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A GLOSSARY OF WINE-TASTING TERMS

Wine...so enjoyable, so plentiful...so confusing, so frustrating. To help you along in your journey of enjoying wine we offer the following glossary of wine tasting terms.

Wine has its own vocabulary, with good reason. The complicated sensory impressions that come into play when you taste wine would be almost impossible to desribe were it not for these terms. Becasue they make it easier to express and compare the nuances of taste, smell and other sensations, these words have become part of the universal language of wine.

Some of these terms - such as acidity or tannin - apply to the composition of the wine; others for example, elegant or muscular - are familiar adjectives that make it easier to give a simple graphic description of any wine's special characteristics.

ACIDITY - One of the basic aspects of wine, providing crispness, vitality and sharpness

AFTERTASTE - An impression left on the palate after tasting that differs from, and is often less pleasant than, the original taste of the wine

ALCOHOL - One of the principal elements in wine, providing strength and character

AMBER - The deep yellow color present, for example, in a fine, aged Sauternes

AROMA - Smell of wine

AROMATIC - Possessing a clearly identifiable fragrance which is very often related to fruits & spices

ASTRINGENT - High in tannin, causing the mouth to dry and pucker

AUSTERE - Somewhat hard, without revealing any other conspicuous characteristics. Some great wines that seem austere when they are young may soften and display a more distincitve personality as they age

AUTUMNAL - Various aromas and tastes in wine reminiscent of dead leaves, humus, truffles, mushrooms, hay and barnyard.

BALANCE - Relationship between the basic elements of acidity, tannin and alcohol. if these elements are all in harmony, a wine is said to be well blanced

BIG - Powerful, alcoholic, but well balanced and usually with a potential for further development

BODY - The solidity of wine, contributed by its basic components, acid, tannin and alcohol

BOUQUET - Smell that develops in a wine during its evolution in the bottle. The term is generally applied to a pleasant smell in any wine. Often used in the same way as the term AROMA

BRICK RED - The brownish-red color characteristic of old red wine

BURNING - Fiery sensation due to an excessive proportion of alcahol in a wine

BUTTERY - A smell, taste and smoothness on the palate - all reminiscent of butter - encountered in some red wines

CARAMEL - Rich, slightly burnt and fudge-like smell and taste present in some wines, such as Madeira

CLEAN - Devoid of defects, free of any anomaly or foreign taste

CLOSED - Not revealing its character. Many fine wines fo through a closed period in their youth

COARSE - Rough and of poor quality, often due to excess acidity and poor vinification. Coarseness is also characteristic of a wine made from inferior grape varieties, cultivated for their high yield, or grapes that are grown in inappropriate soil

COMPLEX - Characteristic of great wines with many factes of smell and taste

COOKED - Heavy, often caramel-like smell and tastes sometimes due to heating the must before vinification. The terms is also used to describe the jam or prune-like flavor of wine made from excessively ripe grapes grown in an unusually hot summer

CORKED - A rare fault, causing the affected wine to emit a very unpleasant odor

CRISP - Refreshing and relatively acidic. Crispness is a desirable quality in light, flinty white wines that are drunk young

CRYSTALS - Natural, harmless flakes of tartaric acid found in some white wines

DEEP - Intensely full, with many nuances of flavor, all smoothly interlaced

DELICATE - Fragile quality of a good wine which may just be on the verge of decline. The terms is also used to describe a good, well-balanced light wine, with a pleasant but not very assertive smell and taste

DEVELOPED - State of a wine expressed in terms of its maturity. A well-developed wine is one that has matured to the right degree and in the correct way; an underdeveloped wine is one that needs ageing

DISTINGUISHED - Fine, with distinctive character, elegance and refinement

DRY - Lacking sweetness. A wine in which the sugar content has been fermented out

EARTHY - Smell or taste reminiscent of earth

ELEGANT - Of exceptioinal high quality and distinction, harmoniously balanced and with all its virtues intact, possessing a certain lightness and flair

EXUBERANT - Lively, vital. The description is often applied to young, fruity wines that are easy to drink.

FAT - Full of flavor

FEMININE - Fine, intricate and delicate

FINISH - The final taste of a wine, the last impression

FIRM - Strong and well balanced, but still with a perceptable degree of tannin and acidity

FLAT - Lacking acidity, character and any distinctive flavor; in sparkling wine, signifying a loss of sparkle

FLINTY - A metallic smell and taste associated with wines vinified from Sauvignon Blanc grapes that have been grown on particular soils, such as Pouilly-Fume

FLOWERY - Displaying the fragrance of a flower, such as honeysuckle, jasmine, lilac, orange blossom, rose or violet. However, the smell of geraniums in a wine is considered to be a fault

FRESH - Young and vital - often applied to well-balanvced light wines, low in tannin, that are drunk young

FRUITY - Recalling fruits in flavor. A variety of fruit odors and tastes, apart from the obvious one of grapes, may be discerned in wine - apple, apricot, blackcurrant, blueberries, cherry, citrus fruit, peach, pear, plum, raspberry or strawberry, as well as the heavy smell of cooked fruit. young, uncomplicated red wines often display an immediate open fruity quality

FULL-BODIED - Fat, with all elements strongly defined

GAMEY - Recalling the aroma of the meat of game birds, small furred animals, or venison, usually found in the bouquet of older wines

GENEROUS - Big, open and rich, usually high in alcohol

GREEN - Sharp, acidic. indicates either a wine that is very young or one that has been made from under-ripened grapes. Can be a pleasant, refreshing quality. The term can also be used to suggest a herbal or grassy quality in a wine

