Knowledge Center · Reference

The Wine Glossary

The wine world loves its jargon — Italian, French, German, and a handful of English terms that don't mean quite what you'd think. This is a plain-English, cross-checked A–Z of the words you'll actually meet on labels, in tasting rooms, and in wine books.

Terms: 347
Letters: 26
Languages: 6+
Jargon: None

A

25 terms

A.P. Number: Short for "Amtliche Prüfungsnummer" — an official testing number confirming that a German wine has passed government quality-control standards.
ABC: Playful acronym for "Anything But Cabernet" or "Anything But Chardonnay," used by drinkers looking beyond the two most famous grape varieties.
Abfüllung (Erzeugerabfüllung): German for "bottled by the producer." Appears on wine labels to indicate estate bottling, often with the bottler's name.
Abboccato: Italian term for a lightly sweet (off-dry) wine — softer than dry, but not clearly sweet.
ABV: Alcohol By Volume — the percentage of alcohol in a wine, shown on every label.
AC: Abbreviation for "Agricultural Cooperative."
Acescence: A fault in which a wine takes on a vinegary smell and a sharp, sour-sweet taste, caused by acetic acid bacteria.
Adamado: Portuguese term for a medium-sweet wine.
Adega: Portuguese for a winery or wine cellar.
Alcohol: Ethanol — produced when yeast ferments the sugars in grape juice.
Almacenista: A Spanish producer who matures small stocks of Sherry and sells them, often in tiny quantities, to larger bodegas or bottlers.
Altar Wine: Wine used in the Catholic Church during the celebration of the Eucharist.
Alte Reben: German for "old vines" — usually implying deeper flavour and lower yields.
Amabile: Italian for a medium-sweet wine, slightly sweeter than abboccato.
Amontillado: A style of Sherry that begins as a Fino but continues ageing after the flor yeast dies, developing oxidative, nutty character.
Anbaugebiet: A designated wine-growing region in Germany (there are 13 in total).
Annata: Italian for vintage — the year the grapes were harvested.
AOC: Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée — the French system regulating where a wine may originate and how it must be made.
Aperitif: A drink served before a meal to stimulate the appetite; many wines, especially sparkling and lighter styles, are enjoyed this way.
Appellation: The defined geographic origin of a wine, often with rules about grape varieties and winemaking.
Aromatic: Used for wines with pronounced, easily recognisable aromas — think Gewürztraminer, Muscat, or Torrontés.
TTB: The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates wine production, labelling, and sales in the United States.
Ausbruch: An Austrian Prädikat historically made from botrytis-affected grapes; today it sits between Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese in ripeness.
Auslese: German for "select harvest" — a Prädikat level for wines made from very ripe, hand-selected bunches in Germany and Austria.
Azienda Vinicola: An Italian estate that produces wine from a mix of its own and purchased grapes.

B

19 terms

B.O.B.: Short for "Buyer's Own Brand" — wine bottled under the label of a restaurant or retailer rather than the producer.
Balthazar: A large-format bottle holding 12 litres — the equivalent of 16 standard 750 ml bottles.
Ban de Vendange: The official declaration in France that grape harvest may begin in a given region.
Barrique: A Bordeaux-style oak barrel holding 225 litres — one of the most common sizes worldwide.
Basic: A producer's entry-level wine, made in higher volumes and priced below their premium bottlings.
Beerenauslese: German for "berry selection" — a sweet Prädikat wine made from individually selected, overripe (often botrytised) berries.
Bereich: A district within a German Anbaugebiet — larger than a single vineyard but smaller than a full region.
Berthomeau Report: A landmark 2001 French Ministry of Agriculture report proposing reforms to modernise the French wine industry.
Bianco / Blanc / Blanco / Branco: White wine (or white grape) in Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese respectively.
Bin: Originally the numbered slot a wine occupied in a cellar; today often used as part of a wine's marketing name (e.g., Bin 75 Merlot).
Biodynamic Wine: Wine grown according to the biodynamic principles of Rudolf Steiner — organic farming combined with a lunar planting calendar and specific preparations.
Biologique: French for organic — used on labels to indicate certified organic viticulture.
Blend: A wine made from more than one grape variety (and sometimes more than one vineyard or vintage).
Blind Tasting: Evaluating a wine without knowing what it is — used to remove bias and sharpen tasting skill.
Bodega: Spanish for a winery or wine cellar.
Bota: A large oak cask, typically around 500–600 litres, traditionally used for ageing Sherry.
Botte: Italian for a large wooden cask (plural: botti), often 1,000–3,000 litres, used in traditional ageing of wines like Barolo and Barbaresco.
Bottle: The standard container for wine — usually 750 ml of glass, chosen for durability, neutrality, and long-term stability.
Breathing: Exposing a wine to air after opening — often by decanting — to soften tannins and open up aromas.

