While wine can be delicious, exciting, interesting and complex, the terminology that’s grown up around it can be arcane and inscrutable. Like many fields of human activity, a whole language has built up around the growing, vinification, and drinking of wine that seems almost designed to intimidate and impress.
But once you get the hang of it, you start to see how useful these words can be, and why they’re used so often. So in this article, we’ll give you a quick primer on the terms you’re most likely to encounter in your wine-related exploits so that the next time a friend offers you a taste from a bottle of vintage, grand cru, vieilles vignes wine that was mise en bouteille au domaine, you’ll know to respond with an emphatic yes.
ABV
‘Alcohol By Volume’; the amount of alcohol in the wine indicated as a percentage on the bottle.
Acidity
An essential component in a wine’s character that keeps it vibrant and refreshing, and balances against sweetness and tannins. Acidity comes from the grape, highest when they’re firm and green, transforming into sugar as the grape ripens. Extremely ripe grapes generally produce flat, flabby and uninteresting wines very low in acidity.
Appellation
A controlled geographic designation, including regulations that dictate how grapes are grown and harvested, and what is and is not allowed in winemaking and labelling. For French wines, an appellation wine is indicated by AOC or AOP (appellation of controlled or protected origin) on the bottle.
The principal classifications of Burgundy wine are Bourgogne, Village, Premier Cru (first growth), and Grand Cru (great growth). To learn more on this subject, read our article on the Classifications of Burgundy wine.
Aroma
Compounds that are vaporized and inhaled through the nose or the back of the throat when you’re drinking. Aroma is responsible for much of the flavor, nuance and character of wine, and is generally broken down into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Attack
Refers to the initial and immediate impression a wine makes on your palate in the first few seconds after taking a sip. It includes the flavors, sensations, intensity, tannins, and so on.
Decant
Pouring off a wine bottle into a decanter (or other vessel) to separate it from the sediment at the bottom and expose it to oxygen. This softens the tannins and opens up the flavor of young wine; somewhat mimicking the aging process.
Domaine
Literally ‘estate’, a labeling convention indicating that a wine was made by the same person or company that grew the grapes.
(See Négociants - Explained for more information on domaines.)
Fining
A method of clarifying and stabilize wine by adding a fining agent, which binds to unwanted particles like proteins, tannins, and other compounds, causing them to precipitate out of the liquid.
Finish
Refers to the lingering impression of the wine after swallowing, including flavours, sensations, and aromas. A good finish is usually long and pleasant, and continues to evolve and develop for several seconds.
Grape Must
The mix of grape juice, skins, seeds, and sometimes stems that is left to ferment after red wine grapes are crushed. Allows pigment, tannins, and other phenolic compounds to steep into the wine over time.
Mise en bouteille au domaine
French for ‘bottled on the estate’. It can be found on the label of a bottle, and in almost every case is a desirable attribute.
Maison
Literally ‘house’ or ‘family’, a labelling requirement for wines made with purchased grapes, generally by négociants.
Négociant / Négociant-éleveur
Literally ‘merchant’, negociants are winemakers who don’t own their own vines and instead purchase grapes or juice from growers, then transform it into wine themselves. They also take on the task of bottling, marketing, and selling the wine. Those who eventually purchase vineyards of their own are known as “négociant-eleveurs” (merchant growers). Négociants produce more than 50% of Burgundy’s wine.
Oak
Can refer to the oak flavors imparted into wine from storing and aging, or to the wood used to make the barrels. French oak is tighter-grained, imparting milder and more restrained flavors of vanilla, clove, allspice and cedar. Loose-grained American oak imparts robust flavors of coconut, vanilla, cedar and dill into the wine.
Phenols / Polyphenols
A group of several hundred chemical compounds (such as tannins) responsible for many aspects of a wine’s flavor, color, and mouthfeel.
Pressing
A step in the winemaking process in which the grapes are gently crushed in order to split the skins and extract juice from the grapes.
Residual Sugar
The sugar that’s left over after fermentation. Residual sugar is perceived as sweetness in the wine, but how much you notice it will also depend on acidity, which has a neutralizing effect on sweetness.
Tannins
Tannins are naturally occurring phenolic compounds found in the skins, seeds, and stems of wine grapes. They occur naturally in a huge variety of plants (like cocoa, tea and coffee to name a few) and are responsible for that grippy drying sensation you notice in drinking red wine.
Terroir
Literally ‘earth’, or ‘soil’, refers to all the elements of viticulture that fall outside of human control; soil, sun, heat, terrain, and all the other environmental factors that make up a specific wine-growing location. Perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, Burgundy is known for its expression of a specific terroir. There, terroir is considered a critical distinction, even the defining set of characteristics, between different vineyards and resulting wines.
Vintage
Refers to the single year in which grapes were grown. A non-vintage wine is made with grapes grown over different seasons.
(Read our article on vintage to learn more)
Variety
Refers to the specific type of grape within a species (generally vitis vinifera) such as Chardonnay or Pinot Noir
Varietal
Wine made from a single grape variety.
Sommelier
Wine experts employed by restaurants to help build the wine list and offer guidance and advice to patrons.
Vitis Vinifera
The European grapevine species with which most of the world’s wines are made.
Vieilles Vignes
Literally; ‘old vines’, and refers to grapevines typically older than 50 years (or to the wines made with those grapes). As vines enter their golden years, yields decrease, concentrating the juice in the grapes. As such, it’s generally believed that older vines have the potential to make better wine when properly handled.
Yeast
Tiny fungi responsible for fermentation, transforming sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. While wild yeasts occur naturally on grapes, most winemakers prefer to use cultured yeast as the results are much more predictable.