HARD - Young, undeveloped, with an excessive amount of tannin still masking its qualities

HARMONIOUS - Perfectly balanced

HARSH - Rough, tannic and acidic, often a quality of youth

HEADY - High in alcohol

HERBACEOUS - Grassy, smelling of fresh grass and hay

HERBAL - Smelling of herbs, such as lemon balm, thyme, rosemary, sage, lavender, mint, and verbena

HONEST - Decent, without flaws or defects, but having no great qualities

HONEYED - Sweet smell and taste often found in fine Botrytis wines, such as Sauternes

INTENSE - Deep and complicated

INTRICATE - Subtly complex and with many elusive nuances

IODINE - Taste resembling that of sea urchin

IRON - Hard, strong structure in a fine wine which will take many years to mellow and soften. A metallic taste, reminiscent of iron, also appears as a nuance in some wines

LACY - Intricate, full of subtle, harmonious aromas and flavors, delicately bound together

LEGS - Name given to the long rivulets which run slowly down the inside of a glass after a wine has been swirled

LIGHT - Without much body, usually indicating a young wine that is ready to drink. Lightness is also a derogatory term applied to a wine that does not live up to expectations

LUSCIOUS - Rich, smooth, sweet and opulent, with all the elements in harmony

MADERIZED - Flat, stale smelling. This fault, to be found in red wine, is caused by oxidation. A maderized wine often darkens to a dull brown color

MASCULINE - Description applied to a wine that is characteristically big and assertive

MATURE - Ready for drinking, aged to the right degree

MEATY - Rich, chewable, full-bodied and firm

MELLOW - Mature and soft, with no edge of harshness

MOULDY - Tasting of mold or rot. This fault occurs in wine that has been made from grapes attacked by grey rot, or in wine kept in casks that have been allowed to deteriorate

MUSCULAR - Big, robust, and full-bodied, with an assertive flavor

NOBLE - Of perfect structure, high quality and breeding. The terms is applicable to great wines at any stage of their development

NOSE - The sum total of all aromas in a wine

OAK - Smell and taste of a wine that has been aged in new oak barrels

OPAQUE - Dense-looking, lacking clarity and transparency

OPEN - Yielding all its qualities, extrovert. A fien wine, aged to the right degree

OXIDIZED - Applied to wine with a flat, stale taste, caused by excessive exposure to air

PERSISTENCE - Length of time that a wine remains on the palate after tasting

PUNGENT - Strong, distinctive and assertive smell characteristic of some wine types, such as the burnt odor typical of a Madeira

RAW - Young and underdeveloped, somewhat harsh with rough edges

REFRESHING - Thirst-slacking - often applicable to acidic light wines drunk young

RICH - Full, usually harmonious

RIPE - Fully mature, rich and full of fruit flavor

ROBUST - Strong, concentrated and full-bodied, well-balanced

ROUGH - Hard, acrid and ungiving

ROUND - Well developed, with no sharp edges. Usually applicable to mellow, full-bodied, ample wines

SCENTED - Agreeably reminiscent of the aroma of flowers, spices & herbs

SHARP - With a bite, becausee of a somewhat excessive amount of acidity

SHORT - Persisting only briefly on the palate after tasting

SILKY - Delicately smooth and harmonious

SMOKED - Recalling smoked foods, the smell of burning leaves, or other smoky aromas

SOUR - Over-acidic, often vinegary. Sourness is an undesirable quality that will not disappear with ageing

SPARKLING - Name given to wines that have been specially treated to imprison carbon diaxide in wine. It is released slowly, in the form of tiny bubbles, when the bottle is uncorked

SPICY - Characteristic spice-like smell and taste encountered in many wines, sometimes due to a certain grape variety, such as Gewurtztraminer. Some wines have flaros reminiscent of allspice, pepper, cloves, cinnamon or other spices

STEELY - High in acidity, fairly hard and uncompromising

STRONG - Big and powerful, ususally with high alcoholic content

STRUCTURE - A wine's composition

SULPHUR - Sulphur dioxide is used quite commonly in vinification. However, an excess of it - detectable by a prickly sensation in the nose and back ofthe throat, as well as by its smell - is undesirable

SUPPLE - With many different characteristic and nuances, some easily discernable, others less obvious, but easy to drink, soft and seductive with no sharp edges and a good balance

SWEET - Term applied to wines in which the sugar content is either naturally high or has been brought up by artificial sweetening

TANNIN - One of hte major elements in red wine identifiable in tsating by the mouth-puckering effect it produces. Tannin is particularly obvious in fine wines that require ageing, such as Bordeauxs, Burgundys, and Ports; it serves as a preservative during their ageing process, gradually softening as the wines mature and allowing the fruit flavor to emerge. Tannin forms most of the sediment present in red wines that have aged for a number of years

TART - Sharp, over-acidic

THICK - Excessively heavy and dense, usually a negative

THIN - Light and without body, watery

TIRED - Worn out, past its prive, describing a wine that is fading. Wines can also be tired from travelling or being subjected to treatments suck as racking - these wines recover with a rest

TOUGH - Big and overpoweringly tannic and therefore difficult to drink

UNBALANCED - Unharmonious - wine in which one or more of the basic elements is too weak or too overbearing

VANILLA - Scent of vanilla which is imparted to some wines by new oak during ageing in cask

VELVETY - Smooth, subtle, rich and harmonious, with no edge of harshness

VIGOROUS - Lively and strong wine, usually still developing in a healthy way

YEASTY - Smelling of bread, sometimes thought to be an indication that hte wine has been exposed to secondary fermentation in bottle

YOUNG - Immature, light and fresh - the latter if applied to a wine drunk young

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