Latest features Wine jargon demystifyer

Date Published:

14/05/2009

Impress the starched linen tablecloth set with your wine wordiness

Samantha Linter, director and winemaker at Bolney Wine Estate, Bookers Vineyard, shares her expertise.

Natural fruit acids are present in all wines, in varying amounts. They help the wine age, as well as providing crispness and freshness.

Poncy term for allowing a wine to 'breathe', maximising the aromas as well as the flavours on the palate.

The weight of the wine in the mouth. A full bodied wine will have a strong concentration of flavours, and will generally be high in alcohol volume.

This refers to the smell of a wine. Some old-school tasters reserve use of this term for the special aromas that develop with bottle age.

Bringing a bottle of wine up to room temperature. This technique is used for most red wines.

Sparkling wine, specifically the type made in the French region of the same name. In southern England the chalk soils are very similar to those in the Champagne region, and English sparkling wine is now giving Champagne a run for its money.

Contrary to popular belief, a corked wine is not one that has bits of cork floating in it (this is actually totally harmless – just fish the bits out and the wine should taste fine); it is a wine that has been contaminated as a result of a chemical reaction between chlorine and cork. It is a major problem that can spoil between 2 and 7 per cent of all wines, which is why artificial corks and screw caps are becoming increasingly common place, especially on inexpensive wines.

Transferring a wine from its bottle to another container, most commonly a decanter. Wine buffs argue that young wines 'open out' (smell better) when they are decanted, although attempts to demonstrate this effect in blind tastings have largely been unsuccessful. Whether or not decanting is beneficial for a wine, the whole ceremony is probably worth doing just for the fun of it.

Not be confused with legless, which is what you get if you drink too much wine… When you swill wine around a glass, it leaves a liquid film on the inside of the glass. These 'tears' (as they are also referred to) are the result of the difference in evaporation between the water and the alcohol - alcohol evaporates much more quickly than water. As water is the primary element of wine, there are more tears when the percentage of alcohol is higher.

During ancient times, nectar was the drink of Greek gods. Today ‘nectar’ is used to describe wines of exceptional quality.

Catch-all term referring to wines from the traditional European wine-producing regions.

Wines produced outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe, in particular from South America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

Producers typically use this term to refer to a wine that is made from selected grapes or has been given lavish oak treatment.

Collective name for the bitter group of chemicals found in skins, pips, and stems of grapes, and also in the oak barrels that are commonly used to age wine in. Despite the unappealing description, tannins are a vital component of red wines. They give structure and help the aging process, and without tannins to counter the fruit, most red wines would taste unbalanced.

The year of harvest. Where a wine is Non Vintage or NV this indicates that the wine is a blend of current (last) harvest and perhaps the previous year to create a more consistent house style.

Gen up on your vino with 4Food’s wine hub

Back to top