Wine, word by word

All terms

• Biodynamics

  An approach that treats soil, plants and the farm as a connected system. It adds specific preparations and association standards to organic growing.

• Brettanomyces

  A yeast that can cause sticking-plaster, medicinal or stable-like smells and mask fruit. Not every unusual smell is Brettanomyces.

• Fermentation

  Yeasts turn grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Aroma compounds also develop during this process.

• Maceration

  Contact between juice or fermenting wine and grape skins. It extracts substances including colour and tannins from the skins.

• Natural wine

  Wine made with an approach that keeps cellar interventions to a minimum. The name alone does not describe one uniform production method.

• Organic wine

  Wine made from organically grown grapes under defined processing rules. Those rules concern growing and production, not a particular taste.

• Spontaneous fermentation

  Fermentation using yeasts already present, without adding a selected yeast culture to start it.

• Sulphur dioxide

  A substance used in wine to help protect against oxidation and unwanted microorganisms.

• Tannins

  Compounds that can create a gripping or drying feeling in the mouth. Contact with grape skins can extract them into wine.

• Unfiltered

  The wine was not passed through a filter before bottling. This does not mean that no other cellar work was involved.

• Ageing

  The stage after fermentation when young wine continues to mature. Its duration and the vessel used are specific decisions made by the winemaker.