Wine Terms 101

Question 1

Acidity

Answer 1

Tart, sour flavor. Think acidity of milk vs. green apple vs. lemon. Should be described from low to high.

Question 2

Body

Answer 2

The weight of the wine on the palate. Think skim milk (light body) to whole milk (full body)

Question 3

Tannin

Answer 3

A drying texture on the palate. Most relevant to red and most red wines, but can also be detected in most rosés and some rare whites. Should be described both in degree (low to high) and quality (sweet, bitter, coarse, velvety, etc.)

Question 4

Champagne Methode
(Méthode Champenoise, Traditional Method, Metodo Classico)

Answer 4

A still wine (vin clair) is bottled with additional yeast and sugar to initiate another fermentation that makes a sparkling wine. The wine is aged in bottle (sur late) and then disgorged, meaning the solids left over are removed.

Question 4

Corked

Answer 4

Corked wine has been affected by cork taint, a fungus that can infect the wine. Very distinct aroma of moldy cardboard.

Question 4

Pét-Nat (Pétillant Naturel, ancestral method/méthode ancestrale/metodo ancestrale)

Answer 4

Wines bottled during their initial fermentation so that the carbon dioxide and alcohol that are generated during fermentation remain in the bottle and make the wine naturally sparkling.

Question 5

Biodynamics

Answer 5

A modern, pseudoscientific synthesis of historical agricultural techniques that proceed following the cosmos. Includes use of teas, tinctures, fermentations, and other treatments according to the movement of bodies in the solar system. Not required for natural wine, not synonymous with organics.

Question 6

Charmat Method
(Tank Method)

Answer 6

Wine ferments in pressurized tanks to capture the CO2, yielding a sparkling wine.

Question 7

Organic

Answer 7

Farmed without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides.

Question 8

Natural wine

Answer 8

Made from organic grapes with minimal intervention between the vineyard and the bottle. Specifically, this means fermentation with indigenous yeast and minimal, judicious employment of filtering, fining, and sulfur or other additions or modern technology.

Question 9

Maceration

Answer 9

Extended contact between the skins and must (juice), especially during and after fermentation.

Question 10

Carbonic Maceration

Answer 10

A type of whole-cluster maceration that includes depriving fruit of oxygen to delay the activity of yeasts and allow an enzymatic fermentation within grapes to take place. Typically yields fruity, bubble gum, banana flavors.

Question 11

Whole Cluster / Whole Bunch

Answer 11

Grapes are not destemmed, so stems become part of the winemaking process.

Question 12

Volatile Acidity

Answer 12

A group of acidities that occur more commonly in natural wine due to less strict controls in the cellar. May remind guests of sour beer, kombucha, cider, or vinegar.

Question 13

Hot

Answer 13

High in alcohol.

Question 13

Brett / Brettanomyces

Answer 13

A family of yeast strains that give wines (usually red) aromas of horse, barnyard, manure. This is a fault but acceptable, and even desirable, in certain doses and in balance with other flavors.

Question 14

Yeast

Answer 14

Single-cell microorganisms responsible for converting sugar to alcohol and CO2, and for yielding 99% of wine’s flavor.

Question 15

Fermentation

Answer 15

The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Question 16

Botrytis

Answer 16

A very common fungus in vineyards. Sometimes desirable for its sweet-smoke flavor and ability to raisinate grapes without spoiling them. Usually problematic, yielding unpalatable acidities and spoiled flavors—affected grapes are usually disgarded.

Question 17

Chaptalization

Answer 17

The addition of sugar to grape must to raise the final wine’s alcoholic ontent.

Question 18

Dosage

Answer 18

In the Champagne or traditional method, the addition of sugar after disgorgement so that sweetness balances the acidity of sparkling wine.

Question 19

Dry

Answer 19

Lacking sugar. Clarify with guests whether they may also be referring to the presence of tannins or the absence of fruit flavors.

Question 20

Disgorge

Answer 20

Removing the solid, dead yeasts from a bottle of sparkling wine.

Question 21

Malolactic Conversion

Answer 21

Enzymatic process by which malic acid (tart, like a green apple) becomes lactic acid (soft, like in milk). A natural process in 99% of wines that will not be halted in natural winemaking.

Question 22

Oxidized vs. Oxidative

Answer 22

Oxidized wines have spoiled due to rapid exposure to oxygen. Oxidative wines are gradually exposed to oxygen in their aging process and give desirable flavors of nuts, cheese, bruised fruit, etc.

Question 23

Phylloxera

Answer 23

A louse (bug) that eats the roots of vines. North American vines are immune, so winemakers around the world graft their local varieties onto American rootstocks. The character of the local variety is maintained.

Question 24

Skin Contact

Answer 24

Less accurate term for maceration, as all wine unavoidably experiences some skin contact during pressing.

Question 25

Solera

Answer 25

Ancient process by which small quantities of an old wine are drawn off for bottling or consumption, leaving room in a barrel that is topped off by a newer wine. Most famous in Sherry but traditional in many areas and popular as an experiment in even more.

Question 26

Vinification

Answer 26

The time between harvest and the end of malolactic conversion, which signals the beginning of aging.

Question 27

Indigenous Yeasts

Answer 27

Yeasts that live naturally on the skins of the grapes and in cellars. Distinct from industrial/selected/lab yeasts, which have been isolated in labs.

Question 28

Mouse

Answer 28

A severe fault that gives flavors of rotten peanut butter, rancid cooking oil, stale tortilla chips, puppy feet. Can only be detected on the palate and only by 75% of people.

Question 29

Fining

Answer 29

Addition of a coagulating agent (egg white, clay) to settle solids before bottling.

Question 30

Filtering

Answer 30

Use of any of many technologies to mechanically remove solids from wine before or during bottling.

Question 31

Minerality

Answer 31

Distinguished between organic (soil, forrest floor, logs, etc). and inorganic (any kind of rock). Don’t be a nerd tableside though, most guests are referring to inorganic minerality.

Question 32

NV/MV

Answer 32

Non-vintage/multi-vintage. Blend of multiple vintages or, in rare cases, a wine that cannot or has not had its vintage certified due to bureaucratic challenges, protest, or ageing requirements.

Question 33

Muffa

Answer 33

A fungus that develops in clay ageing vessels that gives an aroma very close to corked wine, but that can sometimes be acceptable in balance with other flavors. Most common in Georgian wine, rare in France.

Question 34

In Conversion to Organic

Answer 34

Could indicate either that synthetics are still being used to gradually wean vines that are dependent on them, or merely that a farmer is working organically and is in the waiting period for certification.

Question 35

Zero/zero

Answer 35

Nothing added, nothing taken away. The most extreme form of natural wine, though the flavors may not be extreme at all!

Question 36

Orange wine

Answer 36

Wine made from white or pink grapes that are macerated so that the skins of the grapes can impart color, flavor, and tannin.