Unraveling Wine: A Natural Glossary Guide

Acetaldehyde: A compound giving bruised-apple and nutty, sherry-like aromas; a sign of oxidation, but intentional in Fino Sherry.
Acetic Acid: The volatile acid behind a vinegary smell, the main component of volatile acidity.
Acidification: Adding acid to wine or must to balance a wine from a warm climate, where permitted.
Acidity: The tartness or freshness from a grape's natural acids (mainly tartaric and malic). It makes wine lively, balances sweetness, and helps it pair with food and age.
Acolon: A modern German red crossing giving soft, dark-fruited wines.
Adakarası: A Turkish red of the Marmara islands giving light, fruity reds and rosés.
Aeration: Exposing wine to air to open up its aromas and soften it.
Aftertaste: The flavors that remain in the mouth after swallowing.
Ageworthy: A wine with the structure to improve over years in the bottle.
Agiorgitiko: Greece's most planted red, from Nemea in the Peloponnese, versatile and supple with red fruit and soft tannins.
Aglianico: A powerful southern-Italian red of Campania and Basilicata, high in tannin and acid, sometimes called the Barolo of the south.
Aidani: An aromatic, low-acid Greek white of Santorini, often blended with Assyrtiko.
Airén: A hardy Spanish white of La Mancha, one of the world's most planted grapes by area, giving light, neutral wines.
Aladasturi: A pale, fresh Georgian red of western Georgia.
Albariza: The bright white, chalky soil of the Sherry region around Jerez.
Albariño (Alvarinho): A bright, saline white of Rías Baixas in Spain and the Vinho Verde region of Portugal.
Albarín Blanco: A fragrant white of northwest Spain, distinct from Albariño.
Albillo: A Spanish white grown in Ribera del Duero and Madrid, giving textured, gently aromatic wines.
Alcohol: The warmth and weight a wine gets from ethanol, sensed as heat on the finish and fullness in the body.
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): The percentage of a wine's volume that is pure alcohol, shown on the label. Most table wines run 11 to 15 percent.
Alcoholic Fermentation: The primary fermentation, in which yeast converts sugar into ethanol and CO2.
Aleatico: An aromatic red of central Italy and Elba, most famous for sweet, rose-scented wines.
Aleksandrouli: A Georgian red of Racha, famed for the semi-sweet Khvanchkara.
Alfrocheiro: A Portuguese red of the Dão, adding color and dark fruit to blends.
Alicante Bouschet: A teinturier with red flesh and juice, giving deeply colored wines in the Alentejo and southern France.
Aligoté: Burgundy's other white, lean and high-acid, traditionally the base of a Kir.
Almond: A nutty note, sometimes bitter, found in Italian whites like Soave and in aged wines.
Altesse (Roussette): A more aromatic, structured Savoie white giving floral, citrusy wines.
Altitude: A vineyard's elevation, which cools temperatures and widens the day-to-night swing, preserving freshness.
Alvarelhão: A pale, perfumed Portuguese red revived for fresh, light wines.
Amarone: A powerful dry red from Valpolicella made from partially dried grapes, rich and high in alcohol.
Amber: A deep gold-to-orange color seen in skin-contact and oxidative whites.
Amigne: A rare Valais white, mostly from Vétroz, made dry to richly sweet.
Amontillado: A Sherry that begins under flor then ages oxidatively, giving a nutty, amber wine.
Amphora Aging: Amphora aging, an age-old wine-aging technique, is witnessing a resurgence in contemporary natural winemaking. Wines undergo aging in clay containers termed amphoras. This strategy facilitates gentle micro-oxygenation without the flavor influences of wooden barrels, yielding a pure taste profile.
Ancestral Method: A technique used to produce sparkling wines where the primary fermentation is incomplete, and the wine is bottled to finish fermentation, trapping carbon dioxide and giving the wine its bubbles.
Angular: A wine with sharp edges of acidity or tannin rather than a smooth, round feel.
Anthocyanins: Natural pigments found in grape skins responsible for the red and blue colors in wine. Their presence and interaction with tannins can affect a wine's hue and aging potential.
Antão Vaz: A reliable white of Portugal's warm Alentejo, giving ripe, tropical, full-bodied wines.
AOC (AOP): France's main quality tier, which protects a region's name and sets rules for grapes and methods.
Appellation: A legally defined winegrowing area whose name and rules are protected, such as AOC in France or DOC in Italy.
Apricot: A ripe stone-fruit note common in Viognier, Marsanne, and botrytized whites.
Aramon: A high-yielding Languedoc red, historically a source of vast amounts of cheap wine, now occasionally revived.
Areni: An ancient Armenian red from one of the world's oldest winemaking regions, giving bright, red-fruited wines.
Arinto: A high-acid Portuguese white that keeps freshness in warm climates, with lemon and a mineral edge.
Arneis: A floral, pear-scented Piedmont white of the Roero, soft and aromatic.
Aroma: The smell of a wine, especially the primary scents from the grape itself, as opposed to the bouquet that develops with age.
Ash: A dry, smoky-mineral note in some volcanic reds like those of Etna.
Asparagus: A green, vegetal note, sometimes a sign of underripe Sauvignon Blanc.
Aspect: The compass direction and angle a vineyard slope faces, which affects sunlight and ripening.
Asprinio: A very high-acid Campanian white grown on tall trees, often made sparkling.
Assemblage: The art of blending different lots, grape varieties, or vineyard parcels into a final wine.
Assyrtiko: A bracing, saline, high-acid white of Santorini in Greece, grown on volcanic soils.
Asti: A sweet, lightly sparkling Moscato wine from Piedmont.
Astringency: The drying, puckering sensation caused by tannins binding with proteins in your saliva.
Atelier: A term often used in France to denote a workshop or studio where wine blending occurs. It's where winemakers craft their blends, adjusting proportions to achieve the desired style and flavor profile.
Athiri: A gentle, low-acid Greek white grown across the Aegean, often in blends.
Attack: The first impression a wine makes on the palate.
Atypical Aging: A premature naphthalene or floor-polish note that can develop in whites from stressed vines.
Auslese: A German Prädikat level from select, very ripe bunches, often sweet.
Austere: A lean, restrained, often tannic or high-acid wine that gives little immediate pleasure, often when young.
Autolysis: The process where dead yeast cells break down after fermentation, releasing compounds into the wine. It's crucial in sparkling wine production, adding complexity and bready aromas.
AVA (American Viticultural Area): A designated US winegrowing region defined by geography. It tells you where grapes grew, not how the wine was made.
Avesso: A fuller-bodied Vinho Verde white from the warmer Baião area.
Azal: A high-acid Vinho Verde white giving light, zesty, low-alcohol wines.

Babić: A Croatian red of the Dalmatian coast around Šibenik, structured and dark-fruited.
Baboso Negro: A dark, structured Canary Islands red of volcanic soils.
Bacchus: An aromatic German white crossing, also grown in England, with floral, elderflower notes.
Backbone: The structural spine of acidity and tannin that holds a wine together.
Baga: A tannic, high-acid red of Bairrada in Portugal, structured and ageworthy.
Baking Spice: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove notes usually from oak aging.
Balance: The harmony between a wine's acidity, tannin, alcohol, sugar, and fruit, with no single element sticking out.
Banana: A fermentation note (isoamyl acetate) typical of carbonic-maceration reds.
Band-Aid: A medicinal, plastic note from Brettanomyces, a fault at higher levels.
Barbera: A juicy, high-acid, low-tannin Piedmont red built for the table, with bright cherry and plum.
Barrique: A small oak barrel, classically 225 liters, used to ferment or age wine and add oak character.
Basalt: A dark volcanic rock soil that gives mineral, structured wines.
Basket Press: A traditional vertical press that gently squeezes juice from grapes or skins.
Baumé: A scale for measuring sugar in grape must, used in France and Australia to estimate potential alcohol.
Bay Leaf: A savory, slightly bitter herb note in some structured reds.
Beerenauslese (BA): A sweet German wine from individually selected, often botrytized berries.
Beeswax: A soft, waxy note in Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, and aged whites.
Bell Pepper: A green, herbaceous note from pyrazines in Cabernet and Carmenère.
Bellone: An ancient white of Lazio near Rome, soft and citrusy.
Benzaldehyde: A compound giving bitter-almond and cherry-pit aromas.
Bergamot: A perfumed citrus note, like Earl Grey tea, in aromatic whites.
Beta-ionone: A compound giving violet and floral aromas.
Bianchetta Trevigiana: A soft, gentle white of the Veneto, often blended into Prosecco.
Bianco d'Alessano: A fresh Pugliese white used in the Locorotondo and Martina Franca blends.
Biancolella: A saline, citrusy white of the island of Ischia off Campania.
Bical: A high-acid Bairrada white used for still and sparkling wines.
Biodynamic Wine: Biodynamic wine elevates the principles of organic farming. It adopts a holistic view, treating the vineyard as an interconnected ecosystem. Adhering to biodynamic agricultural guidelines, this approach integrates unique treatments, lunar cycles, and even broader cosmic rhythms into the farming process. While all biodynamic wines are inherently organic, they delve deeper into nature's interconnected web.
Biscuit: A toasty, baked note from autolysis in traditional-method sparkling wine.
Bitter: A taste sensation from skins, seeds, or stems, distinct from the drying feel of astringency.
Black Cherry: A deep, sweet red-fruit note common in ripe Merlot and Sangiovese.
Black Olive: A savory, briny note common in Syrah and other Mediterranean reds.
Black Pepper: A peppery aroma from the compound rotundone, classic in Syrah and Grüner Veltliner.
Black Tea: A dry, tannic, leafy note in aged reds like Nebbiolo and Sangiovese.
Blackberry: A dark bramble-fruit note common in Syrah, Zinfandel, and Malbec.
Blackcurrant (Cassis): A dark, intense berry aroma classic in Cabernet Sauvignon, linked to a balance of thiols and pyrazines.
Blanc de Blancs: A sparkling wine made only from white grapes, usually Chardonnay in Champagne.
Blanc de Noirs: A white or pale sparkling wine made from black grapes, such as Pinot Noir.
Blatina: The main red of Herzegovina, giving robust, dark-fruited wines.
Blauer Wildbacher: The Austrian grape behind Schilcher, a tart, high-acid Styrian rosé.
Blaufränkisch: A spicy, peppery, dark-fruited red of Austria and Hungary, called Lemberger in Germany.
Blending: Combining different wines or lots to balance and complete the final wine.
Blind Tasting: Tasting wine without seeing the label, to judge it without bias.
Blueberry: A dark-fruit note common in Syrah, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
Boal (Bual): A Madeira grape giving a medium-sweet, richer style.
Bobal: A high-acid Spanish red of Utiel-Requena, best from old vines, with dark fruit.
Bodega: The Spanish word for a winery or wine cellar.
Body: The perceived weight or fullness of a wine in the mouth, from light to full, driven mainly by alcohol, extract, and sugar.
Bogdanuša: A white of the Dalmatian island of Hvar, light and citrusy.
Bombino Bianco: A high-yielding, fresh white of Puglia and Abruzzo, light and lemony.
Bombino Nero: A pale Pugliese red prized for fresh rosé, as in Castel del Monte.
Bonarda: Argentina's second most planted red (the French Douce Noire), giving plump, juicy, dark-fruited wines.
Bornova Misketi: A Turkish Muscat of the Aegean giving aromatic dry and sweet whites.
Bosco: The main white of Liguria's Cinque Terre, saline and citrusy.
Botanicals: Herbs, spices, and other plant-based additives sometimes used in the winemaking process, particularly for vermouths and certain aromatized wines.
Botrytized Wine: A sweet wine from grapes shriveled by noble rot, concentrating sugar and adding honeyed complexity, as in Sauternes and Tokaji.
Bottle Aging: Maturing wine in the bottle, where it slowly develops tertiary aromas and softer texture.
Bottle Shock: A temporary dulling of aromas right after bottling or shipping, which fades with rest.
Bottle Variation: Differences between individual bottles of the same wine, more common with cork and with age.
Bottling: Filling and sealing finished wine into bottles, sometimes with light filtration.
Bouquet: The complex aromas that develop as a wine ages in bottle, as opposed to the primary fruit aroma of a young wine.
Boğazkere: A tannic, structured Turkish red, often blended with Öküzgözü.
Brachetto: An aromatic Piedmont red, most famous as the sweet, lightly sparkling Brachetto d'Acqui.
Brancellao: A perfumed, light Galician red revived in Ribeira Sacra and Rías Baixas.
Branco Lexítimo: A rare Galician white of A Coruña giving fresh, saline wines.
Breathing: Letting a wine sit in contact with air to open up, by decanting or simply opening the bottle.
Brettanomyces (Brett): A yeast that produces barnyard, leather, or band-aid aromas. Small amounts divide opinion; large amounts are considered a fault.
Bright: Vivid, fresh fruit and acidity.
Brine: A salty, savory note in some coastal whites and Sherry.
Brioche / Toast: Bready, yeasty notes from lees autolysis in traditional-method sparkling wine.
Brix: A scale measuring the sugar in grape juice, used mainly in the US to estimate ripeness and potential alcohol.
Brut: A common dryness level for sparkling wine; the scale runs Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec, Doux.
Bruñal: A rare, dark, tannic red of the Arribes region in Spain.
Bud Break: The spring stage when buds swell and shoots begin to grow, the start of the growing season.
Bung: The stopper that seals a barrel.
Bush Vine (Gobelet): A traditional free-standing, untrellised vine shape, common in hot, dry, old-vine regions.
Butterscotch: A sweet, buttery note from oak and malolactic fermentation.
Bâtonnage: A French term referring to the stirring of lees in a wine barrel, enhancing the wine's flavor and mouthfeel.
Băbească Neagră: A light, fresh, high-acid Romanian red.