C

50 terms

C.S.: Abbreviation for "Cantina Sociale" on Italian labels, indicating a cooperative winery.
C.A.: Abbreviation for "Cooperativa Agrícola," a Spanish farming cooperative that produces wine.
C.V.: Abbreviation for "Coopérative de Vignerons" on French labels, indicating a growers' cooperative.
Cane Pruning: A pruning method that leaves one or two long canes of previous-year growth, each with 6–15 buds, to produce the coming season's fruit.
Cantina: Italian for winery or cellar.
Cantina Sociale: An Italian cooperative winery, jointly owned by its member growers.
Cap Classique: The South African term for sparkling wine made by the traditional (in-bottle) method.
Capsule: The foil or plastic sleeve that covers the cork and top of a wine bottle's neck.
Carbonic Maceration: A fermentation technique in which whole, uncrushed grapes are placed in a sealed vessel filled with CO₂; the result is soft, fruity, easy-drinking reds — the classic method behind Beaujolais Nouveau.
Cascina: In northern Italy, a farmhouse or country estate, often including vineyards and a winery.
Cask: A wooden (occasionally metal or plastic) vessel used to ferment, age, or store wine.
Casta: Portuguese for grape variety — Portuguese wines often blend several castas.
Caudalie: A unit used by tasters to measure how long a wine's flavour lingers after swallowing. One caudalie equals one second — the longer the finish, the finer the wine is often considered.
Cava: A traditional-method sparkling wine from Spain, made mostly in Catalonia from Macabeo, Xarel·lo, and Parellada.
Cave: French for cellar — used both for wine storage and, historically, for the underground "wine caves" carved into hillsides.
Cellar Door: The on-site tasting room and shop where a winery sells directly to visitors.
Cépage: French for grape variety. Also used to describe the varietal make-up of a blended wine.
Cerasuolo: Italian for "cherry-coloured" — used for certain deeply pink rosés and light reds, most famously Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo.
Chacha: A Georgian pomace brandy, sometimes called grape vodka, distilled from the skins and stems left over after winemaking.
Chai: French for an above-ground wine storage building, particularly in Bordeaux. The maître de chai is the cellar master.
Champagne Flute: A tall, narrow glass designed to preserve the bubbles and aromas of sparkling wine.
Chaptalization: Adding sugar to grape must before or during fermentation to raise the final alcohol level. Named after French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal.
Château: French for castle, but in wine it refers to a wine estate — historically most associated with Bordeaux.
Chiaretto: An Italian light-coloured rosé, particularly associated with the shores of Lake Garda.
Clairet: A traditional style of very light Bordeaux red — deeper than rosé, lighter than a full red — meant to be drunk young.
Claret: An English (particularly British) term for red Bordeaux wine.
Classic: A German label term for a well-balanced, off-dry to dry regional wine of superior everyday quality.
Classico: An Italian designation for wines produced in the original, historic heart of a DOC or DOCG zone (e.g., Chianti Classico).
Cleanskin: An Australian and New Zealand term for unlabelled, low-cost wine sold without the producer's name.
Climat: In Burgundy, a specific, named parcel of vineyard land with its own soil, aspect, and reputation.
Clos: A walled or historically enclosed vineyard, especially in Burgundy.
Coates' Law of Maturity: A rule of thumb, coined by wine writer Clive Coates, stating that a wine tends to remain at its peak for roughly as long as it took to get there.
Colheita: Portuguese for harvest. In Port, a Colheita is a tawny Port from a single vintage aged for at least seven years in cask.
Commercial Wine: Wine produced at scale for broad consistency and wide distribution rather than expressing a specific place.
Commune: A village-level appellation, particularly in French wine law.
Compte: The age-classification system for Cognac and Armagnac, counted from the year after distillation.
Congeners: Compounds — including esters, aldehydes, tannins, and small amounts of methanol — produced during fermentation that shape a wine's aroma and flavour.
Consorzio: An Italian association of producers within a specific appellation that promotes and protects the wines of that zone.
Cooperative: A jointly owned winery in which many growers pool grapes, equipment, and marketing.
Cordon Training: A vine-training system in which one or two permanent horizontal arms (cordons) are established, with spurs pruned back each winter.
Corked: A wine spoiled by TCA contamination from a tainted cork, giving off musty, wet-cardboard aromas.
Cru: French for "growth." Refers to a vineyard or group of vineyards recognised for producing wine of a particular quality.
Cru Artisan: A classification for small family-owned estates in the Médoc, revived in 2002.
Cru Bourgeois: A classification of quality Médoc châteaux not included in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification.
Cru Classé: French for "classified growth" — the top-ranking estates in official Bordeaux classifications, most famously the 1855 Classification.
Crush: A common English term for harvest and the pressing of freshly picked grapes.
Cult Wines: Highly sought-after wines, usually made in tiny quantities, that command very high prices on release and the secondary market.
Cuvaison: The period during red-wine fermentation when the juice stays in contact with the skins, seeds, and stems, extracting colour, tannin, and flavour.
Cuvée: A specific blend or batch of wine, often used on Champagne labels to indicate the house's particular style.
Cuverie: The room or building in a winery where fermentation takes place.

