A little wine vocab to get ya on your way.
Acidity: The tart, fresh taste in a wine. Typically found in whites. Very acidic wines can cause a puckery-feeling in the mouth, similar to tasting a lemon.
Alcohol Level: Most California wines have an alcohol content in the range of 13-15%. European wines tend to be lower in alcohol than ours.
Aroma/Nose: When tasting it's more user-friendly to say you enjoy the aroma or nose of a wine. I.e.“I'm noticing aromas of dark plums, and hints of tobacco on the nose,”vs.“I like the smell.”And if you like the smell, far out! But here's where a little wine lingo's okay.
AVA: American Viticulture Area is basically the neighborhood, or specific growing region the grapes are grown in. California has specific AVA's.
Blends: A simple concept, but sometimes difficult to do well. Some wineries make blends to use up left over wines. Other times, blends are made with a flavor profile in mind. Blends can be labeled table-wine, or given a particular name such as Silver Mountain Vineyard's signature Alloy.
Breath: Letting a wine breath is similar to a good stretch in the morning. The wine's been cooped up in the bottle, and a little air can let it stretch or open up. I may open a bottle an hour or two before serving and pour a little wine out (in a wine glass) so there's a larger surface area of wine in the bottle. The air hits this and lets some of the extra alcohol-flavor burn off.
Champagne: true champagne is made in France by a special method called, methode champenoise. This produces a much more complex flavor as the 2nd fermentation takes place in the bottle, giving a more yeasty taste to the wine.
Dessert Wine, A.K. A. Port (fortified wine): Dessert wine is higher in alcohol, and typically fortified with brandy. Often richer, with a thicker texture, and made for sipping and savoring. Some dessert wines are called Port wine, but technically, Port is only from Portugal. Until we come up with a really cool name for Californian's fortified wines, we call ours dessert wine.
Alcohol Level: Most California wines have an alcohol content in the range of 13-15%. European wines tend to be lower in alcohol than ours.
Aroma/Nose: When tasting it's more user-friendly to say you enjoy the aroma or nose of a wine. I.e.“I'm noticing aromas of dark plums, and hints of tobacco on the nose,”vs.“I like the smell.”And if you like the smell, far out! But here's where a little wine lingo's okay.
AVA: American Viticulture Area is basically the neighborhood, or specific growing region the grapes are grown in. California has specific AVA's.
Blends: A simple concept, but sometimes difficult to do well. Some wineries make blends to use up left over wines. Other times, blends are made with a flavor profile in mind. Blends can be labeled table-wine, or given a particular name such as Silver Mountain Vineyard's signature Alloy.
Breath: Letting a wine breath is similar to a good stretch in the morning. The wine's been cooped up in the bottle, and a little air can let it stretch or open up. I may open a bottle an hour or two before serving and pour a little wine out (in a wine glass) so there's a larger surface area of wine in the bottle. The air hits this and lets some of the extra alcohol-flavor burn off.
Champagne: true champagne is made in France by a special method called, methode champenoise. This produces a much more complex flavor as the 2nd fermentation takes place in the bottle, giving a more yeasty taste to the wine.
Dessert Wine, A.K. A. Port (fortified wine): Dessert wine is higher in alcohol, and typically fortified with brandy. Often richer, with a thicker texture, and made for sipping and savoring. Some dessert wines are called Port wine, but technically, Port is only from Portugal. Until we come up with a really cool name for Californian's fortified wines, we call ours dessert wine.
Dry: Dry wine, in a nut shell, is non-sweet wine. Sweet and dry are opposites on the color wheel of wine sweetness. A dry white is often called bone-dry or non-sweet, while an off-dry wine will have hints of sweetness
Fermentation: A natural process by which the yeast
in grapes ferments the sugar in the grapes into alcohol. The grapes break down in this process, producing juice that turns to wine. It's kind of like leaving fruit on the counter too long, and it starts to break down.
Filtering wine: a process of filtering wine to remove any bits of sediment, such as yeast, stems, seeds, etc.
Fining wine: the addition of bonding agents that adhere to sediment, then which are removed by filtering it out.
Fruit forward: Used to describe a wine's fruit taste,
but it doesn't necessarily mean it's very sweet. For example: you may taste hints of fresh raspberry or mango without the jammy taste.
Jammy: This describes a wine that tastes sweet, akin to jam, dried, or baked fruit. This is more common in red wines, especially from grapes grown in warmer regions.
New World/Old World wines: Old World Wines is a common term for wines made in a classical fashion and are often from Europe, including France, Italy, and Germany. New World Wines usually are grown in warmer regions and by winemakers who are looking to think outside the box of tradition. These are typically made in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.
Non-Vintage (NV): Meaning from wines made in different years, vs. one specific year.
Nose: A fancy word for smell.
Palate: A fancy word for taste.
Production Site: The place where wine grapes go from picked-grape, to crush, to fermentation, to bottle.