Cabernet Blanc: A disease-resistant white PIWI with a Sauvignon-like, aromatic character.
Cabernet Franc: A perfumed Bordeaux red and parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. It shines in the Loire (Chinon, Bourgueil) with red fruit, graphite, and a leafy edge.
Cabernet Sauvignon: The world's most planted red, born in Bordeaux from Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Structured and tannic, with blackcurrant, cedar, and graphite, and it ages for decades.
Camphor: A medicinal, cooling note in some aged reds.
Canaiolo: A traditional soft Tuscan red used to round out Sangiovese in Chianti.
Canopy Management: Tending a vine's leaves and shoots to balance sunlight, airflow, and ripening.
Canteiro: The traditional method of aging Madeira slowly in warm lofts rather than heated tanks.
Cantina: The Italian word for a winery or cellar.
Cap: The dense mass of skins, seeds, and stems that floats to the top during red fermentation.
Cap Management: Techniques used to mix the cap (floating grape solids) during fermentation, ensuring even extraction of color, flavor, and tannin from the grape skins.
Caprettone: A Campanian white of Mount Vesuvius, fresh and mineral, long confused with Coda di Volpe.
Caramel / Toffee: Sweet, cooked-sugar notes from oxidative or fortified aging.
Carignan (Cariñena): A high-yielding Mediterranean red, best from old vines in the Languedoc and Catalonia, giving dark, structured wines.
Carmenère: A late-ripening Bordeaux grape now most at home in Chile, giving dark fruit with a green-peppercorn note.
Carricante: The white grape of Mount Etna, high in acid and minerality with green apple and citrus.
Casavecchia: A rare Campanian red giving structured, savory wines.
Casetta: A rare, tannic Trentino red revived in the Vallagarina.
Casse: A haze or cloudiness from unstable proteins or metals such as iron and copper.
Castelão: A versatile Portuguese red of the south, giving berry-fruited, often rustic wines.
Catalanesca: A Campanian white of Mount Vesuvius, fresh and floral.
Catarratto: Sicily's most planted white, giving fresh, lemony, easygoing wines.
Catawba: A pink-skinned North American grape with a foxy character, used for sweet and sparkling wines.
Catechins: Phenolic compounds from skins and seeds that contribute bitterness, astringency, and color stability.
Cava: Spain's traditional-method sparkling wine, mostly from Catalonia.
Caíño Blanco: A fragrant, high-acid Galician white of Rías Baixas.
Caíño Longo: A Galician red giving high-acid, structured wines.
Caíño Tinto: A high-acid Galician red of Rías Baixas and northern Portugal, fresh and structured.
Cedar: A fragrant wood note from oak, classic in aged Bordeaux.
Cellar (Cave): The space where wine is fermented, aged, and stored, ideally cool and stable.
Cellaring: Storing wine under stable, cool conditions so it can age.
Centrifuge: A machine that spins juice or wine to clarify it quickly.
Cercial: A high-acid Portuguese white of Bairrada and Dão, distinct from Madeira's Sercial.
Cesanese: A native red of Lazio near Rome, giving spicy, floral, soft wines.
Chalk: A dry, mineral impression in wines from limestone soils like Chablis and Champagne.
Chambourcin: A French-American hybrid red giving deeply colored, aromatic wines in cool, humid regions.
Champagne: The benchmark sparkling wine of the Champagne region, made by the traditional method.
Chapeau Brun: A term referring to the brownish color that the cap of grape skins can take on if it becomes oxidized during fermentation.
Chaptalization: Adding sugar to the must before or during fermentation to raise the finished wine's alcohol. It is regulated and banned in some regions.
Chardonnay: The world's most versatile white, from Burgundy, ranging from lean and steely to rich and oaky. Also key to Champagne.
Charmat Method: A method for sparkling wine production where the secondary fermentation happens in large tanks rather than individual bottles, often resulting in fresher, fruitier bubbly wines.
Chasselas: A gentle, low-acid white, Switzerland's signature grape and a table grape elsewhere.
Chenin Blanc: A high-acid, versatile white of the Loire (Vouvray) and South Africa, from dry to sweet to sparkling, with quince and honey.
Cherry: A core red-fruit note, leaning sour in Sangiovese and Pinot Noir, sweeter in warm-climate reds.
Chewy: A dense, mouth-coating texture from substantial tannins.
Chinuri: A Georgian white giving fresh, lively wines, often sparkling or amber.
Chkhaveri: A pale, delicate Georgian red of the west, often made in an off-dry rosé style.
Chocolate: A rich, roasted note in ripe reds and oak-aged wines.
Château: A French wine estate, especially in Bordeaux, not necessarily an actual castle.
Cigar Box: A note of cedar and tobacco from oak aging, classic in mature Bordeaux.
Ciliegiolo: A Tuscan red named for its cherry character, soft and fragrant, blended with or alongside Sangiovese.
Cinnamon: A warm baking-spice note, usually from oak aging.
Cinsault: A heat-tolerant southern French red, soft and aromatic, used in rosé and increasingly bottled solo by natural growers.
Citronellol: A terpene giving citrus and rose-citrus aromas, found in Muscat and Riesling.
Citrus: Lemon, lime, and grapefruit notes typical of high-acid whites.
Clarification: Clearing a wine of solids by settling, fining, or filtration.
Clarity: How clear or hazy a wine looks, a sign of filtration or its absence.
Classico: An Italian term for the historic heartland of a wine zone, as in Chianti Classico.
Clay: A water-holding soil that gives structured, powerful wines.
Climat: In Burgundy, a single named vineyard plot with its own defined boundaries and character.
Clone: A genetically identical plant produced from a single vine. Different clones of the same grape variety can produce wines with notably different characteristics.
Clos: A vineyard enclosed by a wall, a term common in Burgundy.
Closed: A wine whose aromas are muted and not yet expressive, often needing air or age.
Clove: A sweet, warm spice note from oak, linked to the compound eugenol.
Co-fermentation: Fermenting different grape varieties together, sometimes a red with a little white, for color and aromatics.
Co-pigmentation: A process where colorless compounds bind with pigments to deepen and stabilize red wine color.
Cocoa: A dry chocolate note in ripe, oak-aged reds.
Coda di Volpe: A soft, gentle Campanian white, often blended in the Naples area.
Coffee / Mocha: Roasted notes from heavily toasted oak.
Col Fondo: A traditional cloudy style of Prosecco refermented in the bottle and left on its lees, undisgorged.
Cold Soak: Steeping crushed red grapes in their juice at cool temperatures before fermentation to draw out color and aroma without alcohol.
Cold Stabilization: Chilling wine before bottling so harmless tartrate crystals form and drop out rather than appearing later in the bottle.
Colheita: A single-vintage Tawny Port aged for many years in cask.
Colombard: A crisp, citrusy white of southwest France, used for fresh wines and brandy.
Color Intensity: How deep or pale a wine's color is, hinting at grape, ripeness, and extraction.
Colorino: A deeply colored Tuscan grape used in small amounts to deepen Chianti blends.
Commandaria: An ancient sweet fortified wine from Cyprus, made from sun-dried grapes.
Completer: A rare, high-acid white of eastern Switzerland giving rich, ageworthy wines.
Complexity: The range and layering of aromas and flavors in a wine.
Concentration: The intensity and density of flavor in a wine.
Concord: A North American Vitis labrusca grape with a foxy, grapey character, used for juice, jelly, and sweet wines.
Concrete Tank: A fermentation or aging vessel of concrete, sometimes egg-shaped, that adds texture without oak flavor.
Continental Climate: An inland climate with hot summers and cold winters, as in much of central Europe.
Cooked Vegetable: A sulfur note of canned corn or asparagus, from dimethyl sulfide.
Cool-Climate: A wine region with a shorter, cooler season, favoring high acidity and lower alcohol.
Cooperage: The craft of making and maintaining wooden barrels.
Cordon: A vine trained with permanent horizontal arms along a wire, with spurs for fruiting.
Cork (Closure): A natural closure made from the bark of the cork oak, the traditional way to seal a wine bottle.
Cork Taint (TCA): A common fault, usually from a tainted cork, that mutes fruit and gives a damp-cardboard or moldy smell. Also called corked.
Corkage: A fee a restaurant charges to serve a bottle you bring yourself.
Cornalin: A native Valais red giving deeply colored, spicy wines.
Cornifesto: A minor Douro red used in Port and regional blends.
Cortese: The grape behind Gavi in Piedmont, light, crisp, and citrusy.
Corvina: The main grape of Valpolicella and Amarone in Veneto, giving sour-cherry reds that take well to drying.
Coulure: A viticultural hazard where grapes fail to develop after flowering due to cold or wet conditions, leading to reduced yields.
Counoise: A peppery, fresh Rhône red used in small amounts in Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends.
Cover Crop: Plants grown between vine rows to improve soil, biodiversity, and water control.
Cranberry: A tart red-fruit note common in cool-climate Pinot Noir and Gamay.
Cream: A soft, dairy note from lees and oak.
Cream Sherry: A sweetened, dark style of Oloroso Sherry.
Criadera: A tier of barrels in the solera system used to age and blend Sherry.
Crianza: A Spanish aging category, with set time in barrel and bottle, below Reserva.
Crisp: A pleasant, refreshing impression of acidity, usually in whites.
Croatina: A dark, lightly tannic red of Lombardy and Piedmont, often labeled Bonarda in the Oltrepò Pavese.
Crown Cap: A beer-style metal cap used to seal many Pét-Nats and sparkling wines during fermentation.
Cru: A French term for a specific vineyard or group of vineyards recognized for quality, as in Grand Cru and Premier Cru.
Cru Beaujolais: One of the ten top village appellations of Beaujolais, such as Morgon and Fleurie.
Cru Bourgeois: A Bordeaux classification for Médoc estates ranked below the classed growths.
Cru Classé: A classified growth, most famously the 1855 ranking of Bordeaux estates.
Crunchy: A natural-wine term for a wine with vivid, fresh, mouthwatering fruit and acidity.
Crush: The harvest season when grapes are picked and crushed, marking the start of the winemaking process.
Crusted Port: A blended, unfiltered Port that throws a sediment crust and ages in bottle.
Crâmpoșie: A high-acid Romanian white of Drăgășani, often made sparkling.
Crémant: French sparkling wine made by the traditional method outside Champagne, such as Crémant d'Alsace or de Bourgogne.
Cultured Yeast: Selected commercial yeast strains added to ensure a reliable, predictable fermentation.
Cured Meat: A savory, charcuterie note in aged reds.
Cuvaison: The period during which red wine macerates on its skins, shaping color and tannin.
Cuverie: The room or building where wine is fermented, housing the tanks and vats.
Cuvée: A specific blend or batch of wine. In Champagne it can also mean the first, finest pressing of juice.
Cépage: The French term for grape variety.
Códega do Larinho: A Douro white used in still wines and white Port.
Çalkarası: A pale Turkish red of the Aegean, prized for fresh rosé.