D

10 terms

D.O.: Denominación de Origen — the Spanish appellation system regulating a wine's origin, grapes, and production.
Débourbage: In white winemaking, allowing freshly pressed juice to settle so that solids drop out before fermentation, giving cleaner wines.
Decantation: Pouring wine slowly into a separate vessel to aerate it and leave any sediment behind in the bottle.
Dégorgement Tardive: A traditional-method sparkling wine that has been aged on its lees for an unusually long time before disgorging, developing extra complexity.
Demi-Sec: Literally "half-dry" — in practice, a medium-sweet still or sparkling wine.
Dessert Wine: A sweet wine, often fortified or made from very ripe or botrytised grapes, served with or as dessert.
Doce / Dolce / Doux / Dulce: The Portuguese, Italian, French, and Spanish terms for sweet wine.
DOCG: Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita — the highest tier of Italy's appellation system.
Drip Cloth: A cloth wrapped around a bottle's neck or base to catch stray drops when pouring.
Dry: A wine with little to no perceptible sweetness — most residual sugar has been fermented into alcohol.

E

20 terms

Eau de Vie: French for "water of life" — a clear fruit brandy distilled from wine or fermented fruit.
Edelfäule: German for noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), the beneficial fungus behind many of the world's great sweet wines.
Edelkeur: The South African term for noble-rot-affected sweet wine.
Édes: Hungarian for sweet, used on Tokaji and other Hungarian wine labels.
Einzellage: A single, named vineyard site — the smallest classification unit in German wine law.
Eiswein: German for "ice wine" — a sweet wine made by pressing grapes while they are still frozen on the vine.
Elaborado por: Spanish for "produced by," followed by the name of the producer on the label.
Embotellado por: Spanish for "bottled by," identifying the entity that bottled the wine.
En Primeur: Buying wine "as futures" — while still ageing in barrel — for delivery once bottled and released.
Encépagement: French for the mix of grape varieties used in a particular wine or blend.
Entry-level Wine: A producer's most affordable wine, made in larger volumes than their premium bottlings.
Eraflage: French for destemming — removing grapes from their stems before fermentation, by machine or by hand.
Erste Lage: In the VDP classification, a top-class German vineyard site — one tier below Grosse Lage.
Erstes Gewächs: A "first growth" dry wine from a classified German vineyard — a term historically used in the Rheingau.
Erzeugerabfüllung: German for estate-bottled — the wine was produced and bottled by the same estate.
Estate Winery: A U.S. licensing term (also called a farm winery) permitting a producer to both make and sell wine on-site.
EU Lot Number: A tracking number required on every bottle produced or sold in the EU since 1992, allowing suspect batches to be traced and withdrawn.
Ex-cellars: The price of a wine as it leaves the producer's cellar — before shipping, duties, and taxes.
Extra Dry: On sparkling-wine labels, a category slightly sweeter than Brut, with about 12–17 g/L of residual sugar.
Extra Brut: A very dry style of sparkling wine, with 0–6 g/L of residual sugar.

