Wine Glossary

From assemblage to véraison — all wine terms clearly explained.

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Acidity: The backbone of wine providing freshness and ageing potential.
AOC/AOP: Appellation d'Origine Controlee/Protegee — French origin guarantee.
Aroma: Scents from the grape variety itself (primary aromas).
Assemblage: Blending different grape varieties or vineyard lots into a final wine.

Balance: Harmony between acidity, tannin, alcohol, fruit and sweetness.
Batonnage: Stirring the lees (dead yeast) to add richness and texture to white wines.
Biodynamic: Holistic farming approach treating the vineyard as a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Body: The weight and fullness of wine in the mouth (light, medium, full).
Bouquet: Complex aromas that develop as wine ages in bottle.
Brut: Dry champagne with less than 12g/L residual sugar.

Chaptalisation: Adding sugar to grape must before fermentation to increase alcohol.
Chateau: Bordeaux term for a wine estate.
Climat: A named vineyard plot in Burgundy.
Clone: A genetic copy of a vine selected for specific qualities.
Collage: Fining — clarifying wine using agents like egg whites or bentonite.
Complexity: Layered, multi-dimensional character with many evolving aromas.
Cork taint: Musty off-flavour caused by TCA contamination in cork.
Cremant: Sparkling wine made by traditional method outside Champagne.
Cru: A vineyard or group of vineyards of recognised quality.
Cru Bourgeois: Bordeaux classification tier below Cru Classe.
Cru Classe: Classified growth, notably in the Bordeaux 1855 classification.
Cuvee: A specific blend or batch of wine, often the best selection.

Debourbage: Settling of grape juice before fermentation to remove solids.
Decanting: Pouring wine into a decanter to separate sediment or aerate.
Demi-sec: Medium-sweet wine or champagne.
Disgorgement: Removing frozen yeast plug from champagne after second fermentation.
DOC/DOCG: Italian controlled/guaranteed origin designation.
Domaine: Estate that grows grapes and makes wine from its own vineyards.
Dosage: Sugar added to champagne after disgorgement to adjust sweetness.

Elevage: The ageing and maturation process between fermentation and bottling.

Horizontal tasting: Tasting wines from different producers of the same vintage.

Lees: Dead yeast cells that settle after fermentation.
Legs: The streaks of wine running down the glass, indicating alcohol or sugar.
Length: How long flavours persist after swallowing.
Lieu-dit: A named locality or vineyard in France.
Liquoreux: Very sweet, concentrated dessert wine.

Maceration: Skin contact during winemaking to extract colour, tannin and flavour.
Magnum: 1.5 litre bottle (two standard bottles).
Malolactic fermentation: Conversion of sharp malic acid to softer lactic acid.
Minerality: A perceived quality of stone, chalk or flint in wine.
Mise en bouteille: Bottled (au domaine = estate-bottled).
Moelleux: Sweet, luscious wine style.
Must: Freshly pressed grape juice before or during fermentation.

Organic: Viticulture without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers.
Oxidation: Exposure to air, adding nutty/sherry notes; excessive oxidation is a fault.

Petillant: Lightly sparkling.
Phylloxera: Root-feeding insect that devastated European vineyards in the 1800s.
Pigeage: Punching down the cap of grape skins during red wine fermentation.
Pradikat: German quality level based on grape ripeness at harvest.
Premier Cru: Second-highest vineyard classification in Burgundy.
Pressurage: Pressing grapes to extract juice.

Reduction: Lack of oxygen causing sulphur-like aromas; often resolved by decanting.
Remontage: Pumping wine over the cap of skins during fermentation.
Reserva: Spanish ageing classification requiring minimum barrel and bottle time.
Residual sugar: Sugar remaining after fermentation, determining sweetness.
Rootstock: The root system onto which grape varieties are grafted.

Sec: Dry (in still wine) or slightly sweet (in champagne).
Sediment: Natural deposits of tannin and colour that form in aged red wines.
Sommelier: Trained wine professional who advises on wine selection and service.
Soutirage: Racking — transferring wine off its lees to clarify.
Structure: The framework of tannin, acidity and alcohol that supports a wine.

Tannin: Astringent compounds from grape skins, seeds and oak that give structure.
Terraces: Terraced vineyards on steep hillsides.
Terroir: The complete natural environment (soil, climate, altitude) that shapes a wine.

Ullage: The air space between wine and cork; excessive ullage suggests evaporation.

Veraison: The stage when grapes begin to change colour and ripen.
Vertical tasting: Tasting multiple vintages of the same wine.
Vieilles vignes: Old vines, typically 40+ years, producing concentrated fruit.
Vintage: Wine from a single harvest year.