Wine Basics
An A-Z guide to Wine. These entries are written by our members.
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Hopefully we can make a glossary of wine that will be of help to everyone (especially beginners!)
| Balance | Author: MoIppai |
|---|---|
| This is literally how all the components of a wine (acids, fruit, tannins, oak, etc) 'balance out' and complement each other. If you can only taste fruit in a wine, then some people would say it's unbalanced. A balanced wine would show some of each of it's different components without one over bearing the others. | |
| Breathe | Author: MoIppai |
| People talk about 'letting a wine breathe'. This just means letting the wine mix with oxygen in the air. This can be done simply by opening the bottle, although some wines need to be allowed to breathe for 2,3 or even 4 hours before truly ready to drink. These should be decantered (poured into a decanter), so more oxygen can reach the wine. Allowing a wine to breathe lets the flavours develop and the tannins to soften, making the wine taste much better. | |
| Closure | Author: MoIppai |
| The method used to 'close' or seal the wine bottle. Traditionally this is cork, but can also be plastic, screw cap or even glass. I only saw glass closures recently but apparently Chateau Lafite Rothschild were using glass closures until the 18th century when they changed to cork. | |
| Tannin | Author: MoIppai |
| A substance found in plants (and in the skins of grapes), so is found in wine. It causes the dry, astringent sensation in the mouth. A tannic wine is one with lots of tannins (reds are usually more tannic than whites, due to red wines being fermented with the skins). | |
| Terroir | Author: MoIppai |
| This is a French word that has no direct translation into English. It's also something that many people interested in wine hotly debate, but essentially it seems to boil down to this :- Terroir is the place and environment that the grapes were grown in and the wine made. This includes the land (soil texture, acidity, etc), climate (micro and macro), and exposure (to the elements, sun, rain, etc). Some people also include in this the human element (the effect the wine maker has on the finished product). | |
| Vieilles Vignes | Author: MoIppai |
| Old Vine - a term often used on wine bottles to show the grapes come from a notably old vine. Old vines are believed (by some) to make better wines. | |
| Vino Blanco | Author: MoIppai |
| Spanish for 'White Wine' | |
| Vino de Mesa | Author: MoIppai |
| Spanish for 'Table Wine' | |
| Vino Rosado | Author: MoIppai |
| Spanish for 'Rose Wine' | |
| Vino Tinto | Author: MoIppai |
| Spanish for 'Red Wine' | |