F

15 terms

Farm Winery: A U.S. licensing category, synonymous with estate winery, permitting production and sales at the same site.
Fattoria: An Italian farm or wine estate, most common in Tuscany.
Feinherb: A German term for an off-dry wine — a little sweeter than trocken, without being obviously sweet.
Fermentation: The biochemical process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, turning grape juice into wine.
Fermentazione Naturale: Italian for wines that become sparkling through natural (usually in-tank or in-bottle) secondary fermentation.
Fiasco: The traditional straw-covered flask historically used for Chianti and other Italian wines.
Fighting Varietal: A 1980s Californian term for inexpensive varietal wines, typically sold in 1.5 L bottles, competing on price at the low end of the market.
Fine Wine: Wine considered to be of exceptional quality, ageing potential, and reputation — a small fraction of world production.
Finings: Agents such as egg whites, bentonite clay, or casein added during winemaking to clarify a wine by binding to and removing unwanted particles.
Flagon: An inexpensive glass container, typically 2 L, used for everyday table wine.
Flying Winemaker: A consulting winemaker who travels between wineries in different countries, often working across the northern and southern-hemisphere harvests.
Fortified Wine: A wine to which distilled spirit (usually grape brandy) has been added, raising the alcohol level and stopping fermentation. Sherry, Port, and Madeira are classic examples.
Frizzante: Italian for a lightly sparkling wine — less fizzy than spumante.
Frizzantino: A very lightly sparkling Italian wine — softer than frizzante, more than still.
Fruit Wine: A fermented alcoholic beverage made from fruits other than grapes (apples, cherries, berries, and so on).

G

14 terms

Garrafeira: A Portuguese label term for wine of superior quality that has been aged for a longer minimum period than standard bottlings.
Gemeinde: A German or Austrian commune, sometimes appearing on labels to indicate the village of origin.
Geographical Indication (GI): A WTO-recognised label identifying a wine as coming from a specific place with characteristics tied to that place.
Globalization of Wine: The trend of wine styles, varieties, and consumer tastes crossing borders and increasingly resembling one another around the world.
Gönc: A traditional 136 L Hungarian oak cask used for ageing Tokaji.
Goon: Australian slang for inexpensive cask (box) wine.
Grains Nobles: In Alsace, wines made from individually selected, noble-rot-affected berries — the region's richest sweet wines.
Gran Reserva: In Spain, a top-tier ageing category. Reds typically require at least 5 years of ageing (18+ months in oak); whites and rosés at least 4 years (6+ months in oak). Rioja and Ribera del Duero require even longer barrel time.
Grand Cru: French for "great growth" — the highest classification of vineyard sites in Burgundy and Alsace.
Grand Vin: The flagship wine of an estate, as distinguished from its second wine or lesser cuvées.
Grande Marque: An historic term for the major Champagne houses known for consistent quality and global reach.
Granvás: A Spanish sparkling wine made via secondary fermentation in a tank rather than in the bottle.
Grosses Gewächs: A dry wine from a top-classified (Grosse Lage) German vineyard, as defined by the VDP producers' association.
Grosslage: A German collective site made up of several adjacent vineyards within a Bereich.

H

5 terms

Habillage: The dressing of a sparkling-wine bottle — foil, wire cage (muselet), and label.
Halbtrocken: German for off-dry (literally half-dry), typically 9–18 g/L residual sugar.
Harvest: The picking of ripe grapes, and by extension the season and act itself.
Hock: An English term for German white wine from the Rhine, historically shipped through the town of Hochheim.
Horizontal Wine Tasting: A tasting comparing wines of the same vintage and style from different producers — a way to reveal regional and house differences.

I

6 terms

Icewine: The Canadian trademarked style (one word) of wine made from grapes frozen naturally on the vine — known as "Eiswein" in Germany and Austria.
IGT: Indicazione Geografica Tipica — an Italian wine classification for wines with a regional identity that fall outside DOC/DOCG rules; often used by "Super Tuscans."
Imbottigliato all'origine: Italian for wine bottled at the estate where it was produced.
Imperial: A large-format Bordeaux bottle holding 6 litres — equivalent to eight standard bottles.
International Variety: A grape variety grown widely across the world's wine regions — Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot are classic examples.
Invecchiato: Italian for aged — used for wines matured for a defined period in oak or bottle before release.

J

2 terms

Jeroboam: A large-format bottle: 3 litres in Champagne, and 4.5 or 5 litres in Bordeaux, depending on tradition.
Jug Wine: An American term for inexpensive, everyday wine sold in large bottles or jugs.

K

1 term

Kabinett: The lightest Prädikat category in Germany and Austria — usually delicate, low-alcohol wines from fully ripe grapes.

L

6 terms

Landwein: German for "country wine" — the equivalent of France's vin de pays, one tier above basic table wine.
Late Harvest Wine: Wine made from grapes picked well after normal harvest, when sugar levels are high, producing sweeter styles.
Lees: The sediment of dead yeast cells and grape solids that settles during and after fermentation. Ageing on the lees (sur lie) can add texture and complexity.
Lieu-dit: A named vineyard plot in France, often smaller than a village appellation and appearing on labels to indicate provenance.
Liquoreux: French for a rich, sweet dessert wine — often made from botrytised grapes; literally "liqueur-like."
Liquoroso: Italian for a fortified wine.