DAC: Districtus Austriae Controllatus, Austria's appellation system for regionally typical wines.
Dafni: A rare, aromatic Cretan white with a distinctive bay-laurel note, revived from near-extinction.
Damascenone: A powerful compound giving stewed-apple, rose, and dried-fruit aromas that lifts a wine's overall fruitiness.
Deacidification: Reducing the acidity of wine or must from a cool climate or unripe fruit, where permitted.
Debina: A high-acid Greek white of Zitsa in Epirus, used for fresh still and sparkling wines.
Debit: A Croatian coastal white giving fresh, citrusy wines.
Decanter: A vessel into which wine is poured to aerate it or separate it from sediment.
Decanting: Pouring wine into another vessel to aerate it or to separate it from sediment.
Delaware: A pink North American grape giving light, fruity wines, also grown in Japan.
Delestage: A process of fermenting red wines where the juice is periodically drained off the skins and then returned, aiding in color and tannin extraction.
Demi-muid: A large barrel of around 500 to 600 liters, giving less oak influence than a small barrique.
Dessert Wine: A sweet wine served with or as dessert, made by various methods that concentrate sugar.
Destemming: Removing grapes from their stems before fermentation to reduce harsh, green tannins.
Diacetyl: A compound from malolactic fermentation that smells and tastes of butter, often noticeable in oaked Chardonnay.
DIAM: A brand of technical cork made from cleaned, reconstituted cork granules to eliminate cork taint.
Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS): A compound giving cooked-vegetable or truffle aromas, pleasant in small amounts in some aged wines.
Dimyat: A Bulgarian white giving fresh, floral wines.
Disgorgement: In traditional-method sparkling wine, ejecting the frozen plug of sediment from the bottle neck after the second fermentation.
Diurnal Range: The gap between daytime and nighttime temperatures, where big swings help grapes ripen while keeping acidity.
DO (Spain): Denominación de Origen, Spain's main quality wine classification.
DOC (Italy): Denominazione di Origine Controllata, Italy's controlled quality designation for a defined area.
DOCa (Spain): Spain's top tier, held only by Rioja and Priorat.
DOCG (Italy): Italy's highest classification, with the strictest rules.
Dolcetto: An easy, soft, low-acid Piedmont red for early drinking, with dark fruit and a bitter-almond finish.
Domaine: A French estate that grows its own grapes and makes wine from them.
Domina: A deeply colored German red crossing of Portugieser and Pinot Noir.
Dornfelder: A deeply colored German crossing giving juicy, dark-fruited reds.
Dosage: In sparkling wine production, it's the addition of a small amount of wine (often mixed with sugar) to the bottle before final corking, influencing the wine's sweetness level.
Doña Blanca: A Galician and northern Portuguese white giving fresh, floral wines.
Dried Fruit: Raisin, fig, and date notes in late-harvest, passito, and fortified wines.
Drinking Window: The span of years during which a wine is at its best to drink.
Drought: A prolonged lack of water that stresses vines, reducing yield and sometimes concentrating fruit.
Dry: A wine with little or no perceptible sweetness, because the sugar fermented to alcohol.
Dry Farming: Growing grapes without irrigation, relying on rainfall, which can push vines toward deeper roots and concentrated fruit.
Dumb Phase: A period in a wine's life, typically during aging, when its flavors and aromas become muted or disjointed. It's a temporary phase, after which the wine often emerges more harmonious and expressive.
Duras: A spicy, peppery red of Gaillac in southwest France.
Durella: A very high-acid white of the Lessini hills in Veneto, ideal for the sparkling Lessini Durello.

Earthy: Aromas and flavors of soil, mushroom, forest floor, or stone.
Effervescence: The bubbles in a sparkling or lightly fizzy wine.
Einzellage: A German single vineyard site.
Elbling: An ancient, tart, neutral white of the upper Mosel, often made sparkling.
Elderflower: A fragrant floral note often found in Sauvignon Blanc.
Emir: A crisp, fresh white of Cappadocia in central Turkey.
En Primeur: A French term referring to the practice of buying wines early while they're still in the barrel, months before they're bottled and released on the market.
En Rama: A barely filtered Sherry bottled to show its fresh, unadulterated character.
Enantio: A dark Trentino red, the local form of Lambrusco a Foglia Frastagliata.
Encruzado: Portugal's finest white grape, from the Dão, giving structured, ageworthy, mineral wines.
Enrichment: Raising the potential alcohol of must by adding sugar or concentrated juice, also known as chaptalization.
Erbaluce: A high-acid Piedmont white of Caluso, made dry, sparkling, and sweet.
Erste Lage: A German classification for a first-class vineyard site, below grand cru (Grosse Lage).
Espadeiro: A pale, high-acid Galician and Vinho Verde red used mainly for crisp rosés.
Espalier: Training vines flat along wires or a frame in a structured shape.
Espresso: A dark-roast coffee note from heavily toasted oak.
Estate Bottled: Wine grown, made, and bottled by a single producer on its own property.
Esters: Fruity compounds formed during fermentation, giving young wines aromas of banana, pear, apple, and tropical fruit.
Estufa: The heated chamber used to age Madeira quickly through warming.
Estufagem: A unique aging process for Madeira wines where they're intentionally exposed to heat, accelerating aging and developing distinct flavors.
Ethyl Acetate: A compound smelling of nail polish or solvent, linked to volatile acidity when it rises too high.
Ethylphenols (4-EP and 4-EG): Compounds made by Brettanomyces yeast, giving barnyard, leather, smoke, and band-aid aromas.
Eucalyptus: A camphor-like note in some reds grown near eucalyptus trees.
Eugenol: A compound extracted from oak giving clove and sweet-spice aromas.
Excess Sulfur Dioxide: Too much added SO2, giving a harsh, struck-match or burnt smell that can mask fruit.
Extended Maceration: Leaving red wine on its skins for weeks after fermentation to build structure and soften tannins.
Ébauche: A preliminary or initial blend of still wines that will be used to produce sparkling wine.
Élevage: The period between fermentation and bottling, akin to a wine's adolescence, when it evolves and matures in barrels or tanks.

Falanghina: An ancient Campanian white, floral and citrusy with fresh acidity.
Feints: The tails or last portion of a distillation run, often discarded or redistilled due to impurities and undesirable flavors.
Fennel / Anise: A sweet-herbal note found in some Mediterranean reds.
Fer Servadou: A firm, herbal red of southwest France (Braucol in Gaillac), with red fruit and a peppery edge.
Fermentation: The process by which yeast converts grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, turning juice into wine.
Fermentation Arrest: Halting the fermentation process deliberately, often by chilling or adding spirits, to leave residual sugar in the wine or increase alcohol content.
Fernão Pires (Maria Gomes): Portugal's most planted white, aromatic and floral, made dry to off-dry.
Fetească Albă: A delicate, floral Romanian white made dry to sweet.
Fetească Neagră: A characterful Romanian red, supple and dark-fruited with a peppery edge.
Fetească Regală: A Romanian crossing giving fresh, aromatic, food-friendly whites.
Fiano: An ancient southern-Italian white of Campania, textured and nutty with honey and herb.
Field Blend: A wine from different grape varieties grown together in one vineyard and harvested and fermented as a single lot.
Fig: A sweet, jammy note found in ripe, warm-climate reds and fortified wines.
Filtration: The process of removing suspended solids from wine before bottling, ensuring clarity and stability.
Fining: Clarifying wine with an agent such as bentonite clay, egg white, or pea protein that binds particles so they settle out. Some natural wines skip it.
Finish: The flavors and sensations that linger after you swallow. A long finish is generally a mark of quality.
Fino: The palest, driest style of Sherry, aged under a protective layer of flor yeast.
Firm: A noticeable but not harsh grip of tannin or acidity.
Flabby: A wine that tastes soft and dull from a lack of acidity.
Flash Détente: A rapid heat-and-vacuum technique that extracts color and removes green or smoky notes.
Flor: A layer of yeast cells that forms naturally on the surface of certain wines, notably in Sherry production, protecting the wine from oxidation and contributing unique flavors.
Flowering: The stage when vine flowers bloom and set the potential crop, sensitive to cold and rain.
Folle Blanche: A high-acid white of western France, used for Gros Plant and as a base for Armagnac.
Forest Floor: An autumnal note of damp leaves and undergrowth in aged Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo.
Fortified Wine: Wine with grape spirit added to raise its alcohol, as in Port, Sherry, Madeira, and Vermouth.
Foudre: A large wooden cask used to age wine with gentle oxygen exposure but little oak flavor.
Franciacorta: Italy's prestige traditional-method sparkling wine from Lombardy.
Frappato: A fragrant, light Sicilian red, floral and red-fruited, often blended with Nero d'Avola in Cerasuolo di Vittoria.
Free Run: Juice or wine that flows from the grapes under their own weight, before pressing. It is generally softer than press wine.
Freisa: A Piedmont red related to Nebbiolo, tannic and high-acid, made dry or lightly sparkling.
Fresh: Lively and clean, with bright acidity and clear fruit.
Friulano: A Friulian white (formerly Tocai), giving textured pear-and-almond wines.
Frizzante: A lightly sparkling Italian style with gentle, soft bubbles.
Frost: Cold that can kill spring buds or damage grapes, a major vineyard hazard.
Fruit Set: The stage when flowers become tiny grapes, determining how large the crop will be.
Fruit-Forward: A wine whose ripe fruit flavors are the dominant, upfront character.
Frâncușă: A crisp, high-acid Romanian white often blended in Cotnari.
Frühburgunder: An early-ripening mutation of Pinot Noir grown in Germany, giving soft, dark-fruited reds.
Funky: Wild aromas such as barnyard or yeast, often in natural wines, pleasant in moderation.
Furaneol: A compound giving strawberry and cotton-candy aromas, notable in some hybrid grapes.
Furmint: Hungary's great white, the backbone of sweet Tokaji and increasingly of dry, mineral whites.

