Wine Dictionary
A living list of wine terms, explained without the snobbery
A
Acidity – The zing in wine. Like a squeeze of lemon on your tongue — keeps things bright, not boring.
Aeration – Giving wine some air so it loosens up. Basically, letting your Cabernet take a deep breath.
Alcohol by Volume (ABV) – The % of alcohol in your glass. Spoiler: it’s why that “one glass” sometimes hits like three.
Amphora – Clay pots used to ferment wine. Old-school and suddenly hip again (thanks, natural wine crowd).
Appellation – Fancy word for “where the grapes are from.” Champagne isn’t just sparkling wine — it’s an address.
Aroma – The smells you get in young wine. Think “fruit salad,” before it ages into something more complex.
Astringent – That mouth-puckering, sandpaper-y vibe. Usually tannins at work.
B
Balance – When all the parts (acid, tannin, alcohol, sweetness) play nicely together. Harmony in a glass.
Barrique – A 225L oak barrel. Adds vanilla, toast, spice. Also makes wine sound more expensive.
Biodynamic Wine – Farming by moon cycles, cow horns, and compost tea. Sounds witchy, tastes alive.
Blend – When winemakers mix grapes together. (Bordeaux: Cabernet + Merlot = power couple.)
Body – How heavy the wine feels. Skim milk = light. Whole milk = full.
Botrytis (Noble Rot) – A fungus that shrivels grapes into raisin-y sweetness. Gross name, delicious dessert wines.
Bouquet – The evolved, complex smells wine develops with age. The “glow up” of aroma.
Brettanomyces (Brett) – A wild yeast that can make wine smell funky (like barnyard, leather, or Band-Aids). A little can be “complex,” too much = flaw.
C
Cellaring – Storing wine so it ages gracefully. (Some get better. Some just die slowly.)
Cépage – French for “grape variety.” Because the French love being fancy.
Champagne – Sparkling wine from Champagne, France. Everything else? Sparkling wine. Sorry, Prosecco.
Clone – A grapevine copy chosen for certain traits. Grapevine’s version of a twin.
Concrete Egg – Egg-shaped fermenter. Looks weird, but winemakers swear it gives texture and energy.
Corked – A faulty cork gave your wine wet cardboard vibes. Tragic.
Cuvée – A specific blend or batch of wine. Sometimes meaningful, sometimes marketing.
D
Decanting – Pouring wine into another vessel to separate sediment and let it breathe. Wine yoga.
Demi-Sec – Sparkling wine with a little sweetness. Demi = “half,” but your sweet tooth will notice.
Domaine – French for “estate.” Basically, “we grew it and bottled it ourselves.”
Dosage – Sugar added to sparkling wine to tweak sweetness levels.
Dry – Not sweet. Don’t confuse it with that mouth-drying thing (that’s tannin).
E
Earthy – Mushrooms, soil, forest floor. Weirdly delicious when done right.
Enology – The science of winemaking. What the wine nerds study.
Estate Bottled – Grapes grown and made into wine on the same property. Farm-to-glass.
Extraction – How much flavor, color, tannin gets pulled from grape skins. The winemaker’s dial.
F
Fermentation – Yeast eats sugar, makes alcohol. Wine’s glow-up moment.
Field Blend – Different grapes planted and fermented together. Old-school chaos, often delicious.
Fining – Clarifying wine with egg whites, clay, or fish bladder. Yep, really.
Finish – The aftertaste. Long = memorable. Short = forgettable.
Fortified Wine – Boozier wine with spirit added (Port, Sherry). Think wine + a little liquor.
Foxy – A musky, grapey (yes, really) aroma found in some native American grape varieties. Think grape jelly meets the woods behind your grandmother’s house — nostalgic to some, a little feral to others. Either way, it’s distinct: that sweet, wild scent that says, this wine did not study abroad in France.
Frizzante – Italian for “lightly sparkling.” Like wine with gentle jazz hands.
G
Grand Cru – “Top-tier” vineyard in France. Prestige + price tag included.
Gran Reserva – Spain’s way of saying: “We aged this forever, and it’s worth the wait.”
Gravity Flow – Moving wine around the cellar using gravity instead of pumps. Gentle, eco-chic.
H
Herbaceous – Wine that smells like herbs, grass, or bell peppers. (Green in a good way.)
Horizontal Tasting – Same year, different producers/regions. The gossip session of wine tastings.
Hot – When alcohol sticks out too much. Not sexy-hot. Just boozy-hot.
I
IGP – “Protected Geographical Indication.” Regional wine classification, less strict than the top tiers.
Integrated – When everything blends seamlessly. Nothing pokes out.
Intensity – How loud the flavors and aromas are. Whisper vs. megaphone.
J
Jeroboam – Oversized wine bottle (3–5L). Showstopper at parties.
