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WINE TERMS (ABRIEVIATED)


ACID - Essential component of wine which preserves, enlivens, & shapesit's flavors & helps pro-long its aftertaste.

AROMA - The smells coming from the wine itself.

ASTRINGENT - Drying, puckering effect on the gums & produced by tanninsin wine.

AUSTERE - A hard unyielding feel due to acidity &/or tannins. Usuallysaid of young wines which need some time to soften.

AVA - American Viticultural Area or Appellation.

BALANCE - The relationship between alcohol, acid, tannins, & flavorsin a wine.

COLD STABILIZATION/ 'TARTRATES'- Chilling wine in temperature controlledstainless steel tanks or storing wine in barrels in a cellar cold enoughto allow tartaric crystals (tartrates) to form. Tartrates are heavier thenthe wine so they will settle on the bottom of the stainless steel tanksor wood barrels. The wine is then racked OK leaving the tartrates behind.If tartrates do appear in a wine it simply means the wine was not cold stabilized.These crystals are simply cosmetic will not affect the customer or the winein any way.

COMPLEX- Multiplicity of flavors & nuance both in taste, smell &finish.

CORKED OR CORKY - A moldy, dusty, sulfur or rotten egg smell in the winedue to a bad cork. Slightly corked wines often have little to no smell orflavor at all, just a type of neutralization like the smell or taste ofcork.

ETHYL ACETATE - A substance that smells like nail polish found in faultywines.

FERMENTATION - The decomposition of sugar into alcohol & C02. Fermentationcan occur in stainless steel tanks, oak barrels, or concrete or plasticvats. In champagne or sparkling wine production the 'Dosage' (a sugar/syrup/yeastmixture) is added before corking the bottle, this dosage' causes a secondaryfermentation where the C02 is trapped, and viola, we have bubbles in ourwine!!

FILTRATION - The removal of large particles in an unfinished wine for thepurpose of clarity.

FINING - To filter out impurities in the wine, egg whites are added to thewine. The egg whites are heavier than the wine so they fall to the bottomcatching any particles that may have been left behind after racking.

FLOCCULATION - Small particles found in a finished wine. The Talbott "CuveeCynthia" is a great example of a wine that is flocculated.

INOCULATION- The adding of live yeast to begin fermentation.

LEES OR LIES - The sediment deposited in a barrel or tank consisting ofdead or inactive yeast's. Some wine makers choose to leave the wine on theyeast's stirring occasionally, a process known as sur lee aging. This processwill give the wine a creamy, silky mouth feel.

MALO-LACTIC FERMENTATION - This is a secondary, non alcoholic fermentationof wine during which the harder, sharper, malic acids (think of biting intoa tart green apple), are transformed into softer, smoother lactic acids,(think of biting into a mellow cheese). This process will give the winea softer "buttery" quality.

MUST - Left over skins, seeds, pulp & juice of the grape. This is whatgrappa is made from by distilling the must.

OXIDIZED - In general refers to a series of faults resulting from excesscontact with oxygen. The wines will be a very dark & have a nutty sherrytaste to them.

RACKING - The transfer of wine from one vessel to another, i.e. Tank totank, tank to barrel, barrel to barrel, barrel to tank, etc.

TANNIN - A substance of taste from the must of the grapes or imparted fromwood barrels. Tannins along with acidity give the wine aging potential.On the down side to much tannin will leave a dry astringent mouth feel.(Think of over steeped tea)

VITICULTURE - The growing of grapes to make wine.

VINIFICATION - The science or art of making wine from a certain grape varietal.