Gaglioppo: Calabria's main red, behind Cirò, giving pale, savory, herbal wines.
Galbenă de Odobești: A traditional high-acid Romanian white of Moldavia.
Galets: The large rounded stones covering parts of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, storing daytime heat and radiating it at night.
Gamay: The light, juicy red of Beaujolais, often made by carbonic maceration for bright, gulpable wines.
Game: A meaty, animal note in some aged Syrah and Pinot Noir.
Garagiste: A small-scale winemaker working in tiny quantities, often outside the establishment.
Garganega: The main grape of Soave in Veneto, giving gentle almond and white-flower whites.
Garnacha Blanca: White Grenache, a low-acid, full-bodied white of Spain and southern France.
Garnet: A red-wine color with brownish-orange tints, usually a sign of some age.
Garrafeira: A Portuguese term for a producer's special reserve, aged longer in barrel and bottle.
Garrigue: An aromatic note of wild Mediterranean scrub, herbs, and resin, typical of southern French reds.
Geosmin: A compound giving earthy, beetroot, or muddy aromas; a fault at higher levels.
Geraniol: A terpene giving rose and geranium aromas, common in aromatic white grapes.
Geranium Note: A pungent off-aroma like crushed geranium leaves, from the breakdown of sorbic acid by bacteria.
Gewürztraminer: A pink-skinned, intensely aromatic white of Alsace, with lychee, rose, and spice.
Ginger: A spicy, zesty note found in aromatic whites and oak-aged wines.
Glassware: The shape and size of a wine glass, which can shape how a wine smells and tastes.
Glou Glou Wine: Derived from the French onomatopoeia "glouglou," which mimics the sound of gulping or drinking quickly, "Glou Glou Wine" refers to wines that are easy-drinking, juicy, and refreshing. These wines are typically light-bodied with low tannins, making them perfect for casual sipping. Often associated with natural wine circles, Glou Glou wines are the kind you can drink effortlessly, capturing the essence of fun and conviviality in a bottle.
Glycerol: A compound formed in fermentation that adds smoothness and a touch of sweetness to a wine's body.
Godello: A revived white of northwest Spain (Valdeorras, Bierzo), textured and mineral with stone fruit.
Gooseberry: A tart, green note classic in cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc.
Goruli Mtsvane: A fresh, aromatic Georgian white of Kartli, also used for sparkling.
Gouais Blanc: An ancient, humble white that is a parent of Chardonnay, Gamay, and many other varieties.
Goût de Terroir: The taste of the place; a wine's expression of its specific origin, encapsulating soil, climate, and local grape varieties.
Graciano: A fragrant, firm Rioja blending grape adding acidity, color, and spice.
Graft Union: The point on a grapevine where the rootstock and scion are joined together through grafting.
Grafting: Joining a fruiting vine variety onto a separate rootstock, the standard way to plant vines resistant to phylloxera.
Grainy Tannins: Tannins with a slightly rough, sandy texture.
Gran Selezione: The top tier of Chianti Classico.
Grand Cru: A top vineyard classification, used differently in Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne, and Bordeaux.
Grand Vin: The flagship wine of a Bordeaux estate, as opposed to its second wine.
Grapefruit: A zesty citrus note, classic in Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.
Graphite: A pencil-lead, mineral note in fine Bordeaux and Loire Cabernet Franc.
Grass: A fresh-cut-grass note from leaf aldehydes, typical of Sauvignon Blanc.
Gravel: A warm, well-draining soil favored for ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, as in the Médoc.
Grechetto: A central-Italian white of Umbria, key to Orvieto, giving nutty, textured wines.
Greco: A characterful southern-Italian white of Campania, firm and citrusy with a smoky edge.
Greco Bianco: A Calabrian white, famed for the sweet Greco di Bianco passito.
Green: Underripe, stalky, or vegetal flavors from unripe grapes or stems.
Green Apple: A crisp, tart note common in cool-climate whites like Chablis and Riesling.
Green Harvest: Intentional removal of unripe grape bunches, reducing yields to ensure that the remaining grapes ripen more fully and produce higher quality wines.
Green Tannins: Harsh, bitter tannins from unripe grapes or stems.
Grenache (Garnacha): A warm-climate red of Spanish origin, key to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Priorat, giving high-alcohol, red-fruited, gently spicy wines.
Grignolino: A pale, high-acid, tannic Piedmont red with red fruit and a peppery snap.
Grillo: A Sicilian white, once key to Marsala, now giving crisp, citrusy dry wines.
Gringet: A rare Savoie white of the Ayze area, used for delicate sparkling and still wines.
Grip: The firm, textural pull of tannins or acidity on the palate.
Grk: A rare Croatian white of Korčula, structured and saline.
Groppello: A light, soft red of Lake Garda's Riviera del Garda.
Gros Manseng: The larger-berried partner to Petit Manseng, giving fresh, citrusy dry whites in Gascony.
Grosses Gewächs (GG): A dry German wine from a top vineyard, the dry equivalent of grand cru, designated by the VDP.
Grosslage: A German collective name covering several vineyard sites.
Growing Degree Days: A measure of seasonal warmth used to gauge how well a site ripens grapes.
Grüner Veltliner: Austria's signature white, peppery and citrusy with a savory edge, from crisp to ageworthy.
Guaiacol: A smoky, toasty compound from charred oak and a key marker of smoke taint.
Guava: A fragrant tropical note linked to thiols in Sauvignon Blanc.
Guyot: A common cane-pruning and trellising system that retains one or two fruiting canes.
Gyropalette: A machine that automates the riddling of sparkling wine.

Hail: Ice falling during storms that can damage vines and destroy a crop.
Halbtrocken: German for off-dry, shown on a label.
Hang Time: How long grapes are left on the vine to ripen, affecting sugar, acid, and flavor development.
Harvest: The picking of ripe grapes, by hand or machine, timed to the style of wine sought.
Hay: A dry, grassy note in some whites and aged wines.
Hazelnut: A nutty note from oxidative aging and lees, common in oaked Chardonnay and Champagne.
Headspace: The space left unfilled in a wine container, like a barrel or tank, which can be a source of oxidation if not managed properly.
Heat Damage: Damage from a wine getting too hot in transit or storage, often shown by a pushed-up cork and dull, cooked flavors.
Hedging: Trimming the tops and sides of the vine canopy to control growth.
Hollow: A wine that feels empty in the middle, lacking flavor on the mid-palate.
Hondarrabi Beltza: The red grape of Basque Txakoli, used for tart reds and rosés.
Hondarrabi Zuri: The white grape behind Basque Txakoli, giving high-acid, slightly spritzy, zesty wines.
Honey: A note from botrytis, sweetness, or age, classic in Sauternes and aged Chenin.
Honeysuckle: A sweet floral note common in aromatic and off-dry whites.
Horizontal Tasting: Tasting different wines from the same vintage to compare producers or sites.
Hot: A burning impression of excess alcohol on the finish.
Hot Press: A process where grape skins are heated before pressing, extracting more color and flavor. Common in the production of certain rosé wines.
Hue: The specific shade of a wine's color, a clue to grape, age, and style.
Humagne Rouge: A rustic, wild Valais red with earthy, gamey character.
Huxelrebe: A German white crossing giving aromatic wines, often off-dry or sweet.
Hybrid Grape: A grape bred by crossing Vitis vinifera with hardy American or Asian species for disease or cold resistance, increasingly used in organic and cool-climate sites.
Hydrogen Sulfide: A reduction compound smelling of rotten eggs, often from a stressed or nutrient-poor fermentation.
Hydrometer: An instrument used to measure the density of a liquid. In winemaking, it's used to gauge sugar levels in grape juice or must.
Hyperoxidation: Deliberately oxidizing white juice before fermentation to stabilize it against later browning.
Hárslevelű: A perfumed Hungarian white, the aromatic partner to Furmint in Tokaji.

Ice Wine (Eiswein): A sweet wine from grapes left to freeze on the vine, then pressed while frozen to concentrate sugar and acid.
IGT (Italy): A flexible Italian category that allows non-traditional grapes and blends.
Inert Gas: Gases such as nitrogen or argon used to blanket wine and protect it from oxygen.
Inoculation: The intentional addition of specific yeast strains to grape juice or must to guide the fermentation process.
Inzolia (Ansonica): A Sicilian and Tuscan-coast white, soft and nutty with gentle acidity.
Iodine (Sea Spray): A salty, marine note in some coastal whites and oxidative wines.
Irrigation: Watering vines, common in dry New World regions and restricted in much of Europe.
Irsai Olivér: An early-ripening Hungarian white with a Muscat-like, grapey aroma.
Isoamyl Acetate: An ester giving a banana or pear-drop aroma, prominent in carbonic-maceration wines like Beaujolais.
Isoenzymes: Enzymes that differ in structure but catalyze the same chemical reactions during fermentation and other win emaking processes.

Jacquère: A light, crisp Alpine white of Savoie, low in alcohol with green-apple and stony notes.
Jammy: Cooked, sweet, very ripe fruit character, often in warm-climate reds.
Jasmine: A heady floral note found in aromatic whites like Viognier and Muscat.
Jeroboam: A large wine bottle with a capacity of three liters, equivalent to four standard bottles.
Johanniter: A Riesling-style disease-resistant white PIWI giving crisp, fruity wines.
Joven: A Spanish term for a young wine released with little or no oak aging.
Juan García: A red of the Arribes area on the Spain-Portugal border, giving fragrant, fresh reds.
Jug Wine: Low-priced, bulk-produced wine typically sold in large containers or jugs. It's often considered of lesser quality compared to bottled wines.
Juhfark: A high-acid Hungarian white of volcanic Somló, austere and ageworthy.
Juicy: Fresh, mouthwatering fruit with bright acidity.

Kabinett: A German term indicating wines made from fully ripened grapes, often lighter with lower alcohol content.
Kadarka: A light, spicy red of Hungary and the Balkans, historically key to Bull's Blood blends.
Kalecik Karası: A soft, aromatic Turkish red with red-cherry fruit.
Keratsuda: A rare white of southwest Bulgaria giving fresh, mineral wines.
Kerner: A Riesling crossing grown in Germany and Alto Adige, giving aromatic, high-acid whites.
Khikhvi: A Georgian white of Kakheti giving aromatic wines, often made amber in qvevri.
Khndoghni: An Armenian red of Artsakh, deeply colored and structured.
Kieselguhr: A type of diatomaceous earth used in the filtration of wines to remove suspended particles.
Kimmeridgian: A limestone-and-clay soil rich in fossils, classic to Chablis and parts of Champagne.
Kirsch: A note of cherry liqueur in ripe, warm-climate reds.
Királyleányka: An aromatic Hungarian and Transylvanian white giving fresh, floral wines.
Kisi: An aromatic Georgian white, excellent for textured qvevri amber wines.
Kotsifali: A soft, aromatic Cretan red, usually blended with Mandilaria for structure.
Krakhuna: A rich, textured Georgian white of Imereti.
Kraljevina: A light, high-acid Croatian white of the Plešivica hills.
Krassato: A soft Greek red of Rapsani on Mount Olympus, blended with Xinomavro and Stavroto.
Kéknyelű: A rare, high-acid Hungarian white of Badacsony near Lake Balaton.

Lacrima: A floral, soft Marche red of Lacrima di Morro d'Alba, intensely perfumed with rose and berry.
Lactic Bacteria: Bacteria responsible for malolactic fermentation, converting sharper malic acid into softer lactic acid.
Ladybug Taint: A green, peanut-like off-aroma from compounds released when ladybugs are harvested with the grapes.
Lagar: A shallow stone trough where grapes are foot-trodden, traditional in the Douro for Port.
Lagrein: A brooding, dark red of Alto Adige with blackberry, chocolate, and a savory bite.
Lambrusco: A family of native Emilian reds made into dry to off-dry sparkling wines, juicy and food-friendly.
Late Bottled Vintage (LBV): A single-vintage Port aged longer in cask than Vintage Port, ready to drink on release.
Late Harvest: Wine from grapes left to overripen on the vine to concentrate sugar, often sweet.
Lavender: A fragrant herbal-floral note found in some southern French and Rhône reds.
Leaf Aldehydes (Cis-3-hexenol): Compounds giving fresh-cut-grass and green-leaf aromas, often from under-ripe fruit or stems.
Leaf Pulling: Removing leaves around the grape bunches to improve sun exposure and airflow.
Leather: A savory note that develops in aged reds, sometimes Brett-influenced.
Lees: The sediment of dead yeast and grape particles that settles during and after fermentation.
Lees Aging: The process of allowing wine to remain in contact with dead yeast cells post-fermentation, adding complexity and texture to the final wine.
Legs (Tears): The streaks that run down the glass after swirling. They indicate alcohol and sugar, not quality.
Lemon: A core citrus note in many crisp whites.
Length: How long a wine's flavors linger after you swallow, a common marker of quality.
Leányka: A soft, gentle Hungarian white, made dry to sweet.
Liatiko: An ancient pale Cretan red, soft and aromatic, made dry and sweet.
Licorice: A sweet, dark note found in Syrah, Nebbiolo, and Amarone.
Lieu-dit: A traditional named vineyard plot, smaller than an appellation.
Lightstrike (Goût de Lumière): A fault from too much light, especially in clear bottles, giving cooked-cabbage or wet-wool aromas.
Lignification: The process where grape stems turn woody, indicating grape maturity and readiness for harvest, especially for red wines.
Lime: A sharp citrus note common in dry Riesling and Assyrtiko.
Limestone: A calcium-rich, well-draining soil prized for high-acid, mineral wines, as in Chablis and Champagne.
Limnio: An ancient Greek red from the island of Limnos, herbal and medium-bodied.
Limniona: A revived red of central Greece, giving fresh, red-fruited, structured wines.
Linalool: A terpene giving floral, citrus-blossom, and lavender aromas, abundant in Muscat and Riesling.
Liqueur d'Expédition: The dosage of wine and sugar added to sparkling wine after disgorgement to set its sweetness.
Listán Blanco: The Canary Islands name for Palomino, giving fresh, volcanic whites.
Listán Negro: A volcanic-island red of the Canaries, giving smoky, red-fruited wines from ungrafted vines.
Loureira: A floral Galician white of Rías Baixas and Ribeiro, related to Loureiro.
Loureiro: A fragrant, high-acid white of the Vinho Verde region and Galicia, with floral and citrus notes.
Lush: Rich, ripe, and full of fruit, with a generous mouthfeel.
Lutte Raisonnée: A French reasoned approach that uses treatments only when necessary, between conventional and organic.
Lychee: A distinctive exotic-fruit note, the hallmark of Gewürztraminer, from rose-oxide compounds.