M

23 terms

Mas: In southern France, particularly Provence and the Languedoc, a traditional farmhouse or country estate — often the seat of a wine domaine.
Maderized: A wine deliberately (or, more often, accidentally) oxidised through heat and air, taking on a nutty, cooked character reminiscent of Madeira.
Magnum: A 1.5 L bottle — equivalent to two standard 750 ml bottles. Magnums are widely considered an ideal format for long ageing.
Manipulant: A grower who makes wine from grapes they have farmed themselves; commonly seen on récoltant-manipulant Champagne labels.
Marc: The pomace — skins, seeds, and stems — left after grapes are pressed, and also the pomace brandy distilled from it.
Masseria / Maso: Italian for a farm estate, used in the south (masseria) and the alpine north (maso).
Master of Wine (MW): A prestigious professional qualification awarded by the UK-based Institute of Masters of Wine, considered one of the highest credentials in the wine trade.
May Wine: A light German white wine flavoured with sweet woodruff, sometimes with fresh strawberries or other fruit.
Mead: A fermented alcoholic drink made from honey and water — not wine, but often sold in the same aisle.
Meritage: A trademarked U.S. term for a red or white blend using traditional Bordeaux grape varieties — coined from "merit" and "heritage."
Methuselah: A large-format bottle holding 6 litres — equivalent to eight standard bottles.
Metodo Charmat: A method of making sparkling wine in which the second fermentation takes place in a sealed pressurised tank (Prosecco is the classic example).
Metodo Classico / Metodo Tradizionale: Italian for the traditional method of sparkling-wine production, with the second fermentation taking place in the bottle.
Mid-palate: The middle stage of a wine's presence in the mouth — how it balances weight, acidity, and fruit between the first sip and the finish.
Millésime: French for vintage — the year the grapes were harvested.
Mis en bouteille au château: French for bottled at the château — the wine was bottled at the producing estate.
Mistelle / Mistela: French and Spanish for a fortified beverage made by adding grape spirit to unfermented grape juice. Pineau des Charentes is a well-known example.
Moelleux: French for a medium-sweet wine — softer than sec but less rich than liquoreux.
Monopole: A vineyard entirely owned by a single producer — a term used mostly in Burgundy.
Mousse: The foam and bubbles of a sparkling wine when poured into a glass; a fine, persistent mousse is a sign of quality.
Mousseux: French for sparkling wine.
Mulled Wine: A hot, spiced wine made with red wine, warming spices, citrus, and sometimes fortified spirit or fruit.
Must: Freshly crushed grape juice with skins, seeds, and stems — the starting point of every fermentation.

N

6 terms

Nebuchadnezzar: A large-format bottle holding 15 litres — the equivalent of 20 standard bottles.
Négociant: A merchant who buys grapes, must, or finished wine from smaller growers and blends, matures, and bottles the wine under their own label.
New World Wine: Wine from countries outside Europe and the Middle East, including the U.S., Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Noble Rot: The beneficial form of Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that dehydrates grapes and concentrates their sugar and acidity, producing some of the world's greatest sweet wines.
Non-filtré: French for unfiltered — used on labels to indicate the wine was bottled without fining or filtration.
Nose: The aromas of a wine, both on first sniff and once it has opened up in the glass.

O

4 terms

Oenology: The science and study of winemaking.
Oenophile: A wine enthusiast — someone with a deep love and knowledge of wine.
Old World Wine: Wine from the traditional wine-growing countries of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, where labels typically emphasise place over grape.
Organoleptic: Relating to a wine's sensory qualities — how it looks, smells, tastes, and feels — as evaluated by a taster.

