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Wine Vocabulary

The terms below are a short list of common wine description terms. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather, a condensed group of some of the most common terms used by wine professionals to describe what they are tasting.
TERMS FOR OFF ODORS
Corked: 
  • Often (mistakenly) used as a generic term for any wine that is bad.
  • More specifically used to refer to wines that have been infected with TCA, Trichloro anisole, a compound infecting corks or other wood-based material that has contact with the wine, and can impart a musty/moldy smell. 
Musty:
  • The smell of wet cardboard or a musty basement - this appears when a wine is corked. 
Saddle Leather:
  • The smell of sweat and animal skin that is often associated with Brettanomyces. 
Brett / Brettanomyces: 
  • A type of yeast that can produce off odors such as band-aid, saddle leather, and mouse feces.
  • Often associated with old-world wines from Rhone, Bordeaux, older Napa valley Cabs and Northern Italy.
  • Small levels can be considered part of the terroir. 
Reduced:
  • A wine that has sulfurous aromas, such as onion, cabbage, or rotten eggs.
  • May not be truly off, and it may often blow off with exposure to oxygen.
  • ​Often associated with screw-cap or Stelvin closure bottles rather than cork closures, but can happen to either.

TERMS FOR DESCRIBING FRUIT CONDITION
Tart: 
  • Fruit that is under ripe such as lemon pith, and under-ripe peach.
Fresh:
  • Fruit that is just about ripe, but still has some tartness to it. 
Ripe: 
  • Fruit that has a pure or classic quality to the smell, such as juicy fruit. 
Jammy:
  • Fruit that is overly ripe and reminds you of fruit jam.
Bruised:
  • Fruit that has fallen off the tree and sat on the ground for a couple of days. 
Baked:
  • Fruit that seems like it has sat out in the hot sun, and has lost the fresh aromas. 
Dried:
  • Fruit that has lost most of its moisture and the flavors have concentrated, such as craisins, raisins, dates, and prunes. 
Desiccated: 
  • Fruit that has dried out and started to rot.
  • This could be found in older wines, and may resemble baked/dried fruit that has some mustiness present

TERMS FOR DESCRIBING SWEETNESS LEVELS IN STILL WINES

Bone dry:
  • virtually zero residual sugar on the tongue
Dry:
  • Considered a dry wine, but may have a couple grams of residual sugar that is very difficult to detect.
Off-dry:
  • May seem dry in high acid wines like Riesling, but there is technically some sugar present.
Sec:
  • noticeably sweet, but not unbalanced
Demi-sec:
  • considerably sweet
Moelleux:
  • very sweet

TERMS FOR DESCRIBING TEXTURE OR BODY IN A WINE

Silky: 
  • Often refers to the tannins, and applied to a wine that is smooth, without harsh or astringent tannins.
Smooth:
  • Similar to silky, may refer to a wine with slightly lower alcohol and gentle tannins.
Velvety: 
  • Similar to silky, but usually conveying a richer density to the wine, with smooth, but present tannins.
  • Many Napa Valley red blends fit this description.
Muscular:
  • Often refers to a wine with fairly high alcohol and mod plus to high tannins.
  • Barolo would be a good example. 
Inky:
  • Refers to a wine that is heavily extracted, such as a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Barossa Valley Shiraz.
  • The color is usually deep ruby/purple.
  • The wine is probably from the new world.
  • It also implies a heavy, glycerin-like quality to the wine as well. 
Lean: 
  • A wine that is likely not fully ripe, and therefore it feels more like skim milk regarding texture.
  • There is likely little new oak, and is more often found in the old world. 
Aggressive:
  • Similar to muscular, but the tannins may be unbalanced and prominent. 
Harsh:
  • Similar to aggressive, but may be extremely unbalanced, and could also have some off odors or high alcohol levels.
Bright:
  • Acid descriptor, often refers to white wines with medium / medium + acidity.
Racy:
  • Acid descriptor, and often refers to white wines with high acidity.
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