3-Mercaptohexanol (3MH): A thiol giving grapefruit and passionfruit aromas, a key driver of Sauvignon Blanc's tropical character.
4-MMP: A thiol giving boxwood, blackcurrant-bud, and cat's-pee aromas in Sauvignon Blanc.
Macabeo (Viura): A widely grown Spanish white, a Cava grape and the main white of Rioja, gently floral.
Maceration: Steeping grape juice on its skins to extract color, tannin, and flavor.
Maceration Carbonique: A fermentation method where intact grape clusters are fermented in a carbon dioxide-rich environment before crushing, leading to fruity and soft wines.
Macroclimate: The broad regional climate of a wine area.
Madeira: A fortified wine from the island of Madeira, deliberately heated and oxidized for a tangy, long-lived style.
Maderization: The dulled, cooked, brown character an unfortified wine takes on from heat and oxygen, named for the deliberate version in Madeira.
Magliocco: A characterful Calabrian red, fragrant and structured with dark fruit.
Malagousia: A revived aromatic Greek white with peach and herb, rescued from near-extinction.
Malbec: An inky French red that found fame in Mendoza, Argentina, giving plush, dark-fruited wines. Known as Côt in its Cahors homeland.
Malic Acid: A naturally occurring acid in grapes and wine. It can be converted to softer lactic acid through malolactic fermentation.
Malolactic Fermentation (MLF): A bacterial conversion of sharp malic acid into softer lactic acid that lowers acidity and adds roundness. Common in reds and many whites like Chardonnay.
Malvasia: A large family of mostly aromatic grapes across the Mediterranean, made dry, sweet, or for orange wine.
Malvasia Fina: A Portuguese white used in Douro whites and white Port, gently aromatic.
Malvazija Istarska: The signature white of Istria, made fresh or as textured orange wine.
Mammolo: A fragrant Tuscan red named for violets, used in small amounts in Chianti and Vino Nobile.
Mandilaria: A deeply colored, tannic Greek red of the Aegean islands, often blended to add structure.
Mango: A ripe tropical note in warm-climate whites.
Mantonico: An ancient Calabrian white made dry and sweet, with citrus and nutty depth.
Manzanilla: A delicate, saline style of Fino Sherry aged in coastal Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Manzoni Bianco: An Italian crossing of Riesling and Pinot Blanc, giving aromatic, structured whites.
Maple: A sweet, syrupy note in some oxidative and fortified wines.
Maraština: A widely grown Croatian coastal white giving fresh, sometimes nutty wines.
Marc: The solid remnants (skins, seeds, stems) of grapes after pressing, often distilled to produce spirits or used as compost.
Maritime Climate: A coastal climate moderated by the sea, with mild temperatures and a long season, as in Bordeaux.
Marl: A clay-limestone mix that holds water and gives structure, common in Burgundy and Barolo.
Marmajuelo: A fragrant Canary Islands white giving aromatic, fresh wines.
Marquette: A cold-hardy American hybrid red giving spicy, dark-fruited wines in northern states.
Marsala: A fortified wine from Sicily, made dry to sweet, used for drinking and cooking.
Marsanne: A rich, waxy white of the northern Rhône, often blended with Roussanne.
Marzemino: A soft, fruity Trentino red with dark berry and a floral note.
Massal Selection: Replanting from cuttings of a vineyard's own best vines to preserve diversity, rather than using a single commercial clone.
Maturana Tinta: A revived, dark, spicy red of Rioja.
Maturation: The aging of wine after fermentation, in tank, barrel, or bottle, to develop and stabilize it.
Mature: The softened, complex character a wine takes on with bottle age.
Mauzac: A southwest French white behind traditional Blanquette de Limoux, with a green-apple character.
Mavrodaphne: A Greek red best known for sweet, fortified Mavrodaphne of Patras, dark and raisiny.
Mavrotragano: A revived, structured Santorini red, dark-fruited and ageworthy.
Mavrud: An ancient Bulgarian red, tannic and ageworthy with dark fruit and spice.
Melnik: A southwestern Bulgarian red giving structured, dark-fruited wines.
Melon: A soft, fresh note found in unoaked Chardonnay and Melon de Bourgogne.
Melon de Bourgogne: The grape of Muscadet near the Atlantic, light, dry, and saline, often aged on its lees.
Mencía: A fresh, mineral red from northwest Spain (Bierzo, Ribeira Sacra), with red fruit and a floral lift.
Menthol: A cool, minty note in some ripe reds.
Mercaptans: Sulfur compounds of reduction giving aromas of garlic, onion, and rotten egg.
Merenzao: The Galician name for Trousseau, giving pale, perfumed reds in Ribeira Sacra.
Merlot: A soft, plummy Bordeaux red that ripens early and rounds out blends. On its own it ranges from easygoing to profound, as in Pomerol.
Merseguera: A gentle, neutral white of eastern Spain around Valencia and Alicante.
Merwah: An ancient Lebanese white, often blended with Obaideh for traditional whites.
Mesoclimate: The climate of a specific vineyard or slope, between the regional climate and the vine's immediate surroundings.
Methyl Anthranilate: A compound giving the foxy, grape-candy aroma of Concord and other labrusca grapes.
Micro-oxygenation: Introducing tiny, controlled amounts of oxygen to soften tannins and stabilize color.
Mid-palate: How a wine feels in the middle of the sip, between the attack and the finish.
Mildew: A common vine disease, in downy and powdery forms, controlled by careful spraying.
Millerandage: Uneven fruit set that gives bunches with mixed berry sizes, sometimes prized for concentration.
Minerality: A loosely defined term for flinty, saline, or stony characters in some wines. It is debated and not a measurable chemical trait.
Mint: A cooling herbal note sometimes found in Cabernet and Syrah.
Minutolo: An aromatic Pugliese white, a Muscat-scented member of the Fiano family.
Mise en Bouteille: French for bottled, as in mise en bouteille au château, meaning bottled at the estate.
Mondeuse: A dark, peppery red of Savoie in the French Alps, with bramble fruit and fresh acidity.
Mondeuse Blanche: A rare Savoie white, a parent of Syrah, giving fresh, lightly aromatic wines.
Monemvasia: A Greek white linked to the historic origin of Malvasia, made fresh and sweet.
Monopole: A vineyard owned entirely by a single producer, a term common in Burgundy.
Montepulciano: A widely planted central-Italian red (not the Tuscan town), giving deep, smooth, affordable reds in Abruzzo.
Moreto: A light, soft Portuguese red of the Alentejo, used mainly in blends.
Morio-Muskat: A German crossing with a strong Muscat-like aroma despite no Muscat parentage.
Moscato (Muscat): A family of intensely grapey, floral grapes used for everything from sweet Moscato d'Asti to dry whites.
Moscato Giallo: An aromatic yellow Muscat of northern Italy, made dry and sweet.
Moscato Rosa: A rare pink Muscat of Alto Adige giving fragrant, rose-scented sweet wines.
Moschofilero: A pink-skinned, aromatic Greek white of the Peloponnese, floral and citrusy.
Mourvèdre (Monastrell): A late-ripening Mediterranean red that needs heat, giving meaty, tannic wines in Bandol and southern Spain.
Mousiness: A fault, more common in low-sulfur natural wines, that leaves a stale, mousy, popcorn-like aftertaste detectable only after you swallow.
Mousse: The texture and quality of the bubbles in a sparkling wine.
Mouthfeel: The textural sensations a wine creates in the mouth, such as smooth, creamy, grippy, or silky.
Mtsvane: An aromatic Georgian white, often blended with Rkatsiteli and used for amber wines.
Mulberry: A dark, sweet berry note in ripe reds.
Muscaris: An aromatic, Muscat-scented disease-resistant white PIWI.
Mushroom: An earthy note that develops in aged reds.
Must: Freshly pressed or crushed grape juice, including skins and seeds, before and during fermentation.
Must Weight: A measurement of the sugar content in grape juice or must, often used to estimate potential alcohol levels in the finished wine.
Mutage: Stopping fermentation by adding grape spirit, leaving natural sweetness, as in Port and vins doux naturels.
Müller-Thurgau: An early-ripening German crossing (Riesling and Madeleine Royale), giving soft, floral, easy whites.

Nail Polish: A solvent note from ethyl acetate, a sign of volatile acidity.
Narince: A Turkish white of Tokat, giving fresh wines with citrus and a waxy texture.
Nascetta: A rare, aromatic Piedmont white of the Langhe, textured with herb and citrus.
Nasco: An aromatic Sardinian white made dry and sweet, with floral and citrus notes.
Native Yeast (Wild Yeast): The naturally occurring yeasts on grape skins and in the winery, used in spontaneous fermentation and prized in natural winemaking.
Natural Wine: Natural wine represents a commitment to pure, unadulterated winemaking. Produced without the addition or removal of any substances during its creation, natural wines often remain unfiltered, leading to natural sediments. A hallmark of these wines is the absence of added sulfites, relying solely on the minimal amounts that naturally occur during fermentation.
Nebbiolo: The noble grape of Piedmont, behind Barolo and Barbaresco. Pale but powerful, with firm tannin, high acid, and aromas of rose, tar, and cherry.
Negramoll: A soft, light red of the Canary Islands and Madeira, giving gentle, fruity wines.
Negroamaro: A dark, robust red of Puglia in southern Italy, ripe with a slightly bitter edge.
Negru de Drăgășani: A modern Romanian red crossing giving dark, spicy wines.
Nerello Mascalese: The noble red of Mount Etna in Sicily, pale and Nebbiolo-like, with red fruit, ash, and volcanic minerality.
Nero d'Avola: Sicily's leading red, giving ripe, plummy, full-bodied wines.
Nero di Troia (Uva di Troia): A firm, tannic Pugliese red of the Castel del Monte area, with dark fruit and spice.
Nerol: A terpene giving fresh rose and citrus aromas in aromatic varieties.
Neuburger: A gentle Austrian white giving soft, nutty wines.
Neutral Oak: Older barrels that have lost most of their oak flavor, used for texture and gentle oxygen rather than taste.
New Oak: Fresh barrels that impart strong vanilla, spice, and toast flavors to wine.
New World: Wine-producing countries outside the traditional European heartland, such as the US, Australia, Chile, and South Africa.
Niagara: A North American labrusca white with a strong grapey, foxy aroma, used for sweet wines and juice.
Noble Rot: A beneficial form of the Botrytis Cinerea fungus, which can dehydrate grapes, concentrating their sugars and flavors. It's essential for certain sweet wines like Sauternes and Tokaji.
Nocera: A high-acid Sicilian and Calabrian red revived for fresh, structured wines.
Norisoprenoids: A class of carotenoid-derived compounds, including TDN and damascenone, giving floral, fruity, and petrol notes.
Norton: A hardy American red giving deeply colored, robust wines, historically important in Missouri and Virginia.
Nose: A tasting term for the overall smell of a wine.
Nuragus: An ancient, light, crisp white widely grown in southern Sardinia.
Nutmeg: A warm baking-spice note from oak and bottle age.
Nutty: Almond, walnut, and hazelnut notes from oxidative aging, as in Sherry and Vin Jaune.
Négociant: A wine merchant who buys grapes, juice, or finished wines from growers and producers, then labels and sells them under their own name.
Négrette: The signature red of Fronton near Toulouse, soft and floral with violet and dark fruit.

Oak Chips: Pieces of oak added to wine to give oak flavor more cheaply than barrels.
Oak Lactones (Whiskey Lactone): Compounds from oak giving coconut and woody aromas, stronger in American oak.
Obaideh: An ancient Lebanese white of the Bekaa Valley, used for white wine and arak.
Oechsle: A scale used predominantly in Germany to measure the must weight of grape juice, indicating ripeness levels and potential alcohol content.
Off-Dry: A wine with a slight, perceptible sweetness.
Ojaleshi: A Georgian red of the humid west, often made in a semi-sweet style.
Old Vines (Vieilles Vignes): Older vines that tend to give lower yields of more concentrated fruit. The term is not legally defined.
Old World: The traditional winemaking countries of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Oloroso: A rich, oxidatively aged Sherry without flor, full-bodied and nutty.
Orange: A sweet citrus note found in some aromatic whites.
Orange Blossom: A delicate floral note in aromatic whites like Muscat.
Orange Wine: A type of wine made by fermenting white wine grapes with their skins, similar to red wine production. The result is a wine with a distinctive orange hue and robust character.
Organic Wine: Originating from a dedication to environmentally friendly farming practices, organic wine is crafted using grapes nurtured according to the principles of organic farming. Such principles prohibit the use of artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Beyond the grapes, the whole vineyard ecosystem is considered, fostering biodiversity and maintaining ecological harmony.
Ortega: An early-ripening German white crossing with peachy, floral notes.
Oseleta: A rare, tannic Veneto red revived as a blending grape in Valpolicella.
Otskhanuri Sapere: A high-acid, tannic Georgian red of Imereti with good aging potential.
Overcropping: The practice of letting grapevines produce too many grapes, which can lead to diluted or unripe wines due to the vine's inability to support the excessive fruit.
Oxidation: Dulled fruit and a flat, brownish character from too much oxygen exposure. A fault when unintended.
Oxidative Aging: Deliberately exposing wine to air during aging to build nutty, complex flavors, as in Sherry and Madeira.
Öküzgözü: A soft, fruity, high-acid Turkish red of eastern Anatolia.