P

20 terms

Pétillant: French for lightly sparkling — less fizzy than mousseux, more than still.
Petit Château: A small, unclassified Bordeaux estate.
Piquant: A tasting term for a lively, fresh, slightly tangy wine with bright acidity.
Plafond Limité de Classement (PLC): A former French AOC provision that allowed producers to exceed the official yield limit by a set percentage in generous vintages.
Plan Bordeaux: A set of proposals aimed at restructuring and strengthening the Bordeaux wine industry.
Plonk: British slang for cheap, unremarkable wine.
Podere: A small Italian wine estate or farm.
Port: A fortified wine — most famously sweet and red, but also available in dry and white styles — produced in Portugal's Douro Valley.
Pourriture Noble: French for noble rot — the beneficial botrytis fungus that underpins many great sweet wines.
Prädikat: The German and Austrian classification tier based on grape ripeness at harvest, from Kabinett through Trockenbeerenauslese.
Prädikatswein: The top tier in Germany's wine classification, encompassing all the ripeness-based Prädikat categories.
Premier Cru: French for "first growth" — a classification tier in Burgundy, Champagne, and parts of Bordeaux, below Grand Cru in Burgundy.
Premium Wines: Higher-priced wines made with greater care, typically with more ageing potential than everyday bottlings.
Primary Aromas: Aromas that come from the grape variety itself — the fruity, floral, and herbal notes present from the start.
Produttore: Italian for producer or winemaker.
Propriétaire: French for the owner of a wine estate.
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO): An EU quality tier that replaced Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) in 2009, tying wine to a defined origin and rules of production.
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI): The EU tier that replaced Table Wine with Geographical Indication in 2009 — broader and more flexible than PDO.
Punt: The dimple in the base of a wine bottle. It strengthens the bottle and, historically, helped stack them upright.
Puttonyos: The traditional measure of sweetness for Hungarian Tokaji and Slovak Tokaj sweet wines, historically 3 to 6 puttonyos.

Q

8 terms

Quaffing Wine: A simple, easy-drinking, everyday wine — not intended for cellaring or contemplation.
Qualitätswein: A quality-tier designation for German wine from a defined region.
Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA): German quality wine from one of the 13 defined Anbaugebiete, historically the second-highest tier of German wine.
Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP): The former term for Germany's top wines, renamed Prädikatswein in 2007.
Quality Wines Produced in Specific Regions (QWPSR): An EU category of quality wine that was replaced by PDO in 2009.
Quality-Price Ratio (QPR): An informal rating of how much quality a wine delivers relative to its price.
Quinta: Portuguese for a wine estate — most famously used in the Douro, home of Port.
Qvevri: A large egg-shaped earthenware vessel used in Georgia for the fermentation, ageing, and storage of wine — one of the oldest continuous winemaking traditions in the world.

R

12 terms

Raisin: French for grape (not the dried fruit).
Recioto: A sweet Italian wine made from partially dried (passito) grapes, most famously in Valpolicella and Soave.
Récoltant: French for a grower who both farms grapes and produces wine — as in récoltant-manipulant, on grower-Champagne labels.
Redox: The reductive and oxidative reactions that occur as wine ages, gradually changing its aromas, colour, and structure.
Rehoboam: A large-format bottle holding 4.5 litres — most commonly used for Champagne and Burgundy.
Reserva: A Spanish ageing category above Crianza — reds must be aged for at least 3 years (12+ months in oak); whites at least 2 years (6+ months in oak).
Reserve / Riserva / Reserva: A term used across many countries to indicate a wine of higher quality that has been aged longer than the producer's standard bottling. Rules vary by country and appellation.
Residual Sugar (RS): The unfermented sugar that remains in a wine after fermentation, measured in grams per litre.
Rich: A sweetness designation on Champagne labels indicating the sweetest style, typically with more than 50 g/L of residual sugar.
Ripasso: A Valpolicella style in which base wine is re-fermented on the leftover skins from Amarone or Recioto, adding richness and structure.
Rosado / Rosato: Spanish (rosado) and Italian (rosato) for rosé wine. In Portuguese, the term is rosado; in French, rosé.
Rosso / Rouge: Italian (rosso) and French (rouge) for red wine.

