WineAbout Wine
ACID - Essential component of wine which preserves, enlivens, & shapes
it's flavors & helps pro-long its aftertaste.
AROMA - The smells coming from the wine itself.
ASTRINGENT - Drying, puckering effect on the gums & produced by tannins
in wine.
AUSTERE - A hard unyielding feel due to acidity &/or tannins. Usually
said of young wines which need some time to soften.
AVA - American Viticultural Area or Appellation.
BALANCE - The relationship between alcohol, acid, tannins, & flavors
in a wine.
COLD STABILIZATION/ 'TARTRATES'- Chilling wine in temperature controlled
stainless steel tanks or storing wine in barrels in a cellar cold enough
to allow tartaric crystals (tartrates) to form. Tartrates are heavier then
the wine so they will settle on the bottom of the stainless steel tanks
or 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 wine
in 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 wine
due to a bad cork. Slightly corked wines often have little to no smell or
flavor at all, just a type of neutralization like the smell or taste of
cork.
ETHYL ACETATE - A substance that smells like nail polish found in faulty
wines.
FERMENTATION - The decomposition of sugar into alcohol & C02. Fermentation
can occur in stainless steel tanks, oak barrels, or concrete or plastic
vats. In champagne or sparkling wine production the 'Dosage' (a sugar/syrup/yeast
mixture) is added before corking the bottle, this dosage' causes a secondary
fermentation where the C02 is trapped, and viola, we have bubbles in our
wine!!
FILTRATION - The removal of large particles in an unfinished wine for the
purpose of clarity.
FINING - To filter out impurities in the wine, egg whites are added to the
wine. The egg whites are heavier than the wine so they fall to the bottom
catching any particles that may have been left behind after racking.
FLOCCULATION - Small particles found in a finished wine. The Talbott "Cuvee
Cynthia" 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 of
dead or inactive yeast's. Some wine makers choose to leave the wine on the
yeast's stirring occasionally, a process known as sur lee aging. This process
will give the wine a creamy, silky mouth feel.
MALO-LACTIC FERMENTATION - This is a secondary, non alcoholic fermentation
of wine during which the harder, sharper, malic acids (think of biting into
a tart green apple), are transformed into softer, smoother lactic acids,
(think of biting into a mellow cheese). This process will give the wine
a softer "buttery" quality.
MUST - Left over skins, seeds, pulp & juice of the grape. This is what
grappa is made from by distilling the must.
OXIDIZED - In general refers to a series of faults resulting from excess
contact with oxygen. The wines will be a very dark & have a nutty sherry
taste to them.
RACKING - The transfer of wine from one vessel to another, i.e. Tank to
tank, tank to barrel, barrel to barrel, barrel to tank, etc.
TANNIN - A substance of taste from the must of the grapes or imparted from
wood 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.