Palate: A tasting term for how a wine feels and tastes in the mouth.
Pallagrello Bianco: A revived Campanian white giving textured, citrusy wines.
Palo Cortado: A rare Sherry between Amontillado and Oloroso, combining finesse and richness.
Palomino: The white grape behind dry Sherry, fairly neutral but transformed by flor and oxidative aging.
Pamid: A pale, soft, everyday Bulgarian and Balkan red.
Papazkarası: A Turkish red of Thrace giving light, fresh, fruity wines.
Parellada: A delicate Catalan white, one of the three main Cava grapes, giving freshness and floral lift.
Passerina: A fresh, high-acid white of the Marche and Abruzzo, lemony and easygoing.
Passionfruit: A vivid tropical note from thiols, a hallmark of Sauvignon Blanc.
Passito: An Italian style from grapes dried after harvest to concentrate sugar, made sweet or dry.
País (Mission): An old, hardy red brought to the Americas by Spanish missionaries, revived in Chile for light, rustic wines.
PDO (PGI): The European Union's umbrella categories for Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication.
Peach: A soft stone-fruit note common in warm-climate whites and some rosés.
Pear: A gentle orchard-fruit note common in Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.
Pecorino: A revived white of Abruzzo and the Marche, structured and citrusy with herbal lift.
Pedro Ximénez (PX): A white grape dried in the sun to make intensely sweet, dark, raisiny Sherry and Montilla.
Pelaverga: A light, peppery Piedmont red made in small quantities around Verduno.
Pergola: A high, horizontal vine-training system that shades the fruit, traditional in parts of Italy.
Perricone: A Sicilian red, also called Pignatello, giving rustic, savory wines.
Persan: A rare, peppery Savoie red revived for structured, ageworthy wines.
Pet-Nat (Pétillant Naturel): Pet-Nat, short for Pétillant Naturel, describes a method for crafting sparkling wines. The initial fermentation remains incomplete when the wine is bottled and sealed. Fermentation completion in the bottle produces a natural carbonation. Often, these wines have a cloudy appearance due to yeast presence and are renowned for their fresh and lively flavors.
Petit Manseng: A thick-skinned white of southwest France, key to sweet Jurançon, with intense stone fruit and acidity.
Petit Verdot: A deeply colored, tannic Bordeaux red used in small amounts for backbone and violet aromatics, and bottled solo in warm climates.
Petite Arvine: A prized Valais white in Switzerland, saline and citrusy with great acidity.
Petite Sirah (Durif): A dark, inky, tannic California red (a Syrah and Peloursin crossing), unrelated to true Syrah.
Petrichor: The smell of rain on dry earth, sometimes used for earthy, mineral wines.
pH: A measure of acidity strength on a 0 to 14 scale. Most wines fall between 3 and 4; lower pH means sharper, more stable, longer-lived wine.
Phenolic Ripeness: The maturity of skins, seeds, and tannins, as opposed to sugar ripeness, key to soft, flavorful reds.
Phenolics: Compounds present in grape skins, seeds, and stems that influence a wine's flavor, color, and texture. Tannins are a well-known group of phenolics.
Phenylethanol: A compound giving rose and honeyed floral aromas.
Phylloxera: A vine louse that destroyed most of the world's vineyards in the late 1800s. Vines are now mostly grafted onto resistant rootstock to survive it.
Picpoul (Piquepoul): A high-acid Languedoc white from near the Mediterranean, zesty and lemony, classic with oysters.
Pied de Cuve: A small starter fermentation used to kickstart the primary fermentation, ensuring a healthy and vigorous yeast population.
Piedirosso: A Campanian red of the Naples area, soft and savory, often partnered with Aglianico.
Pignolo: A rare, deeply tannic and ageworthy Friulian red, revived from near-extinction.
Pineapple: A ripe tropical note in oaked Chardonnay and warm-climate whites.
Pineau d'Aunis: A pale, peppery Loire red used for light reds and rosés, prized on the natural scene.
Pinela: A native Vipava white giving gentle, light, low-acid wines.
Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder): A gentle, dry white of Alsace, Germany, and northern Italy, with soft apple and almond.
Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio): A pink-skinned white, crisp and neutral as Italian Pinot Grigio, richer and spicier as Alsace Pinot Gris.
Pinot Meunier: A dark-fruited member of the Pinot family, one of Champagne's three main grapes, valued for fruitiness and reliability.
Pinot Noir: A thin-skinned, demanding red from Burgundy, prized for perfumed red fruit, silky texture, and transparency to site. Also a backbone of Champagne.
Pinotage: South Africa's signature red, a crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut, giving bold, smoky, dark-fruited wines.
Piquette: A low-alcohol, lightly fizzy drink made by refermenting water added to pressed grape skins. Revived by the natural wine scene.
Plavac Mali: Croatia's flagship red of coastal Dalmatia, a relative of Zinfandel, giving robust, high-alcohol wines.
Plavina: A light, soft Croatian coastal red, often used in blends.
Plum: A soft, dark stone-fruit note common in Merlot and Montepulciano.
Plyto: A revived Cretan white giving fresh, citrusy, light wines.
Pneumatic Press: A modern press that uses an inflatable bladder to press grapes gently.
Pomace: The skins, seeds, and stems left after pressing, sometimes distilled into grappa or marc.
Pomegranate: A tangy red-fruit note found in lighter, high-acid reds.
Port: A sweet fortified wine from the Douro Valley in Portugal, made by adding spirit during fermentation.
Portugieser: A light, soft, early-drinking red widely grown in Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
Poulsard (Ploussard): A very pale, delicate Jura red, light in color and tannin with red-berry fragrance.
Pošip: A Croatian white of the Dalmatian islands, notably Korčula, textured and citrusy.
Premature Oxidation (Premox): When a wine, especially white Burgundy, ages and oxidizes far faster than expected.
Premier Cru: A vineyard tier just below Grand Cru in Burgundy, and a Bordeaux classification level.
Premier Grand Cru Classé: The top rank in the Saint-Émilion classification of Bordeaux.
Press Fractioning: Separating the juice obtained during pressing into different fractions based on quality, with the initial, gentler pressings often producing superior wine.
Press Wine: The more tannic, structured wine extracted by pressing the skins, often blended back in small amounts.
Pressing: Squeezing juice or wine from the grapes or skins.
Prieto Picudo: A Spanish red of the León area, giving fresh, structured wines, sometimes lightly sparkling.
Primary Aromas: Scents that come from the grape and fermentation, such as fruit, flowers, and herbs.
Prise de Mousse: The second fermentation that creates the bubbles in sparkling wine.
Prokupac: Serbia's signature native red, giving fruity reds and rosés.
Prosecco: Italy's popular sparkling wine from the Glera grape in the Veneto, usually tank-made.
Provenance: A wine's storage and ownership history, important when buying older bottles.
Prune: A cooked, dark-fruit note in very ripe or aged reds.
Pruning: Cutting back a vine in winter to control its shape, size, and the next crop.
Prädikatswein: Germany's top quality category, graded by grape ripeness at harvest.
Pugnitello: A rare, deeply colored Tuscan red revived for structured wines.
Pump Over (Remontage): Pumping fermenting red juice over the floating cap of skins to extract color, tannin, and flavor and to keep the cap moist.
Punch Down: A method of cap management where the floating grape skins are physically pushed down into the fermenting juice, aiding extraction.
Pyrazines (Methoxypyrazines): Compounds giving green, herbaceous aromas of bell pepper, jalapeño, and fresh-cut grass. Prominent in under-ripe Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Carmenère, and Sauvignon Blanc.
Pétoncle: French term for a scallop, sometimes used in wine descriptors to refer to a delicate briny or sea-like quality in certain wines, especially whites from coastal regions.

QbA: A German quality level below Prädikat, from a specified region.
Quaffable: An easy, gulpable wine made for simple pleasure rather than contemplation.
Quercetin: A type of flavonoid found in wine, especially in reds, known for its antioxidant properties.
Quince: A fragrant, tart orchard-fruit note found in Chenin Blanc and aged whites.
Quinta: A Portuguese wine estate or farm.
Qvevri: Large, egg-shaped clay vessels used for fermenting and aging wines in traditional Georgian winemaking.

Rabigato: A high-acid Douro white used in still whites and white Port.
Rabo de Ovelha: A Portuguese white used in regional blends across the country.
Raboso: A tannic, high-acid red of the Veneto, rustic and ageworthy.
Racking: Moving wine off its sediment into another vessel to clarify it and manage oxygen.
Racy: Lively, high-acid, and energetic, a positive term often used for Riesling.
Ramisco: A rare, tannic red of Colares near Lisbon, grown ungrafted in coastal sand.
Rancio: An oxidative, nutty character prized in some fortified and aged wines of southern France and Spain.
Raspberry: A fragrant red-fruit note common in cooler-climate reds.
Recioto: The sweet version of dried-grape wines from Valpolicella and Soave, the ancestor of Amarone.
Red Currant: A tart, fresh red-fruit note in light reds and Cabernet Franc.
Reduction: Sulfurous aromas such as struck match or rubber that form when a wine lacks oxygen in production. They often blow off with air.
Reductive Winemaking: A style that limits oxygen exposure to preserve fresh, primary fruit, often in stainless steel.
Refermentation: An unwanted restart of fermentation in the bottle, leaving a wine fizzy, cloudy, or off.
Refosco: A dark, savory, high-acid red of Friuli with plum and a herbal edge.
Regent: A disease-resistant German hybrid giving deeply colored, fruity reds, popular in organic vineyards.
Reserva (Gran Reserva): Spanish terms for wines aged longer in barrel and bottle, Gran Reserva being the longest.
Residual Sugar (RS): The natural grape sugar left after fermentation stops, which determines how dry or sweet a wine tastes.
Reticulation: A pattern of interconnected lines or networks observed in certain wine crystals, often related to tartrate formations.
Retronasal: Smelling a wine's aromas through the back of the throat while tasting.
Retsina: A traditional Greek white flavored with pine resin.
Reverse Osmosis: A filtration technology used to remove water, alcohol, or faults from wine.
Ribolla Gialla: A Friulian and Slovenian white, a favorite for skin-contact orange wines.
Riddling: A process in sparkling wine production, especially in the traditional method, where bottles are gradually tilted and turned to collect sediment at the neck for removal.
Rieslaner: A German Riesling crossing giving high-acid wines, often excellent when sweet.
Riesling: A noble, high-acid German white of great transparency, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, with a kerosene note as it ages.
Rim: The color at the edge of the wine in a tilted glass, which hints at its age.
Ripe Tannins: Soft, smooth tannins from fully ripe grapes.
Ripeness: The stage at which grapes are ready to pick, balancing sugar, acid, and flavor.
Riserva: An Italian term for a wine aged longer before release, to stricter rules.
Rkatsiteli: An ancient, versatile Georgian white, high in acid and a classic for qvevri skin-contact wines.
Robola: A crisp, mineral white of the Greek island of Cephalonia, grown on limestone.
Roditis: A pink-skinned Greek white giving crisp, citrusy wines, also used in Retsina.
Romorantin: A rare, high-acid Loire white grown almost only in Cour-Cheverny.
Rondinella: A reliable blending grape of Valpolicella and Amarone, adding color and drying well.
Rootstock: The root system, usually a phylloxera-resistant American species, onto which a fruiting grape variety is grafted.
Ropiness: A rare bacterial fault that makes wine look thick, oily, or slimy.
Rose: A floral note from terpenes, classic in Nebbiolo, Muscat, and Gewürztraminer.
Rosemary: A piney, resinous herb note in some Mediterranean reds.
Rossese: A pale, perfumed Ligurian red, best known from Dolceacqua, with red fruit and herbs.
Rosé: Pink wine made from red grapes with only brief skin contact, taking on color but little tannin.
Roter Veltliner: An old Austrian white, unrelated to Grüner, giving full-bodied, characterful wines.
Rotgipfler: A rich, spicy Austrian white of the Thermenregion, partner to Zierfandler.
Rotundone: The compound behind the black-pepper aroma of Syrah, Grüner Veltliner, and other peppery wines, detectable at tiny concentrations.
Roundness: A soft, full, supple impression, often from low acidity, ripe tannins, or a touch of sweetness.
Roussanne: An aromatic, ageworthy Rhône white with pear, herb, and nutty depth, partner to Marsanne.
Rubin: A Bulgarian crossing of Nebbiolo and Syrah giving dark, spicy reds.
Ruby: A bright, youthful red color with a clear, vivid tone.
Ruby Port: A young, fruity style of Port aged briefly to keep its bright color and berry fruit.
Ruché: An aromatic Piedmont red with rose and pepper, made in small quantities around Asti.
Rufete: A delicate, fragrant red of the Sierra de Salamanca in Spain and of Portugal.
Rufete Blanco: A white of the Sierra de Salamanca giving fresh, floral wines.
Rutherglen Muscat: A rich, sweet fortified Muscat from Rutherglen in Australia.

