Wine Glossary

208 terms. Plain-English definitions based on owner-provided first-party material.

A

• ABV — Abbreviation for alcohol by volume, the standard measure of how much ethanol a wine contains, generally listed as a…
• Acidity — The fresh, mouthwatering structure in wine that can make it feel bright, crisp, or tart.
• Aeration — The process of exposing wine to air to allow it to open up and reveal its full range of aromas and flavors. Sometimes…
• Aftertaste — The taste or flavors that linger in the mouth after wine is swallowed. Also called the finish or length.
• Aging — The time during which wine components develop and integrate to produce the flavor profile intended by the winemaker.…
• Alcohol — The ethanol in wine, usually shown on labels as alcohol by volume.
• Alcoholic Fermentation — The conversion of grape sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast.
• American Viticultural Area — A defined grape-growing region in the United States, usually abbreviated AVA.
• Amontillado — A style of Sherry that begins under flor and then ages oxidatively.
• Amphora — A clay vessel used for fermenting, aging, or storing wine.
• Ancestral Method — A sparkling wine method in which fermentation finishes in bottle, trapping carbon dioxide.
• AOC — A French protected-origin term historically meaning Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.
• AOP — Appellation d’Origine Protégée, the French form of the EU Protected Designation of Origin category.
• Appearance — Refers to a wine's clarity and reflective quality when assessed visually. Common positive descriptors include clear,…
• Appellation — A legally or officially recognized geographic origin used on wine labels.
• Aroma — The smell of a wine, especially the scents perceived before tasting.
• Aspect — The direction a vineyard slope faces.
• Assemblage — Blending process, especially important in Champagne across grapes, villages, parcels, and years.
• Autolysis — Breakdown of spent yeast cells that gives sparkling wines bready, toasty, or brioche notes.
• AVA — The common abbreviation for American Viticultural Area.

B

• Balance — The way a wine’s major elements work together so that none feels out of place.
• Barrel Fermentation — Fermentation carried out in wooden barrels rather than only in tank.
• Bâtonnage — Lees stirring used to add texture, roundness, and subtle savory notes, especially in white wines.
• Blanc de Blancs — French for white from whites. Most commonly used to describe a sparkling wine or Champagne made exclusively from white…
• Blanc de Noirs — French for white from blacks. A sparkling white wine made from red or dark-skinned grapes. The resulting wine may carry…
• Blending — The combining of wines, grapes, lots, barrels, vineyards, or vintages to create a final wine.
• Body — The perceived weight or fullness of wine in the mouth.
• Bottle Shock — A temporary muted or disjointed state sometimes observed after bottling or transport.
• Bouquet — The developed smell of a wine, often used for aromas that emerge with age or maturation.
• Breathe — The interaction between air and wine, typically by allowing a poured glass or decanted wine to rest before drinking.…
• Brettanomyces — A yeast associated with animal, barnyard, medicinal, smoky, or leathery aromas in wine.
• Brut — A general term for a dry Champagne or sparkling wine. Brut wines contain very little residual sugar and are among the…
• Brut Nature — A very dry sparkling wine category with little or no dosage.
• Budbreak — The spring stage when grapevine buds open and new shoots begin to grow.

