the formation of crystals in wine bottles. Prior to bottling, the wine’s temperature is lowered to approximately 30F 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.
Cold Stabilization
Portuguese term for “vintage.”
Colheita
French term for village.
Commune
A combination of richness, depth, flavour intensity, focus, balance, harmony and finesse.
Complexity
Describes a dull, stewed flavour associated with wines adversely affected by excessive heat during shipping or storage.
Cooked
A wine barrel maker.
Cooper
The facility where wine barrels are made.
Cooperage
A wine company that is owned and managed by a group of vineyard owners who bottle their wine under one label, sharing the profits.
Cooperative
An appliance that allows wine to be removed from an unopened bottle of wine via a hollow needle.
Coravin
Describes a wine having the off-putting, musty, moldy-newspaper flavour and aroma and dry aftertaste caused by a tainted cork.
Corked
Spanish term for “vintage.”
Cosecha
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, or shatter. 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.
Coulure
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.
Crianza
Describes a wine with moderately high acidity; refreshing and bright with a clean finish.
Crisp
A French term, “cru” generally refers to a vineyard or group of vineyards that have similar characteristics.
Cru
The highest category of classification in Beaujolais, account for the production within ten villages/areas in the foothills of the Beaujolais mountains.
Cru Beaujolais
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 (French)
In other countries like Italy, “cru” can simply refer to a single-vineyard bottling that may or may not be classified.
Cru (Other)
Harvest season when the grapes are picked and crushed.
Crush
A blend or special lot of wine.
Cuvee
A technique that removes sediment from wine before drinking.
Decanting
A method of classifying the climate based on the number of days the temperature is within a range that vines can grow.
Degree Days
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 flavour.
Delestage
Used to describe light- to medium-weight wines with good flavours. A desirable quality in wines such as Pinot Noir or Riesling.
Delicate
A non-profit organization that promotes and certifies biodynamic farming.
Demeter
A misleading term, which designates a medium-sweet Champagne or sparkling wine.
Demi-Sec
The process of removing the grape berries from the stems once the grapes have been harvested and brought into the winery.
Destemming
The removal of young, non-fruit-bearing shoots from a vine.
Desuckering
Also known as delestage, 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, flavour, tannins and aromas from the solids, as well as aerate the fermenting wine.
Devatting
Refers to a wine that is starting to show signs of age in flavour, aroma or color.
Developing
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 crowncap removed. The plug of frozen sediment is ejected by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. Also known as Disgorgement.
Disgorgement
Describes wine with components that are not well-knit, harmonious or balanced.
Disjointed
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.
Diurnal Temperature Difference
Italian term for “sweet.”
Dolce
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.
Dosage
Designates a sweet Champagne or sparkling wine.
Doux
An irrigation process associated with grapegrowing. Hoses withindividual spouts for each vine deliver precise amounts of water, drop by drop. Thissaves water and allows grapegrowers to carefully control the water vines receive indry areas.
Drip Irrigation
Having no perceptible taste of sugar.
Dry
A misleading term, which designates a fairly sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, ExtraBrut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Dry (Sparkling)
Denotes a wine made from early-harvested grapes, usually lower than average in alcoholic content or sweetness.
Early Harvest
Describes wines with aromas or flavours of soil or earth. Frequently associated with Pinot Noir.
Earthy
Wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine.
Eiswein
Describes balanced, harmonious, refined wines; subtle rather than a highly extracted blockbuster.
Elegant:
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.
En Primeur
The fragrant chemical compounds responsible for the aromas and flavours found in food and wine.
Esters
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.
Ethyl Acetate
A dry Champagne or sparkling wine.
Extra Brut
A misleading term, which designates a relatively sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, ExtraBrut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Extra-Dry
Richness, depth and concentration of fruit flavours in a wine.
Extract
Describes a wine that is losing color, fruit or flavour, usually as a result of age.
Fading
Full-bodied, high alcohol wines low in acidity give a “fat” impression on the palate.Can be a plus with bold, ripe, rich flavours; can also suggest the wine’s structure iss uspect.
Fat
Unregulated German term for wines that are off-dry. Feinherb is often used in place of the less popular designation halbtrocken.
Feinherb
The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; turns grape juice into wine.
Fermentation
Pumping wine through a screen or pad to remove leftover grape and fermentation particles. Most wines are filtered for both clarity and stability.
Filtering
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.
Fining
