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French term most often associated with Bordeaux where it denotes a Chateau's premier wine or "first wine". On a wine label the word's Grand vin may appear to help distinguish the wine from an estate's second or third wine.
A piece of stemware having a long stem with a tall narrow bowl on top.
A style of sustainable viticulture that while not completely organic aims to avoid the unnecessary use of synthetic chemicals
The undifferentiated mass of tissue that grows over grafting or pruning wounds that protects the tissue from drying out or suffering further injury. In the case of grafting the callus eventually hardens into the bulging graft union of the vine.
A champagne or sparkling wine with a small amount of residual sugar (slightly sweet). Not as dry as Brut.
A fortified wine that has been fortified with alcohol during fermentation. Example: Muscat de Beaumes de Venise
A designation of better quality German wines from recognized viticultural areas. It formally represents the second-highest level of German wine.
Abbreviation for the French term Union Coopérative denoting a regional or local cooperative.
French term usually used for wines of mid-level sweetness or liquoreux.[9]
The shoot fruit or flower offspring that arise from bud that has experienced a spontaneous genetic mutation in at least one gene in one of the buds cells. This offspring will be genetically different from the rest of the bud offspring on the plant and ma ...
A topographical feature of a vineyard including the angle and direction of a slope as well as its altitude.
A wine bottle that holds approximately 6 oz (175-187 mL) or one-fourth the equivalent of a typical 750 mL bottle; a single-serving.
In Cognac production this is the first fraction of alcohol spirit that is collected during the distillation process which includes volatile alcohol compounds ethanol and potentially toxic alcohols such as methanol. This fraction is discarded.
French term denoting a table wine the lowest classification of the French AOC system.
Chemicals such as sulfur dioxide that are used to prevent the grape must from oxidizing.
A liqueur made by combing unfermented grape juice with a brandy made from the residue of seeds skins and grape stalks left over from pressing.
Also called sommelier knife a popular type of corkscrew used in the hospitality industry.
A device used to measure the swelling and shrinkage of the trunk of the vine in response to irrigation/water use.
A process of filtration that uses a thin screen of biologically inert material perforated with microsize pores that capture matter larger than the size of the holes.
A production method of artificially mellowing wine by exposing it to heat.
Acids that are detectable on both the nose and the palate. The level of fatty or volatile acids in a wine that are capable of evaporating at low temperatures. Acetic and carbonic acids are the most common volatile acids but butyric formic and propionic a ...
Oxygen transmission rate. A factor of cork closures which shows some variation in their oxygen transmission rate which translates to a degree of bottle variation.[4]
In the Austrian wine region Wachau a classification of wine with a harvest must weight of at least 18.2°KMW and a finished alcohol level of at least 12.5% with no more than 8 g/l residual sugar. These wines are usually the most rich and full-bodied wines ...
White grape varieties that are relatively bland and not very aromatic on their own. These varieties are considered "neutral" because unlike more aromatic varieties like Riesling and Muscat these varieties can be enhanced by oak treatment or sur lie agin ...
A style of Italian wine that became popular in Tuscany in the late 20th century where premium quality wines were produced outside of DOC regulations and sold for high prices with the low level vino da tavola designation.
German for "late harvest" that is made without chaptalization. A Prädikat in Germany and Austria.
Commissioned by French Ministry of Agriculture to better position the wine industry for the future.
A designation of better quality German wines. When used in isolation on a wine label it refers to Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete.
The second fraction that is collected during the distillation process in Cognac production that makes up the vast majority of the end product
Italian term for concentrated grape must used to add sweetness to a wine. Similar to the German term süssreserve
A system of fractional blending used in the production of Sherry where younger wines are added to top up the barrels of older wines as they age in the cellar.
A classification of Bordeaux wine estates in the Medoc that were not part of the originally 1855 Bordeaux classification.
A European Union directive initiated in 1992 that mandates every bottle of wine produced or sold in the European Union to include a designated lot number. This allows identified defective or fraudulent wine to be tracked and removed from circulation more ...
Pronounced "sahn yay" is the removal of grape juice from the "must" before primary fermentation to increase a wines skin/juice ratio. Typically done after 24 hrs of cold soak and prior to inoculation.