S

29 terms

Sack: An archaic English term for fortified white wine from Spain and the Canaries — an ancestor of modern Sherry.
Salmanazar: A large-format bottle holding 9 litres — the equivalent of 12 standard bottles.
Sangria: A Spanish and Portuguese punch made from red wine, chopped fruit, sweetener, and often a splash of brandy or sparkling water.
Sec / Secco / Seco: French, Italian, and Spanish/Portuguese for dry. Note: on Champagne labels, sec actually indicates a slightly sweet style.
Secondary Aromas: Aromas that develop during fermentation and winemaking — yeasty, buttery, or oak-derived notes, for example.
Sekt: The German word for sparkling wine, ranging from everyday tank-method styles to top-quality traditional-method wines.
Selection: A German label term for a dry wine of superior quality from a single vineyard site.
Sélection de Grains Nobles: In Alsace, a dessert wine made from individually selected, botrytis-affected berries — the region's richest, sweetest style.
Semi-generic: A U.S. TTB category historically permitting American wines to borrow European place names (e.g., California Burgundy, American Chablis). Newer versions of these terms are being phased out.
Semisecco / Semi-seco: Italian and Spanish for medium-dry wine.
Sherry: A fortified wine from Andalucía in southern Spain, produced from white grapes in styles ranging from bone-dry Fino and Manzanilla to lusciously sweet PX.
Smaragd: The top ripeness category from Austria's Wachau region — dry wines from late-harvested grapes with at least 12.5% alcohol and typically less than 9 g/L residual sugar.
Solera: A fractional blending and ageing system, most associated with Sherry, in which older wines are progressively topped up with younger wines to maintain a consistent house style.
Sommelier: A trained wine professional, typically working in a restaurant, who curates the wine list and advises guests on pairings and selections.
Soutirage: French for racking — transferring wine from one vessel to another to leave sediment behind.
Sparkling Wine: A wine with significant dissolved carbon dioxide, giving it fizz. Styles range from delicate pét-nat to traditional-method Champagne.
Spätlese: German for late harvest — a Prädikat level of wine made from fully ripe grapes picked after the normal harvest.
Split: A small wine bottle of 187 ml — a quarter of a standard bottle, often used for a single serving of Champagne.
Spritzig: A German tasting term for a lightly sparkling or gently prickly wine.
Spumante: Italian for fully sparkling wine, regardless of production method.
Stickies: Australian slang for sweet wines, including botrytised and fortified styles.
Stravecchio: Italian for very old — a term used for particularly long-aged wines and spirits.
Strohwein / Schilfwein: German for "straw wine" or "reed wine" — a sweet wine made from grapes dried on straw mats or reeds after harvest.
Super Seconds: Bordeaux estates classified as Second Growths in 1855 whose wines regularly rival First Growths in quality and reputation.
Super Tuscan: An informal term for high-quality Tuscan reds that historically fell outside DOC/DOCG rules, often blending international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with Sangiovese.
Supérieur / Superiore: A French and Italian designation for wines with slightly higher alcohol or longer ageing than the base appellation requires.
Sur Lie: French for on the lees — a style of ageing wine in contact with spent yeast, adding texture and complexity, classically seen in Muscadet.
Sur Pointe: A stage in traditional-method sparkling-wine production in which bottles are stored upside-down after riddling but before disgorging.
Száraz: Hungarian for dry — commonly seen on Tokaji labels.

T

16 terms

Table Wine: Traditionally, a category of everyday wine that is neither sparkling nor fortified. In the EU, the term has been officially replaced by PGI/PDO categories.
Tafelwein: German for table wine — historically the lowest German quality tier.
Taille: In Champagne, the juice from later pressings, generally considered lower-grade than the initial cuvée juice.
Talento: A traditional-method Italian sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and/or Pinot Blanc, produced under a specific consortium standard.
Tastevin: A shallow silver cup traditionally used by Burgundian winemakers and sommeliers to assess a wine's colour and clarity in candlelit cellars.
Tasting Flight: A curated selection of small pours — typically three to six wines — served side by side for comparison.
Tenuta: Italian for an estate or holding, often used in the names of wine producers.
Terroir: The complete natural environment in which a wine is grown — soil, climate, topography, and local tradition — and its expression in the finished wine.
Tertiary Aromas: Complex aromas — leather, dried fruit, tobacco, forest floor — that develop as a wine ages in bottle.
Tinto: Spanish and Portuguese for red (wine or grape).
Tonneau: A traditional Bordeaux unit of measurement equal to 900 litres, or 100 cases of twelve 75 cl bottles.
Transparency: A tasting term for a wine that clearly expresses its fruit, terroir, and vintage without obscuring them behind heavy oak or winemaking.
Triage: The French practice of selectively sorting grapes at harvest, usually by hand, to keep only the healthiest fruit.
Trocken: German for dry — used on labels of still wines with very low residual sugar.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): The highest ripeness tier of the German and Austrian Prädikat system — an intensely sweet wine made from individually selected, shrivelled, noble-rot-affected berries.
Typicity: The degree to which a wine reflects the typical characteristics of its grape variety and place of origin.

U

5 terms

UC: Abbreviation for "Union Coopérative" on French labels, indicating a local cooperative.
Ullage: The empty space between the wine and the closure in a bottle or barrel. In older bottles, high ullage can signal evaporation, oxidation risk, or seal failure.
Unctuous: A tasting term for a wine that feels rich, viscous, and mouth-coating.
Uva: Italian and Spanish for grape.
Uvaggio: An Italian term for a blend of different grape varieties in a single wine — the opposite of a single-varietal wine.

