Wine, word by word

All terms

• Appellation

  An appellation is a protected place name for wine made under specified production rules.

• Barrique

  A barrique is a small wooden barrel, usually oak, in which wine can mature.

• Bâtonnage

  Bâtonnage means stirring the fine yeast sediment while wine matures.

• Biodynamics

  Biodynamic wine growing adds further vineyard and farm practices to organic growing.

• Blend

  A blend combines different grape varieties or wines that were made separately.

• Body

  Body describes how light or full wine feels in your mouth.

• Brettanomyces

  Brettanomyces is a yeast that can change a wine's smell, sometimes towards sticking plaster, medicine or stables.

• Cava

  Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine with protected origin, made with a second fermentation in the bottle.

• Cold soaking

  Cold soaking keeps grape juice chilled in contact with its skins before fermentation.

• Destemming

  Destemming separates individual grapes from the stalks of the bunch.

• Disgorgement

  Disgorgement removes collected yeast sediment from a bottle of sparkling wine.

• Dosage

  Dosage is an addition made after yeast sediment is removed that can set a sparkling wine's final sweetness.

• Extra Dry

  Extra Dry is a sparkling-wine sweetness category with more sugar than Brut.

• Extraction

  Extraction means substances moving from solid grape parts into juice or wine.

• Fermentation

  During alcoholic fermentation, yeasts turn grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

• Fine lees

  Fine lees are the fine sediment left after fermentation, made up largely of yeast cells.

• Ageing on lees

  Ageing on lees means keeping wine in contact with fine yeast sediment while it matures.

• Maceration

  Maceration is the period when grape juice or fermenting wine stays in contact with grape skins.

• Malolactic conversion

  Malolactic conversion is a process in which bacteria change a sharper-tasting wine acid into a milder one.

• Grape mash

  Grape mash is the mixture of juice, pulp, skins and seeds left after grapes are crushed.

• Minerality

  Minerality is a tasting word for several different impressions, such as stony smells or salty flavours.

• Natural wine

  Natural wine usually describes wine made with an approach that keeps additional interventions to a minimum.

• Orange wine

  Orange wine is made by fermenting white grapes with their skins.

• Organic wine

  Organic wine is made from organically grown grapes under defined winemaking rules.

• Pét-nat

  Pét-nat is wine bottled while fermentation is still underway, developing its bubbles in the bottle.

• Residual sugar

  Residual sugar is sugar left in wine after fermentation.

• Salinity

  Salinity describes a flavour impression that reminds you of salt.

• Sparkling wine

  Sparkling wine produces a noticeable stream of bubbles when opened and poured.

• Spontaneous fermentation

  Spontaneous fermentation starts with yeasts already present, without adding a selected yeast culture to begin it.

• Still wine

  Still wine does not have the obvious fizz of sparkling wine.

• Succinic acid

  Succinic acid is an acid that can form as yeasts work during fermentation.

• Sulphur dioxide

  Sulphur dioxide helps protect wine from unwanted changes caused by oxygen and certain microorganisms.

• Tannins

  Tannins are compounds in wine that can cause a rough or drying feeling in your mouth.

• Unfiltered

  Unfiltered means the wine was not passed through a filter before bottling.

• Ageing

  Ageing is the period after fermentation when young wine continues to mature before the finished bottling.