Sacy: A light, high-acid white of the Yonne and Loire, often used for sparkling.
Saffron: A delicate, exotic note found in some oxidative and orange wines.
Sage: A soft, grey-green herb note found in herbal reds.
Sagrantino: A hugely tannic red of Montefalco in Umbria, among the most tannic grapes in the world.
Saignée: A method of producing rosé wine by "bleeding" off a portion of red wine juice after limited contact with skins, then fermenting it separately.
Saline: A salty, briny impression on the palate, prized in some coastal and mineral whites.
Salmon: A pale pink-orange color typical of dry rosé.
Sand: A free-draining soil that resists phylloxera and gives light, perfumed wines.
Sandalwood: A soft, sweet wood note from oak.
Sangiovese: Italy's most planted grape and the soul of Tuscany, behind Chianti and Brunello. High in acid and tannin with cherry, herb, and tea.
Saperavi: Georgia's flagship red, a teinturier with dark flesh giving inky, high-acid wines.
Sauternes: A renowned sweet white from Bordeaux, from botrytized Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc: A zesty, aromatic white of the Loire and Bordeaux, with grass, citrus, and gooseberry. Famous from Sancerre and New Zealand.
Sauvignon Gris: A pink-skinned mutation of Sauvignon Blanc giving rounder, less pungent whites.
Savagnin: The Jura white behind nutty, oxidative Vin Jaune, also made fresh and floral.
Savatiano: Greece's most planted white, the traditional base of Retsina, giving soft, fresh wines.
Savory: Non-fruit, umami-leaning flavors such as meat, olive, herbs, and soy.
Scheurebe: An aromatic German crossing with grapefruit and blackcurrant notes, made dry to sweet.
Schiava (Vernatsch): A pale, light, low-tannin red of Alto Adige with strawberry and candied notes.
Schioppettino: A peppery, dark-fruited Friulian red revived from near-extinction.
Schist: A layered, heat-retaining metamorphic rock found in the Douro, Priorat, and parts of the Rhône.
Screwcap (Stelvin): A metal closure that seals reliably and avoids cork taint, common for fresh whites and rosés.
Second Wine: A château's secondary label, often from younger vines or declassified lots.
Secondary Aromas: Scents from winemaking, such as the bready notes of lees aging or the butter of malolactic fermentation.
Sekt: German and Austrian sparkling wine, from everyday tank-made to fine traditional-method.
Semi-Carbonic Maceration: A method for light reds where whole bunches ferment partly within intact berries and partly in their own juice, as in much of Beaujolais.
Semidano: A rare Sardinian white giving fresh, citrusy wines.
Sercial: The driest of Madeira's classic white grapes, high in acid and bracing.
Serving Temperature: The temperature at which a wine is best enjoyed, cooler for whites and sparkling, warmer for reds.
Settling (Débourbage): Letting solids fall out of freshly pressed white juice before fermentation for a cleaner wine.
Seyval Blanc: A cold-hardy hybrid white grown in England and the eastern US, giving crisp, neutral wines.
Shavkapito: A fragrant Georgian red giving fresh, spicy wines.
Sherry: A fortified wine from Jerez in southern Spain, from bone-dry Fino to sweet PX, aged under flor or oxidatively.
Shiroka Melnishka: A late-ripening red of southwest Bulgaria, the grape behind Melnik wines, giving structured, dark wines.
Sideritis: A Greek white of the Peloponnese giving crisp, citrusy wines.
Siegerrebe: A pink-skinned German crossing giving intensely aromatic, often sweet wines.
Silky: A fine, smooth, seamless texture.
Silvaner: An understated, savory German and Alsatian white with herb and stone fruit, good with food.
Single Quinta: A Port from one estate, often in years not declared as classic Vintage Port.
Single Vineyard: A wine made from grapes of one named vineyard, expressing that specific site.
Single-Varietal Wine: A wine made entirely or almost entirely from one grape variety, as opposed to a blend.
Skin Contact: Skin contact entails fermenting grape juice alongside grape skins, yielding wines with an intensified color and unique texture. Frequently linked with "orange" or "amber" wine production, this technique gives rise to wines with a radiant hue and rich palate.
Slate: A fine, heat-retaining stony soil classic to the steep vineyards of the Mosel.
Smederevka: A high-yielding Serbian white giving light, fresh, everyday wines.
Smoke: A smoky note from toasted oak (guaiacol) or from smoke taint.
Smoke Taint: Ashy, smoky off-flavors absorbed by grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.
Soil: The ground a vine grows in, whose composition and drainage strongly shape a wine's character.
Solaris: A disease-resistant white hybrid (PIWI) giving ripe, aromatic wines, grown in cool-climate and organic vineyards.
Solera: A fractional blending and aging system, classic to Sherry, where older and younger wines mix gradually across stacked barrels.
Sommelier: A trained wine professional who manages and serves wine, especially in restaurants.
Sorting Table: A table or belt where pickers remove unripe or damaged grapes before crushing.
Sotolon: A compound giving curry, fenugreek, and nutty aromas in oxidative and botrytized wines like Vin Jaune and Sauternes.
Sour Cherry: A tart cherry note classic in Sangiovese and Nebbiolo.
Sourdough: A tangy, bready note from lees aging, common in Champagne.
Sousão (Vinhão): A dark, high-acid teinturier of northern Portugal, used in Port and deeply colored Vinho Verde reds.
Souvignier Gris: A disease-resistant grey-skinned PIWI giving textured whites, popular for orange and natural wines.
Soy Sauce: A savory, umami note in some aged and oxidative reds.
Sparging: The process of introducing a gentle stream of inert gas, usually nitrogen or carbon dioxide, into wine to remove dissolved oxygen and prevent oxidation.
Sparkling Wine: Wine with significant CO2 bubbles from a second fermentation, ranging from Champagne to Prosecco to Pét-Nat.
Spontaneous Fermentation: Spontaneous fermentation embodies a natural approach to initiating the fermentation process. Eschewing commercially cultivated yeasts, winemakers depend on native yeasts present on the grapes and within the winery to commence fermentation. This technique is a distinctive trait of natural winemaking, infusing a unique character into each bottle.
Spritz: A light prickle of carbon dioxide in an otherwise still wine.
Spumante: The Italian term for a fully sparkling wine.
Spätlese: A German Prädikat level meaning late harvest, from riper grapes, made dry to sweet.
St. Laurent: An Austrian red close to Pinot Noir in style, with dark cherry and silky tannins.
Stabilization: Treatments that keep a wine clear and stable in the bottle, such as cold and protein stabilization.
Stainless Steel Tank: A neutral, temperature-controllable vessel that preserves fresh, primary fruit.
Stanušina: A pale, light North Macedonian native red, often made as rosé.
Star Anise: A sweet, licorice-like spice note in some oak-aged reds.
Stavroto: A Greek red of Rapsani, adding color and structure to the local blend.
Stemmy: A term used to describe the flavor or aroma of wine reminiscent of green stems, often resulting from including stems during fermentation.
Sterile Filtration: Very fine filtration that removes yeast and bacteria to keep a wine stable, debated by natural winemakers.
Still Wine: Wine without bubbles, the large majority of wine made.
Stone Fruit: Peach, apricot, and nectarine notes common in Viognier, Chenin, and warm-climate whites.
Straw: A pale yellow-gold color typical of many dry white wines.
Strawberry: A bright red-fruit note typical of Grenache, Pinot Noir, and rosé.
Struck Match: A flinty, gunsmoke note from controlled reduction, prized in some white Burgundy.
Structure: The framework of a wine built from acidity, tannin, alcohol, and body.
Sulfites: Sulfites are compounds naturally formed as by-products during fermentation, serving as essential preservatives and antioxidants in wines. While many winemakers add extra sulfites to ensure wine stability, natural wines typically contain only those sulfites naturally produced during fermentation.
Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂): A preservative that in excess can smell of struck match or burnt rubber.
Sultaniye: A Turkish white, the seedless Sultana, used for fresh, neutral wines.
Sumoll: A revived Catalan red, pale and high-acid, embraced by natural growers.
Super Tuscan: A high-quality Tuscan wine made outside DOC rules, often with Bordeaux grapes.
Superiore: An Italian term for a wine with higher alcohol or stricter rules than the basic version.
Supple: Soft, smooth, and easy on the palate.
Sur Lie: A French term indicating that a wine has been left to age on its lees, often seen on bottles of Muscadet and some sparkling wines.
Sustainable Viticulture: Farming that aims to balance environmental health, economics, and quality, often certified.
Susumaniello: A dark, fruity Pugliese red, once a blending grape, now bottled solo as fresh reds and rosés.
Sweetness: The amount of sugar perceived in a wine, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.
Swirling: Rotating wine in the glass to release its aromas.
Syrah (Shiraz): A dark, peppery red from the northern Rhône, home to Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. As Shiraz in Australia it turns riper and bolder.
Sélection de Grains Nobles: An Alsace classification for sweet wines from botrytized, individually picked berries.
Sémillon: A waxy, low-acid Bordeaux white, key to Sauternes and, with age, to dry Hunter Valley whites.
Síria: A widely grown Portuguese white (also called Roupeiro), aromatic when young.
Süssreserve: Unfermented grape juice held back and added to sweeten a finished wine, common in Germany.
Škrlet: A fresh, light Croatian white of Moslavina.