C

• Canopy Management — The management of grapevine leaves, shoots, and fruit exposure.
• Capsule — The foil or protective covering that wraps around the cork and upper neck of a wine bottle, typically removed before…
• Carbonic Maceration — A fermentation approach in which whole grapes ferment in a low-oxygen, carbon dioxide-rich environment.
• Cava — A sparkling wine produced in Spain using the traditional method of secondary fermentation in the bottle. Cava is most…
• Cellaring — The practice of storing wine, typically for a year or more, to allow it to develop and improve over time.
• Chaptalization — The addition of sugar to must before or during fermentation to raise potential alcohol.
• Château — Originally a term for a wine estate in the Bordeaux region of France. Now used more broadly to describe a winery or…
• Classico — An Italian term used to designate wines from the historical or traditional center of a particular wine region, implying…
• Climat — Burgundian term for a precisely named vineyard parcel with a defined identity.
• Clone — A selected vine lineage within a grape variety, propagated for particular traits.
• Cold Soak — A cool pre-fermentation maceration used to extract color and aroma compounds before alcohol rises.
• Cold stabilization — Chilling wine before bottling to reduce later tartrate crystal formation.
• Complexity — The presence of multiple, integrated aroma and flavor dimensions in a wine.
• Concrete Vessel — A concrete tank or vessel used for fermentation or aging.
• Cooked — A wine fault term describing a dull, flat, or warm flavor that results from excessive heat exposure during shipping or…
• Cork Taint — A wine fault most commonly associated with musty, damp-cardboard aromas.
• Corked — A common shorthand for a wine affected by cork taint.
• Crianza — A Spanish aging term used in certain appellations, especially for red wines.
• Cru — French term for a recognized growth, site, village, or classification unit depending on region.
• Crush — The breaking of grape skins to release juice or start processing.
• Cuvée — A blend or specially selected lot of wine. The term is widely used in Champagne and sparkling wine production to…

D

• Demi-Sec — A sweetness category commonly used for sparkling wines and some still wines.
• Destemming — The removal of grape stems before fermentation or pressing.
• Disgorgement — Removal of the spent-yeast sediment plug from a traditional-method sparkling wine bottle.
• DO — Denominación de Origen, a Spanish protected-origin category.
• DOC — Denominazione di Origine Controllata, an Italian protected-origin wine category.
• DOCa — Denominación de Origen Calificada, a Spanish category used for highly regulated historic regions.
• DOCG — Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, an Italian protected-origin category.
• Dosage — Sweetening and topping-up addition made after disgorgement in many sparkling wines.
• Doux — A French term indicating the sweetest category of Champagne or sparkling wine, with a higher residual sugar content than…
• Dry Farming — Growing vines without regular irrigation after establishment, relying mainly on rainfall and soil water.

E

• Earthy — A tasting descriptor for wines carrying aromas or flavors reminiscent of soil, earth, or forest floor. At moderate…
• Elegant — A descriptive term for a balanced, refined, and harmonious wine. Generally used as a positive assessment indicating…
• Elevation — The height of a vineyard above sea level.
• Estate Bottled — A label term indicating that the winery or vineyard that grew the grapes also vinified and bottled the wine. In the…
• Extra-Brut — The driest category of Champagne or sparkling wine, containing even less residual sugar than standard Brut.
• Extra-Dry — Despite its name, Extra-Dry Champagne and sparkling wine is slightly sweeter than Brut, sitting in the middle of the…
• Extraction — The movement of color, tannin, flavor, and other compounds from grape skins, seeds, and stems into wine.

F

• Fermentation — The biochemical process by which yeast converts sugars in grape juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide, forming the basis…
• Fermentation Temperature — The temperature at which fermentation is conducted.
• Filtering — A step in the wine-making process in which wine is passed through a filter medium to remove remaining particles, yeast,…
• Filtration — Passing wine through a filter to remove particles, haze, microbes, or sediment.
• Fining — Clarification step in which added agents bind to particles so they can be removed from wine.
• Finish — The flavor and sensation that remain after swallowing or spitting wine.
• Fino — A pale, dry Sherry style aged biologically under flor.
• Flor — A film-forming yeast layer that develops on some wines, especially certain Sherry styles.
• Flute — A style of glassware commonly used for Champagne and sparkling wines, characterized by a tall, narrow shape with a small…
• Fortified Wine — A wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added, raising the alcohol content above that of standard…
• Fruit Character — The fruit-like flavors and aromas perceived in wine.
• Full-bodied — A tasting term for a wine that feels rich and substantial in the mouth, often with higher alcohol, tannins, or residual…