Short Pours: Sometimes I'll ask for a short pour. This is basically a smaller portion of wine for each tasting. If I'm driving, or if I'm planning on going to a couple of wineries I don't want too much alcohol—I just want a taste. Then if I really like something, I can ask to re-visit a wine, and the server will often give me a bit more.
Source: The source from which wine makers acquire their grapes for wine. To source grapes typically means a wine maker buys wine grapes from a grower.
Sparkling Wine: In the US we can call our sparkling, bubbly wine just that. Champagne technically needs to be from France in order to use the name. But we can make sparkling wines in the French process of methode champenoise.
Tannins: The dry mouth feel from some wines. Usually more pronounced in reds. It's the black-tea feel in your mouth.
Fermentation: A natural process by which the yeast
in grapes ferments the sugar in the grapes into alcohol. The grapes break down in this process, producing juice that turns to wine. It's kind of like leaving fruit on the counter too long, and it starts to break down.
Filtering wine: a process of filtering wine to remove any bits of sediment, such as yeast, stems, seeds, etc.
Fining wine: the addition of bonding agents that adhere to sediment, then which are removed by filtering it out.
Fruit forward: Used to describe a wine's fruit taste,
but it doesn't necessarily mean it's very sweet. For example: you may taste hints of fresh raspberry or mango without the jammy taste.
Jammy: This describes a wine that tastes sweet, akin to jam, dried, or baked fruit. This is more common in red wines, especially from grapes grown in warmer regions.
New World/Old World wines: Old World Wines is a common term for wines made in a classical fashion and are often from Europe, including France, Italy, and Germany. New World Wines usually are grown in warmer regions and by winemakers who are looking to think outside the box of tradition. These are typically made in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.
Non-Vintage (NV): Meaning from wines made in different years, vs. one specific year.
Nose: A fancy word for smell.
Palate: A fancy word for taste.
Production Site: The place where wine grapes go from picked-grape, to crush, to fermentation, to bottle.
Short Pours: Sometimes I'll ask for a short pour. This is basically a smaller portion of wine for each tasting. If I'm driving, or if I'm planning on going to a couple of wineries I don't want too much alcohol—I just want a taste. Then if I really like something, I can ask to re-visit a wine, and the server will often give me a bit more.
Source: The source from which wine makers acquire their grapes for wine. To source grapes typically means a wine maker buys wine grapes from a grower.
Sparkling Wine: In the US we can call our sparkling, bubbly wine just that. Champagne technically needs to be from France in order to use the name. But we can make sparkling wines in the French process of methode champenoise.
Tannins: The dry mouth feel from some wines. Usually more pronounced in reds. It's the black-tea feel in your mouth.
Tasting Room: The place where visitors and consumers can go to sample and buy wine.
Terroir: Loosely translated,
it's the growing environment: the soil, weather, elevation, and position of the land, as well as the grape's exposure to sun, wind, and marine influence. All of these influence the quality of the grape. This in turn affects the wine.
Varietal: Literally the name
for the type of grape. Say you buy apples. There are a lot of different varieties, or varietals, of apples. They'll have different flavors and textures, and each will have a different name. It's the same concept with grape varietals.
Vineyard: The place where grapes are grown. Basically
a grape farm.
Vineyard Designated Wines: Wines that are made with grapes for a single vineyard. This gives the wine a true flavor profile of a specific piece of land combined with a specific grape varietal.
Wine Maker: Someone who makes wine. (I know simple.) But note: the wine maker is not always the wine grower, or the owner of the wine company. Some wine makers source (buy) their grapes
from wine-growers..and then make their own wines, under their own labels.
Wine Grower: This is the person who grows the grapes, tends, and oversees a vineyard's welfare.
Winery: A winery can have vineyards, a tasting room, or a combination of the two.
Terroir: Loosely translated,
it's the growing environment: the soil, weather, elevation, and position of the land, as well as the grape's exposure to sun, wind, and marine influence. All of these influence the quality of the grape. This in turn affects the wine.
Varietal: Literally the name
for the type of grape. Say you buy apples. There are a lot of different varieties, or varietals, of apples. They'll have different flavors and textures, and each will have a different name. It's the same concept with grape varietals.
Vineyard: The place where grapes are grown. Basically
a grape farm.
Vineyard Designated Wines: Wines that are made with grapes for a single vineyard. This gives the wine a true flavor profile of a specific piece of land combined with a specific grape varietal.
Wine Maker: Someone who makes wine. (I know simple.) But note: the wine maker is not always the wine grower, or the owner of the wine company. Some wine makers source (buy) their grapes
from wine-growers..and then make their own wines, under their own labels.
Wine Grower: This is the person who grows the grapes, tends, and oversees a vineyard's welfare.
Winery: A winery can have vineyards, a tasting room, or a combination of the two.
Curious about the Nose & Palate of wines...