Jura – Small French region known for funky wines like Vin Jaune. Tiny but mighty.
K
Kabinett – A German Riesling style. Light, crisp, sometimes off-dry.
Kvevri (Qvevri) – Georgian clay pot, buried underground for fermentation. 8,000 years old and still cool.
L
Late Harvest – Grapes picked extra ripe. Means sweet, rich wines. Dessert in a glass.
Lees – Dead yeast cells that stick around. Add bready, nutty, creamy notes.
Legs (Tears) – Streaks down the glass. Pretty, but not proof of quality.
Lush – A wine that feels rich, velvety, indulgent. Like satin sheets in wine form.
M
Maceration – Soaking skins with juice for color + tannin. Wine tea.
Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) – Softens sharp acid into creamy vibes. Cue buttery Chardonnay.
Méthode Traditionnelle – Champagne’s sparkling method. Bubbles made in-bottle. Fancy fizz.
Minerality – Flavors like wet stone, chalk, or flint. Wine nerd catnip.
Must – The mash of juice, skins, seeds, stems before fermentation. Pre-wine soup.
N
Natural Wine – Minimal intervention, often funky and cloudy. Like wine in its yoga pants.
Negociant – A merchant who bottles wine from bought grapes/wine. The middleman.
New World Wine – Wines from newer regions (US, Chile, Aus). Often bold, fruity, in-your-face.
Noble Rot – The fancy fungus that makes dessert wine. Sounds tragic, tastes divine.
Nose – The aromas in wine. Stick your nose in and sniff.
O
Oaked – Wine flavored by oak barrels: vanilla, toast, spice.
Old World Wine – Traditional regions (France, Italy, Spain). Think restraint, terroir, heritage.
Oxidized – Too much oxygen. Nutty if intentional, sad if accidental.
Orange Wine – White grapes made like red (skins included). Amber, funky, culty.
P
Pet-Nat (Pétillant Naturel) – Sparkling wine bottled mid-fermentation. Rustic, fizzy, hipster-approved.
Phylloxera – Tiny bug that wiped out vineyards in the 1800s. Grapevine villain.
Piedmont – Italian region, home of Barolo + truffles.
Punt – The bottle’s bottom dimple. Purpose debated, looks dramatic.
Pétrol – That diesel smell in aged Riesling. Weirdly…good.
Q
QbA – Basic German quality wine classification.
QmP (Prädikatswein) – Higher-level German classification (Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, etc.).
Quaffable – Easy-drinking, dangerously chuggable.
R
Reserva / Riserva – Spanish/Italian wines aged longer than usual. More time, more depth.
Residual Sugar (RS) – Leftover sugar after fermentation. Sweetness factor.
Rosé – Pink wine. Made with red wine grapes via short skin contact (not just “mixing red + white”).
Round – Smooth, balanced, no sharp edges.
Rustic – Rough-around-the-edges, earthy style. Think barn chic.
S
Sommelier – A trained wine pro (or just someone who studied too much for fun).
Sparkling Wine – All bubbly wines (Champagne, Prosecco, Cava).
Structure – The skeleton of wine: tannin + acid + alcohol.
Super Tuscan – Rebel Tuscan wines made outside the strict rules, often by using international grape varietals. High quality, high drama.
Sur Lie – Wine aged “on the lees” for extra texture and flavor.
Sweet – Obvious sugar taste. Dessert territory.
T
Tannin – Compounds that dry your mouth (skins, seeds, stems, oak).
Terroir – Wine’s “sense of place” — soil, climate, vineyard vibes.
Tertiary Flavors – The stuff that develops with age: tobacco, leather, dried fruit.
Trocken – German for “dry.”
Typicity – How well a wine represents its grape or region.
U
Ullage – Empty space in the bottle between cork and wine. Too much = risk of oxidation.
Unoaked – Wine aged without oak. Clean, crisp, fresh.
V
Varietal Labeling – When wine is named after its dominant grape (vs. blends).
Veraison – When grapes ripen and change color. Vineyard glow-up.
Vinification – The actual process of turning grapes into wine.
Vintage – The year grapes were harvested. A wine’s birthday.
Vitis Vinifera – The grape species behind almost all quality wine.
Volatile Acidity (VA) – High levels = vinegary, nail polish vibes.
W
Whole Cluster Fermentation – Fermenting grapes with stems and all. Adds spice and grip.
Wine Fault – When something’s gone wrong (corked, cooked, oxidized).
Wine Legs – Those streaks on the glass. Pretty, not meaningful.
Woody – Overly oak-driven. Sometimes cozy, sometimes splinters.
Y
Yeast – Tiny organisms that turn grape juice into alcohol. The unsung heroes.
Yield – How many grapes are harvested. Less = usually better quality.
Z
Zymology – The science of fermentation. Because wine is nerdy and fun.