G

• Geographical Indication — A protected place-based name used for agricultural products, including wine.
• Grafting — The joining of one grapevine variety or clone to a separate rootstock.
• Gran Reserva — Spanish aging designation generally used for wines with extended barrel and bottle aging.
• Grand Cru — A French wine classification term meaning great growth, used to designate the highest-ranked vineyards or wines within…
• Grand Reserva — The highest aging category in Spanish wine classification. In the context of Spanish wine regulations, red Grand Reserva…
• Grand Vin — French for great wine, used to identify the primary or flagship wine produced by a winery. Most often associated with…
• Green Harvest — The removal of unripe grape clusters before harvest to manage yield or ripening.

H

• Harvest — The picking of grapes for winemaking.
• Hearty — A descriptive term for a wine that is full, warm, and robust, typically with higher alcohol content. Often applied to…
• Heat Damage — Damage caused by excessive heat exposure before opening.
• Herbaceous — A tasting descriptor for green, leafy, grassy, or herbal aromas and flavors.

I

• Icewine — A sweet wine made from grapes frozen naturally on the vine and pressed while frozen.
• IGP — Indication Géographique Protégée, the French form of the EU Protected Geographical Indication category.
• Imperial — A large-format wine bottle holding the equivalent of eight standard 750 ml bottles, or approximately six liters.
• Intensity — The strength of a wine’s aromas or flavors.
• International Variety — A term for grape varieties cultivated across most major wine regions worldwide, regardless of their origin. Well-known…
• Irrigation — The application of water to vineyard soils or vines.

J

• Jug Wine — An informal American term for inexpensive, everyday table wine typically sold in large-format containers. The term…

K

• Kabinett — A German Prädikat term traditionally associated with lighter wines from ripe grapes.
• Kosher Wine — Wine produced in accordance with Jewish dietary law and certified by a qualified rabbinic authority. The production…

L

• Landwein — A level in the German wine classification system, ranking just above the basic table wine (Tafelwein) category. Landwein…
• Late Harvest — Wine made from grapes picked later than normal, often with higher sugar concentration.
• Lees — Sediment of spent yeast cells and fine solids left after fermentation.
• Lees Aging — Aging wine in contact with lees.
• Length — A tasting term describing how long the flavors and impressions of a wine persist in the mouth after swallowing. Wines…
• Lieu-dit — A named place or parcel that may appear on French wine labels.
• Lightstrike — A wine fault caused by exposure to certain light wavelengths, especially in vulnerable bottles.
• Liqueur de tirage — Sugar-and-yeast mixture added to start secondary fermentation in bottle.

M

• Maceration — Contact between grape solids and juice or wine to extract color, tannin, aroma, and flavor.
• Madeira — A fortified wine from Madeira, known for styles shaped by heat and oxygen exposure.
• Maderized — A term for wine that tastes oxidized or heat-aged in a way resembling Madeira-like notes.
• Malolactic Conversion — The microbial conversion of sharper malic acid into softer lactic acid.
• Mature — Describes a wine that has reached its peak of development and complexity through aging, and is considered ready to…
• Méthode Champenoise — The traditional method of producing sparkling wine by inducing a second fermentation within the individual bottle,…
• MGA — Italian named geographic mention used for sub-zones in places such as Barolo.
• Minerality — A common tasting term for stony, chalky, saline, flinty, or mineral-like impressions.
• Mousiness — A wine fault that can create unpleasant mouse-cage or cereal-like flavors, often noticed after swallowing.
• Mouthfeel — The physical sensations wine creates on the palate.
• Must — Freshly crushed grape juice, skins, seeds, and sometimes stems before or during fermentation.

