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Glossary Acetic Several types of acids are found in wines, the worst is acetobacter a bacteria that turns wine into vinegar Acidity Some acids are essential: they balance the fruit giving crispness, freshness, brilliance whilst preserving the wine. Lacking the right kind of acidity will produce an insipid wine, the most important are citric, malic and tartaric acid. AC Appellation Controlee France ’s principal and much imitated quality designation system. Designed to protect producers from imitation and to guarantee authenticity to consumers. Appellations are granted and regulated by INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine). Aroma A simple, often fruity smell or flavour present in young wine Astringent A critical term usually used for relatively tannic white wines (see Tannic) Balance The relation of the components in a wine so that the balance is maintained. A well balanced wine will have the most notable attribute — flavour, fragrance, after-taste etc — shown off to advantage with the other traits remaining in proportion. Body Determined chiefly by its alcoholic strength but also by extract. The more body a wine has the less it tastes like water. Bone Dry A wine with no taste of sweetness, but with an assertive almost rasping dryness Bouquet The complex and multi layered smells or flavours, mainly the product of the maturing process. Cave Cellar, usually underground Concentrated Good extract and/or intense flavours Corked Wine that has been spoilt and smells mouldy usually from cracked or seeping cork allowing introduction of air or fungi. The longer the wine is exposed to the air, the stronger the smell gets and the wine usually tastes rather nasty.
Cuvee Literally a vatful of wine. Usually however, it indicates a blend of wines, generally from the same grape variety and of the same vintage. In Champagne it also means the first pressing and the resultant wine. DO Spanish official category of wine Denominacion de Origen DOC Italian official category of wine Denominazione di Origine Controllata DOCG As above but ‘Garantita’ too Domaine Wine estate Dry Less obvious than bone dry; there is no sweetness but there can be a mouth filling subtle character Esters Compounds formed by acids and alcohols either during fermentation or ageing. Often intensely aromatic. Extract The sum of a wine’s solids i.e. what would be left after boiling, includes phenolics, sugars, minerals and glycerol. Fermentation malolactique Malolactic fermentation that breaks down acids in the wine. Essential for red wines, optional for white. Finish The sensory impact of a wine after it has been swallowed Firm Tannins perceptible Fresh Pleasantly acid Fruit The combination of flavour (aroma) and body coming from the grapes rather than the wine making or ageing. Full-bodied Wine with considerable body (see above) Green Generally too acid. It can mean the agreeable freshness that some wines possess while very young. It may also indicate the wine was made from young vines. Length The time the various taste impressions of the wine remain with the drinker both in the nose and on the palate after swallowing. Maceration carbonique Process in which fermentation takes place within uncrushed grapes placed in carbon dioxide, resulting in fragrant wines that are quickly drinkable - e.g.Beaujolais Primeur Malic Acid Appley acid most notable in grapes from cool years Must Unfermented grape juice Noble Rot The action of a fungus (botrytis cinera) can work wonders in vineyards where the grapes are still on the vines. The grape skins wither and shrink concentrating the juice and taking on something extra, a flavour that lingers and tantalizes. Nutty Aroma reminiscent of one of a number of nuts Oaked Aroma from ageing in oaken casks. Oenology The science of wine making, practiced by a oenologist Oxidized Over-exposure to air. Very old wines may oxidize as a result of a small amount of air in the bottle under the cork Sommelier Expert in the art of selecting and serving wine. Sparkling Wine containing carbon dioxide, such as champagne. Sulphur SO 2 , the most used antiseptic in the world of wine, it kills harmful bacteria, fermentation creates minute amounts naturally. Sweet Containing residual sugar from fermentation or from grape sugar incompletely converted to alcohol. Viticulture The art and science of growing wine grapes. Vitis vinifera Europe ’s native vine specie, often called simply vinifera Woody Aroma or taste of wood e.g. the pine of Retsina |
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