Table Wine: An everyday, unfortified wine of moderate alcohol; also a former EU legal category for basic wine.
Tangerine: A sweet, soft citrus note in ripe whites.
Tannat: A deeply tannic red from Madiran in France, now Uruguay's signature grape.
Tannins: Polyphenolic compounds found in wine, contributing to its structure, aging potential, and sometimes astringency. Tannins are primarily derived from grape skins, seeds, and oak barrels.
Tar: A dark, resinous note classic in Nebbiolo.
Tartrates: Crystalline deposits that can form in wine, especially in cooler conditions. They're harmless and consist mainly of potassium bitartrate.
Tavkveri: A pale, fresh Georgian red, often made as rosé and pét-nat.
Tawny Port: A Port aged for years in cask until it turns amber, with nutty, caramel notes.
TBA (Cellar Taint): A musty, cork-taint-like fault from the compound TBA, often from a contaminated cellar rather than the cork.
TDN: The compound behind the petrol or kerosene note that develops in aged Riesling.
Tempranillo: Spain's flagship red, central to Rioja and Ribera del Duero, offering savory red fruit and leather, often oak-aged.
Tempranillo Blanco: A white mutation of Tempranillo found in Rioja, giving fresh, fruity whites.
Tension: A sense of energy and pull, usually from bright acidity balanced against fruit.
Teran: A dark, high-acid red of the Istria and Karst region, related to Refosco, with tart berry and iron.
Teroldego: A deeply colored Trentino red with bright blackberry fruit and fresh acidity.
Terpenes: A family of aromatic compounds responsible for floral and grapey aromas, most abundant in Muscat, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling.
Terpineol: A terpene giving lilac, pine, and floral aromas.
Terra Rossa: A red, iron-rich clay-limestone soil prized for reds, as in Coonawarra.
Terrantez: A rare, prized Madeira grape giving distinctive, ageworthy wines.
Terret: An old Languedoc grape in white, gris, and noir forms, giving fresh, lemony wines.
Terroir: Terroir, a concept deeply entrenched in French wine culture, encompasses the unique blend of natural factors, such as soil type, climate conditions, and sunlight, shaping a wine's character. Natural wine proponents often contend that their methods offer the truest representation of a wine's terroir.
Tertiary Aromas: Complex aromas that develop in wine as it ages in the bottle, resulting from slow chemical reactions over time.
Texture: How a wine feels in the mouth, from silky to grippy to creamy.
Thermovinification: Heating crushed red grapes to quickly extract color and fruit before fermentation.
Thiols (Volatile Thiols): Sulfur-based compounds giving passionfruit, grapefruit, and boxwood aromas, signature to Sauvignon Blanc.
Thrapsathiri: A Cretan white giving balanced, citrusy, slightly herbal wines.
Thyme: A dry, savory herb note common in southern French and Mediterranean reds.
Tibouren: A Provençal red prized for fragrant, savory rosés.
Timorasso: A revived, structured Piedmont white with citrus, herb, and aging potential.
Tinta Barroca: A productive Douro red, one of the main Port grapes, giving ripe, sweet fruit.
Tinta Negra: Madeira's most planted grape, a versatile red used across most styles of Madeira.
Tinto Cão: An old, low-yielding Douro red prized in Port blends for elegance and aging.
Tintore di Tramonti: A rare, deeply colored Campanian red from old, ungrafted vines.
Tirage: The mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast added to start the second fermentation in bottle-fermented sparkling wine.
Titratable Acidity: A measure of a wine's total acid content, a key balance indicator alongside pH.
Toast: The level of charring on the inside of a barrel, which shapes the flavors it gives the wine.
Tobacco: A dry, leafy note in aged reds and from oak.
Tokaji: Hungary's famed sweet wine from botrytized Furmint, graded by sweetness in puttonyos.
Tomato Leaf: A green, savory note found in Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
Tonneau: A general French term for a wine barrel, and a traditional large cask size.
Topping Up (Ouillage): Refilling a barrel to replace wine lost to evaporation, limiting oxygen exposure.
Torrontés: Argentina's signature aromatic white, floral and grapey on the nose but crisp and dry on the palate.
Touriga Franca: A floral, fruity Portuguese red, a key blending grape in Port and Douro reds.
Touriga Nacional: Portugal's premier red, central to Port and to dry Douro reds, with floral, dark-fruited intensity.
Traditional Method: Making sparkling wine with a second fermentation inside the bottle, the method behind Champagne, Cava, and Cremant.
Traminette: An American hybrid with Gewürztraminer parentage, giving aromatic, floral whites.
Transfer Method: A sparkling method where bottle-fermented wine is emptied into a tank to filter out sediment, then rebottled.
Trebbiano: A widespread family of Italian whites (the Tuscan type is the same as Ugni Blanc), usually light, crisp, and neutral.
Treixadura: The main white of Ribeiro in Galicia, giving ripe, floral, textured wines.
Trellising: The system of wires and posts that supports and positions a vine's canopy.
Trepat: A pale Catalan red used for rosé and sparkling Cava, light and fresh.
Trincadeira: A Portuguese red of the Alentejo and Douro (also Tinta Amarela), ripe and spicy but tricky to grow.
Trocken: German for dry, shown on a label.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): An intensely sweet, rare German wine from shriveled, botrytized berries.
Tropical Fruit: Pineapple, mango, and passionfruit notes from ripe whites, sometimes thiol-driven.
Trousseau: A pale, perfumed Jura red with red fruit and earthy spice, called Bastardo in Portugal.
Truffle: A prized earthy, savory note in mature Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir.
Tsitska: A high-acid Georgian white of Imereti, often made sparkling or amber.
Tsolikouri: A versatile western Georgian white, fresh and citrusy, made in modern and amber styles.
Tămâioasă Românească: Romania's aromatic Muscat-family white, floral and made dry to sweet.

Ugni Blanc: A white grape variety widely cultivated in France, especially known as the primary grape used in Cognac production.
Ullage: The air space left in a wine bottle or barrel, between the wine and the cork or lid. Managing ullage is crucial to prevent excessive oxidation.
Umami: A savory, mouth-filling taste found in some aged and skin-contact wines.
Unfiltered: Many in the natural wine community opt against filtering their wines. While filtering can produce clarity, unfiltered wines retain maximum flavor and character. Consequently, these wines may exhibit cloudiness and contain sediment.
Usakhelouri: A rare, prized Georgian red of Lechkhumi, giving fragrant semi-sweet wines.
Uva Rara: A soft northern-Italian red of Piedmont and Lombardy, used to soften Nebbiolo blends.

Vanillin: The compound responsible for vanilla aromas, drawn from oak barrels.
VDP: An association of top German estates that classifies vineyards by quality, topped by Grosse Lage.
Vegetative: Refers to aromas and flavors in wine reminiscent of green or growing plants, often indicating underripe grapes or specific grape varieties.
Velvety: A smooth, soft, plush texture, usually from ripe tannins.
Vendange Tardive: A French term for late-harvest wine, especially in Alsace, often sweet.
Verdeca: A fresh, citrusy Pugliese white, increasingly bottled solo.
Verdejo: A herbal, citrusy Spanish white from Rueda.
Verdelho: A bright, high-acid Portuguese white, used dry and as a medium style of Madeira.
Verdicchio: A characterful white of the Marche, with green apple, almond, and a saline finish.
Verdiso: A tart, citrusy white of the Prosecco hills, used in blends and on its own.
Vermentino: A coastal Mediterranean white of Sardinia, Liguria, and Corsica, crisp and saline with a bitter twist.
Vermouth: A type of aromatized wine infused with various botanicals, including herbs, spices, and barks. It's often consumed as an aperitif or used in cocktails.
Vernaccia di Oristano: A Sardinian white aged oxidatively under flor, in a sherry-like style.
Vernaccia di San Gimignano: Tuscany's famous crisp white, with citrus, almond, and a saline finish.
Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP): A common trellising system that trains shoots upward in a tidy vertical wall.
Vertical Tasting: Tasting several vintages of the same wine to compare how it changes year to year.
Vertzami: A deeply colored, tannic Greek red of the Ionian islands and the west.
Vespaiola: A Veneto white of Breganze, made dry and as the sweet Torcolato.
Vespolina: A peppery, perfumed red of northern Piedmont and Lombardy, often blended with Nebbiolo.
Vidal Blanc: A cold-hardy French-American hybrid white, prized for ice wine in Canada.
Vidiano: A revived Cretan white, textured and stone-fruited with good acidity.
Vigneron: A grower who tends the vines and makes the wine.
Vignoles: An American hybrid white giving high-acid wines, often sweet or for ice wine.
Vijariego: A high-acid Canary Islands white giving fresh, mineral wines.
Vilana: The main everyday white of Crete, light, fresh, and citrusy.
Villages: A French quality step above a regional appellation, as in Côtes du Rhône Villages.
Vin Clair: The still base wine before the second fermentation in sparkling production.
Vin de France: France's basic table-wine category, with the most freedom in grapes and labeling.
Vin de Paille: A French term for "straw wine," a dessert wine made by drying grapes on straw mats to concentrate sugars before fermentation.
Vin de Pays (IGP): A French country-wine category with looser rules than AOC, now labeled IGP.
Vin Doux Naturel: A lightly fortified sweet wine of southern France, such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, made by mutage.
Vin Gris: A very pale rosé made from red grapes with minimal skin contact.
Vin Jaune: A distinctive oxidative white from the Jura, aged for years under a film of flor yeast.
Vine Density: The number of vines planted per hectare, which influences competition, yield, and quality.
Vineyard: A plot of land planted with grapevines.
Vinho Regional: Portugal's country-wine category, the equivalent of IGP.
Vinification: The entire winemaking process, from grape harvest to bottling.
Vino da Tavola: Italy's basic table-wine category, once used by rule-breaking Super Tuscans.
Vino de Pago: A Spanish classification for a single, highly regarded estate.
Vinous: Wine-like; a general term for a wine that smells and tastes of wine rather than overt fruit.
Vintage: The year the grapes were harvested, reflecting that year's specific growing conditions.
Vintage Port: The finest Port, from a single declared year, bottled young to age for decades.
Viognier: A heady, full-bodied white of the northern Rhône (Condrieu), with apricot and floral aromatics.
Violet: A floral note linked to ionones, classic in Nebbiolo and Malbec.
Viosinho: A textured, aromatic white of the Douro, used in still whites and white Port.
Viscosity: How thick or syrupy a wine feels, linked to alcohol and sugar.
Vitis Vinifera: The European grape species responsible for almost all fine wine, including Cabernet, Chardonnay, and the rest.
Vitovska: A characterful white of the Carso between Italy and Slovenia, prized for skin-contact wines.
Volatile Acidity: Undesirable acidic compounds in wine, especially acetic acid, which can impart a vinegary smell. It's considered a wine fault if present in excessive amounts.
Volatile Phenols: A class of compounds, including guaiacol and ethylphenols, behind smoky, spicy, and barnyard aromas.
Volcanic Soil: Soils from old lava and ash, as on Etna and Santorini, often giving smoky, mineral wines.
Voskehat: An ancient Armenian white known as the queen of grapes, giving textured, mineral wines.
Vranac: A robust, dark red of Montenegro and the western Balkans, full-bodied with dark fruit.
Vugava: An aromatic white of the island of Vis, full-bodied and floral.
Véraison: The period in the grape ripening process when the berries change color and begin to soften. For red varieties, green grapes turn red or purple, and for white varieties, they turn yellow or translucent.

Walnut: A nutty, slightly bitter note typical of oxidative wines like Sherry and Vin Jaune.
Warm-Climate: A wine region with a long, hot season, favoring ripe fruit and higher alcohol.
Welschriesling: A high-acid Central European white (unrelated to true Riesling), made dry to lusciously sweet across Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans.
Wet Stone: A mineral, just-rained-on-rock impression in some whites.
Wet Wool (Lanolin): A soft, lanolin note found in some Chenin Blanc and Sémillon.
White Pepper: A lighter, hotter pepper note found in some Grenache and Austrian whites.
White Port: A Port made from white grapes, served dry to sweet, often chilled.
Whole Cluster Fermentation: A winemaking technique where entire clusters of grapes, including stems, are fermented together, often resulting in spicier, more structured wines.
Wine Diamonds: Crystalline deposits, primarily potassium bitartrate, that can form in bottled wine, especially when exposed to low temperatures.
Wine Fault: An undesirable characteristic in wine resulting from flaws in the winemaking process, storage conditions, or grape quality.

Xarel-lo: A characterful Catalan white, one of the three main Cava grapes, giving structure and earthy depth.
Xinomavro: The great red of northern Greece, behind Naoussa, pale and Nebbiolo-like with high acid, firm tannin, and tomato and olive notes.
Xylem: The vascular tissue in grapevines responsible for transporting water and nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plant.

Yeast: The microorganisms that drive fermentation, either naturally present or added by the winemaker.
Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen (YAN): Nitrogen compounds available for yeast metabolism during fermentation, influencing fermentation speed and health.
Yeast Autolysate: Compounds released into wine when yeast cells break down after death, contributing to flavor and mouthfeel.
Yeast Nutrients: Additions such as nitrogen that help yeast complete a healthy fermentation.
Yield: How much fruit a vineyard produces, often measured per hectare. Lower yields are often linked to more concentrated wines.

Zalema: A traditional white of Condado de Huelva in Andalusia, light and best drunk young.
Zelen: A native white of the Vipava Valley in Slovenia, giving aromatic, fresh wines.
Zero-Zero Wine: "Zero-Zero Wine," a term cherished by natural wine aficionados, refers to wines with "zero additives and zero taken away." Essentially, these wines are presented in their most unaltered form, without added sulfites and devoid of interventions during winemaking.
Zibibbo: The name for Muscat of Alexandria in Sicily, famed on Pantelleria for sweet and dry whites.
Zierfandler: A rare, full-bodied Austrian white of the Thermenregion, often blended with Rotgipfler.
Zinfandel (Primitivo): A jammy, high-alcohol red that is California's signature, genetically identical to Italy's Primitivo.
Zweigelt: Austria's most planted red, a juicy, cherry-driven crossing of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent.
Zymase: A complex of enzymes found in yeast cells that catalyze the conversion of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.
Zymology: A subset of biochemistry focusing on the study of fermentation and its practical applications, especially in winemaking and brewing.
Žametovka: A high-yielding Slovenian red, home to one of the world's oldest living vines in Maribor.
Žilavka: The leading white of Herzegovina, giving ripe, aromatic, full-bodied wines.

Wine Glossary

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