N

• Native Yeast — Yeasts present in the vineyard or winery environment rather than a selected commercial yeast addition.
• Natural Wine — An informal term for wines made with minimal intervention, often emphasizing organic farming and low additions.
• New World — Refers to regions where wine-making developed more recently, including the United States, Australia, Argentina, and…
• Noble Rot — Beneficial Botrytis cinerea infection that concentrates grapes for certain sweet wines.
• Non-Vintage — A wine blended from grapes harvested in more than one year. Non-vintage wines allow the winemaker to maintain a…

O

• Oak Character — Aromas, flavors, or textures associated with oak barrels, vats, staves, or chips.
• Oaky — A tasting term used to describe flavors or aromas imparted to a wine by the oak barrels in which it was aged. Common…
• Old Vines — A non-universal term for mature grapevines, often used to imply age, low yield, or concentrated fruit.
• Old World — Refers to wine-growing regions mostly in Europe where viticulture has the longest history. Wine-making practices are…
• Orange Wine — White wine made with extended skin contact, giving deeper color and added texture.
• Organic Wine — Wine produced from grapes grown without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. Specific…
• Oxidation — Chemical change caused by exposure to oxygen.
• Oxidized — A wine fault in which excessive exposure to air has degraded the wine, often resulting in a flat, nutty, or sherry-like…

P

• Passito — An Italian term for wines made from dried or partially dried grapes.
• PDO — Protected Designation of Origin, an EU quality category for products closely linked to a defined place.
• Pétillant-Naturel — A lightly sparkling wine often associated with ancestral-method production.
• PGI — Protected Geographical Indication, an EU quality category linked to a geographic area.
• Phenolics — Compounds from skins, seeds, stems, and oak that shape color, bitterness, tannin, and texture.
• Phylloxera — A vine pest that devastated many European vineyards in the nineteenth century.
• Port — A fortified wine associated with Portugal’s Douro region.
• Prädikat — A German classification term historically tied to grape must weight at harvest.
• Premier Cru — A French term meaning “first growth,” used differently by region.
• Pressing — The separation of juice or wine from grape solids by pressure.
• Primary Aromas — Aromas mainly associated with grape variety and fermentation fruit expression.
• Private Reserve — A term used by wineries to suggest a higher-quality tier of wine. In the United States, the term is not legally…
• Pump-Over — A cap-management technique in which fermenting juice is pumped over the floating cap of skins.
• Punch-Down — A cap-management technique in which the cap of skins is pushed down into fermenting juice.

Q

• QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) — A level in the German wine quality classification system meaning quality wine from a specific region. QbA wines must…
• QmP (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat) — The highest tier of the German wine quality classification system, meaning quality wine with distinction. QmP wines, now…

R

• Racking — Moving wine off sediment from one vessel to another during aging or clarification.
• Reduction — A set of aromas associated with low-oxygen conditions and sulfur compounds.
• Refermentation — A renewed fermentation that occurs after a wine is considered finished or bottled.
• Reserva — A Spanish wine classification indicating that the wine has met minimum aging requirements. As defined by Spanish wine…
• Reserve — A term used on wine labels in the United States and other countries to suggest a higher quality tier. Unlike Reserva in…
• Residual sugar — Sugar left in wine after fermentation, usually measured in grams per liter.
• Resveratrol — A natural antioxidant compound found primarily in red wine, occurring in grape skins. Some studies have explored…
• Rich — A tasting term for a wine with a pronounced, fruit-forward character and a full, generous finish. Often applied to wines…
• Ripeness — The maturity level of grapes at harvest.
• Riserva — An Italian wine classification term indicating that the wine has been aged for an extended period beyond the standard…
• Rootstock — The root portion of a grafted grapevine.
• Rosé — Pink wine usually made from red grapes with limited skin contact.
• Ruby Port — A fruit-driven Port style usually aged to preserve youthful color and fruit.