An Italian term for a "naturally sparkling" wine. This usually refers to a wine such as Asti that has been bottled before fermentation is completed so that a natural sparkle of CO2 can be achieved in the bottle
Italian term for a winery that only produces wine from its own estate vineyards
The time prior to fermentation that the grape must spends in contact with it skins. This technique may enhance some of the varietal characteristics of the wine and leech important phenolic compounds out from the skin. This process can be done either cold ...
Italian term for old that may be used as an aging designation that is regulated by some DOC/G wine regions
A bacterium found in wine that causes acetification resulting in the conversion of wine to vinegar.
French term for the foil and wire cork cage that are used to dress a bottle of sparkling wine
The active element of sulfur dioxide that combined with molecules of oxygen to prevent oxidation. For more details see fixed sulfur above.
Wines with zero or very low levels of residual sugar. The opposite of sweet except in sparkling wines where dry means sweet.
German term for a viticultural technique of growing vines upon slopes in vertical up and down rows rather horizontally across terraces.
Also known as bâttonage A process associated with sur lie aging where the lees are stirred up to extract flavor and other sensory components into the wine and to avoid reductive conditions that may contribute to various wine faults
The process of adding pure alcohol or very strong (77 to 98 proof) grape spirit to a wine. Depending on when the alcohol is added either before during or after fermentation this can result in a wine with a high alcohol content and noticeable sweetness.
An A-frame rack used in the production of sparkling wine. The drilled holes in the boards allow sparkling wine bottles to go through the riddling process to slowly move the leftover sediment from secondary fermentation into the neck for removal.
French term for a grape grower who makes their own wine. Often associated with the Champagne wine region where producers of Grower Champagnes are identified by the initials RM (for Récoltant-Manipulant) on wine labels
A wine that was allowed to complete the process of fermentation without interruption to produce a wine that is completely dry.
A component of wine that is formed during the oxidation of alcohol. It is midway between an acid and an alcohol.
A term sometimes seen in Cognac production (but more often associated with grain spirits) to denote a Cognac that has not been watered down to reduce its alcohol level. Like whiskeys these Cognacs will usually be unfiltered and with a high alcohol proof o ...
A cask of wine used to store Sherry with a capacity between 159 to 172 gallons (600-650 liters)
Soils with high levels of sodium that will interfere with the growth and development of the grapevine.
The one-year old wood of a grapevine that is pruned back to leave just one or two buds to be used for next year's crop of grapes
Spanish term for a Sherry producers who ferments and matures the wine before selling it to a merchant
Literally "old vines" in French sometimes written as an acronym V.V. It is not a regulated term with no official or legal definition of "Vieilles vignes" in any of the wine regions of France.
The sparkling effervescence of a wine. In the glass it perceived as the bubbling but the surface of the glass can affect this perception. Premium quality sparkling wine has a mousse composed of small persistent string of bubbles.
French cask capable of holding 900 litres (240 US gal) or the equivalent of 100 cases of twelve standard 750ml (75 cL) bottles of wine.
A winemaking practice of fermenting whole grapes that have not been crushed. This intracellular fermentation (as opposed to the traditional extracellular fermentation of wine yeast) tends to produce fruity deeply colored red wines with low tannins
A technique of fining that uses the whites of eggs to attract negatively charged matter.
In Hungary the measurement of sweetness levels for Tokaji ranging from 3 Puttonyos which contains at least 60 grams/liter of sugar to 6 Puttonyos containing at least 150 g/l of sugar.
An Italian method of winemaking that involves putting a wine through a secondary fermentation on the lees from a previously made recioto wine. This method is common in the Valpolicella area among Amarone producers who make a secondary Ripasso wine.
An allowance within the French AOC system that allows producers to exceed the official maximum limit on yields by as much as 20% in warm weather years. Critics such as wine writer Tom Stevenson describes this loophole (also known as "PLC") as "legalized c ...
Wine sediment that occurs during and after fermentation and consists of dead yeast grape seeds and other solids. Wine is separated from the lees by racking.
The number of vines per a define area of land (acres hectare etc). This can be influenced by many factors including appellation law the availability of water and soil fertility and the need for mechanization in the vineyard. In many wine regions vine d ...
The French term for destemming. Destemming is removing stems prior to pressing and fermenting the grapes and their juice. Stems have a significant amount of coarse and often green tannin undesirable in the finished wine.
A beer bottle cap used as a temporary closure for a sparkling wine as it undergoes as secondary fermentation.
The process of separating red must from pomace which can happen before or after fermentation.