V

38 terms

Varietal: A wine made primarily or entirely from a single grape variety, and labelled as such (e.g., Chardonnay, Malbec).
VDL: Vin de Liqueur — a French fortified wine made by adding grape spirit to unfermented must.
VDN: Vin Doux Naturel — a French sweet, fortified wine made by adding grape spirit during fermentation to retain natural sweetness.
VDQS: The now-discontinued French tier (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure) that once sat between AOC and Vin de Pays.
VDT: Italian abbreviation for Vino da Tavola — table wine.
Vecchio: Italian for "old" or "aged" — used as an official ageing designation in some DOC/DOCG rules.
Vendange: French for grape harvest.
Vendangé à la main: French for hand-harvested — used on labels to indicate that grapes were picked by hand rather than by machine.
Vendange Tardive: French for "late harvest" — used most famously in Alsace for richer, sweeter styles from late-picked grapes.
Vendemmia / Vendimia: Italian (vendemmia) and Spanish (vendimia) for grape harvest.
Vermouth: A fortified, aromatised wine flavoured with a blend of botanicals including wormwood; enjoyed on its own and as a cocktail base.
Vertical Wine Tasting: A tasting comparing multiple vintages of the same wine from the same producer, to reveal vintage variation and ageing potential.
Vieilles Vignes: French for "old vines" (often written V.V.). Not legally defined, but generally implies deeper concentration and lower yields.
Viejo: Spanish for old.
Vigna / Vigneto: Italian for vineyard.
Vigneron: French for a wine grower — someone who tends the vines and often makes the wine as well.
Vignoble: French for a vineyard or wine-growing region.
Vin: French for wine.
Vin de Garde: A wine built to improve with cellar ageing.
Vin de Glace: French for ice wine.
Vin de Paille: French for "straw wine" — a sweet wine made from grapes dried on straw mats after harvest.
Vin de Pays: A former French classification for country wine — replaced under EU law by Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP).
Vin de Table: The former French tier for basic table wine — now generally replaced by Vin de France.
Vin Mousseux: French for sparkling wine.
Vin Nouveau: French for a very young wine, meant to be drunk in the months just after harvest (as with Beaujolais Nouveau).
Vin Ordinaire: French for ordinary, everyday wine — the opposite of a premium bottling.
Viña: Spanish for a vineyard.
Vinho: Portuguese for wine.
Vinho Regional: The Portuguese regional-wine tier — equivalent to the French Vin de Pays / IGP category.
Vino: Italian and Spanish for wine.
Vino de Mesa / Vino da Tavola: Spanish and Italian for table wine — the most basic legal category.
Vino Generoso: A Spanish term for a fortified wine, typically Sherry-style.
Vino Novello: Italian for a young wine released within months of harvest — the Italian counterpart to Beaujolais Nouveau.
Vinous: A tasting term for a wine that smells or tastes distinctly of wine — often used to describe base flavours as opposed to specific fruit or floral notes.
Vintage: The year the grapes in a wine were harvested. A vintage wine is made from a single year's harvest.
Viticoltore / Vignaiolo: Italian for a grape grower and, more specifically, a grower-winemaker.
Vitigno: Italian for grape variety.
Vivace: Italian for a lively, lightly sparkling wine.

W

9 terms

Waiter's Friend: A hinged, pocket-sized corkscrew (also called a sommelier knife) — the go-to opener in restaurants worldwide.
Weissherbst: A single-variety German rosé made from black grapes, most often Pinot Noir.
Wine: An alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of grapes (or, less commonly, other fruit).
Wine Cave: A cellar carved into rock or built underground for the storage and ageing of wine at cool, stable temperatures.
Wine Fraud: Deception in the production, labelling, or trade of wine — from mislabelled origin and vintage to outright counterfeiting.
Wine Label: The label on a bottle carrying legally required and marketing information about the wine and its producer.
Wine Lake: A term for structural EU wine surpluses — periods when production has significantly outpaced demand.
Wine Tasting: The considered evaluation of a wine's appearance, aroma, taste, and structure.
Winzergenossenschaft: German for a growers' cooperative winery.

X

1 term

Xylem: The water-conducting tissue in a grapevine, moving water and dissolved minerals from the roots up through the trunk and canes to the leaves.

Y

2 terms

Yeast: The single-celled organisms — naturally present on grape skins or added by the winemaker — that convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.
Yield: The quantity of grapes or wine produced per unit of vineyard area, typically measured in tonnes per hectare or hectolitres per hectare.

Z

1 term

Zymology: The scientific study of fermentation — including the yeast and bacteria that turn grape juice into wine.

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