S

• Sec — A term meaning dry in French, but also a sweetness category in sparkling wine.
• Secondary Aromas — Aromas associated with winemaking and maturation choices.
• Sediment — Solid material that settles in a bottle or glass.
• Sherry — A fortified wine produced in the Jerez region of southern Spain. Sherry ranges from very dry (Fino, Manzanilla) to sweet…
• Single Vineyard — A wine made from grapes grown in one named vineyard.
• Soil — The ground material in which vines grow, including mineral particles, organic matter, water, and biological life.
• Sparkling Wine — Wine containing significant carbon dioxide bubbles.
• Split — A small wine bottle format holding approximately 6 oz., equivalent to one quarter of a standard 750 ml bottle. Commonly…
• Spumante — The Italian term for sparkling wine. Spumante wines are fully sparkling, as distinguished from frizzante wines, which…
• Stabilization — Processes used to reduce the risk of haze, crystals, refermentation, or other changes after bottling.
• Stainless Steel — A neutral, cleanable vessel material widely used for fermentation and storage.
• Sulfites — Sulfur dioxide compounds used as a preservative in wine to maintain freshness and provide antibacterial and antioxidant…
• Superiore — Italian term that often signals higher minimum alcohol, stricter rules, or added aging.
• Sur lie — French term for aging wine on its lees to build texture, freshness, and subtle savory complexity.
• Sweetness — The perception of sugar or sweet taste in wine.

T

• Tank Method — A sparkling wine method in which secondary fermentation occurs in a sealed tank.
• Tannin — A structural compound that creates drying, gripping, or astringent sensations, especially in red wines.
• Tartrate Crystals — Harmless crystals that can form from tartaric acid salts in wine.
• Tawny — A Port style aged to develop oxidative, nutty, caramel, and dried-fruit notes.
• TCA — 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, a compound commonly associated with cork taint.
• Terroir — A French term describing the combined environmental factors that influence the character of a wine produced in a…
• Tertiary Aromas — Aromas that develop as wine ages in bottle or over longer maturation.
• Texture — The tactile feel of wine in the mouth.
• Total acidity — A lab measure of the total acid concentration in wine, usually expressed in g/L.
• Traditional Method — A sparkling wine method in which secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle.
• Trocken — A German label term for dry wine.
• Typicity — The degree to which a wine resembles the expected style of its grape, place, or appellation.

U

• Ullage — The small space of air between the wine and the top of the bottle, also referred to as headspace. A significant ullage…

V

• Varietal Wine — A wine labeled primarily by grape variety.
• Veraison — The stage of grape ripening when berries begin to soften and change color.
• Vin de Pays — A level in the French wine classification system meaning country wine, ranking above the basic table wine category (Vin…
• Vin de Table — The most basic level of French wine classification, meaning table wine. Vin de Table wines have the fewest restrictions…
• Vin Doux Naturel — A French fortified sweet wine style made by mutage, adding spirit to stop fermentation.
• Viniculture — The study and science of grape cultivation as it pertains to wine production, encompassing vineyard management, grape…
• Vino da Tavola — The most basic category in the Italian wine classification system, equivalent to table wine. Wines labeled Vino da…
• Vino de la Mesa — The most basic level of Spanish wine classification, equivalent to table wine, with minimal restrictions on origin or…
• Vintage — The year in which the grapes for a wine were harvested.
• Vintner — A term for a winery owner, wine producer, or wine merchant.
• Volatile acidity — Acetic-smelling acidity that can add lift at low levels and become a fault at high levels.

W

• Whole-Cluster Fermentation — Fermentation using intact grape clusters, including stems.
• Wine Label — The descriptive information affixed to a wine bottle that identifies key details such as producer, grape variety,…

Y

• Yeast — Microorganisms that convert grape sugar into alcohol, carbon dioxide, and fermentation aromas.
• Yield — The amount of grapes produced by a vineyard, often measured per acre, hectare, or vine.

Glossary definitions are based on owner-provided first-party material with editorial cleanup. Not copied from third-party glossaries, commercial wine education sites, or Wikipedia.