Wine GLOSSARY
At Lone Point Cellars, we believe wine shouldn’t be complicated. From those just starting their journey into the world of wine to veterans, everyone should be able to find a wine that suits their taste. If you’re new to the world of wine & need a bit of guidance, read our glossary to find out some standard terms from the field.
ACIDITY: Take a moment to think about the feeling in your mouth the last time you bit into a citrus fruit like a lemon, grapefruit, or lime. You’ll notice a pleasant crispness caused by acidity when you get beyond the puckering & eye-watering. While wine isn’t as acidic as those fruits—its pH level is usually four while lemons are two, with seven being neutral—it has a refreshing bite. And acidity levels can vary from one wine to another. Wine experts typically consider acidity one of the fundamental qualities of wine.
AGING: You’ve probably heard the phrase “it aged like a fine wine” at least a few times in your life, but there’s a chance you didn’t understand the reference. After the wine is crafted, it remains in a barrel, tank, or bottle for an extended period of time to bring out the complexity of the flavor & put the finishing touches on a truly unique wine.
APPELLATION: A legally defined geographical location used to identify where (& how) grapes are grown & made into wine. This is similar to AVA, or American Viticultural Area.
BALANCE: Earlier, we mentioned that acidity is one of the fundamental qualities of wine. There are four total qualities connoisseurs often use to evaluate a wine: acidity, tannin, alcohol, & sweetness. To achieve balance, each element must complement one another nicely to create a one-of-a-kind drinking experience. It’s a subjective term, but you’ll know it when you taste it.
BODY: Body is one of the most accessible wine terms. If a glass of wine feels heavy in your mouth, like a glass of milk, it’s full-bodied, whereas a lighter-bodied wine might give off the sensation you’d feel when drinking a glass of lighter juice.
DRY: Generally speaking, there are two types of wines. There are sweet wines containing a noticeable amount of sugar, & there are dry wines, which may only have a subtle sweetness.
FINISH: Wine isn’t a drink. It’s an experience that starts the second you pour a glass until you finish it. Take a sip. You’ll notice the taste stays on your tongue for a while & continues to change and become more & more complex. That’s what we call the finish.
LEGS: Right before you take a sip of wine, it’s always a good idea to swirl the glass around a few times & observe the results. Wines with higher alcohol contents are more dense, so once you’re finished moving the glass, the legs will remain on the side of the glass for a moment longer.
MINERALITY: A non-scientific term used to describe flavors that smell or taste like rocks or organic matter (soil). Minerality was thought to be presence of trace minerals in wine. Recent research suggests the majority of mineral-like aromas in wine are due to sulfur compounds derived from fermentation.
NOSE: Spin your glass of wine a few times, put your nose over the glass, & take a big whiff. Wine newbies will probably call the sensation in their noses a smell, but veterans know the industry term for that delightful aroma is the nose.
RESIDUAL SUGAR (RS): The sugar from grapes left over in a wine after a fermentation stops. Some wines are fermented completely dry, and some are stopped before all the sugar is converted to alcohol to create a sweet wine. Residual Sugar ranges from nothing to upward of 400 grams per liter for very sweet wines.
SULFITES: Sulfites, sulfur dioxide, or SO2 is a preservative that is either added to wine or present on grapes before fermentation. Wines range from about 10 ppm (parts per million) to 350ppm—the legal US limit. Wines must label if they contain more than 10 ppm.
TERROIR: (“Tear-woh”) Originally a French word that is used to describe how a particular region’s climate & soil, aspect (terrain), & traditional wine-making practices affect the taste of the wine.
TANNINS: Tannins are an important descriptor for wine tastings & it basically refers to the dryness, bitterness, & astringency of a wine. It is most often associated with red wine & is the opposite of the sweetness found in many white wines.
VARIETAL: Varietals are the type of grape used in crafting a wine. Spend a few minutes in the wine aisle at your local grocery store, and you’ll probably see a few of them, from Cabernet Sauvignon to Malbec. Varietal names are used to categorize wines.
VINTAGE: With wine, vintage doesn’t necessarily mean old. Instead, vintage refers to the year when the grapes used in crafting the wine were harvested. Wines from different years have different properties caused by varying levels of rainfall & the amount of sunlight the grapes are exposed to throughout the year.