Describe a wine eloquently with this GLOSSARY

Question 1

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with a sharp, sweet-sour, and vinegar-like tang and having increased levels of volatile acidity.

Answer 1

ACESCENCE

Question 2

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine having TCA.

Answer 2

CORKED

Question 3

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has gone beyond its optimum stage of development. Its aromas has faded, its color turned brown and veers towards orange for red wines, and brown or chestnut for white wines.

Answer 3

TIRED

Question 4

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has small amounts of visible matter.

Answer 4

HAZY

Characteristic of wines that are unfined and unfiltered.

Question 5

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that appears slightly murky.

Answer 5

CLOUDY

Question 6

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine which is transparent and bright and contains no particles in suspension.

Answer 6

CLEAR

Question 7

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with a very clear color whose glints reflect the light well.

Answer 7

BRIGHT

A sign of a wine’s quality.

Question 8

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A sparkling clear wine.

Answer 8

BRILLIANT

Question 9

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is in the process of alcoholic fermentation. It is still cloudy and contains yeasts in suspension. It is rich in sugars, which have not yet been transformed into alcohol. This new sparkling, sweet wine is low in alcohol and cannot be kept for long.

Answer 9

BOURRU (rough) wine

Question 10

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A dry white wine that shows tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide which originate from fermentation. On the palate, a sensation of freshness and liveliness is expressed by this type of wine, which is categorised in between a still wine and a sparkling wine.

Answer 10

BEADY

Question 11

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A smooth wine in which the moelleux aspect dominates the astringency.

Answer 11

SUPPLE

It is obtained by brief barrel or tank fermentation and has a fluid and light texture. Can generally be drunk young.

Question 12

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A pleasantly moelleux wine that is velvety on the palate. It recalls a sweet, therefore sugary sensation.

Answer 12

SMOOTH

Dry wines are smooth, rather than lively or nervy.

Question 13

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A supple, smooth, moelleux and velvety wine with fine, soft tannins.

Answer 13

SILKY

Question 14

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A very sweet wine

Answer 14

RICH

Question 15

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A white wine rich in residual sugar (natural, non-fermented sugar) and very fat on the palate. It typically can achieve exceptional aromatic intensity and sweetness.

Answer 15

SYRUPY

Question 16

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A sweet white wine that is unbalanced due excess sugar and a lack of acidity.

Answer 16

HONEYED

The heavy sugar expression is reminiscent of honey.

Question 17

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with unbearable, candy-like sweetness.

Answer 17

CLOYING

Question 18

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is unpleasantly sweet with low acidity

Answer 18

MAWKISH

Question 19

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is dull in flavor and unbalanced due to insufficient acidity.

Answer 19

FLAT

Question 20

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is unbalanced due to insufficient acidity, lacking backbone.

Answer 20

FLABBY

Question 21

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has a smooth rather than crisp mouthfeel, typically having a low amount of acidity.

Answer 21

SOFT

Question 22

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine higher in acidity that makes your mouth water.

Answer 22

BRIGHT

Question 23

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with refreshing acidity.

Answer 23

CRISP
The word Crisp with wine is more often used to describe a white wine. A crisp wine is most likely simple but goes really well with a porch swing on a hot day.

Question 24

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A slightly, but not unpleasantly acidic wine that creates a sensation of mouthwatering freshness prized for its thirst-quenching aspect.

Answer 24

REFRESHING

Question 25

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A fresh, pleasant and light wine that has a slight, but not excessive, acidic flavor. Less acidic than ‘nervy’ and more than ‘refreshing’.

Answer 25

LIVELY

Question 26

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that makes an impression on the palate with well-defined characteristics and high yet not excessive acidity.

Answer 26

NERVY

Question 27

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine tasting sharp.

Answer 27

TART

Question 28

(What is the descriptor for….)
…An excessively acidic wine. More acidic than ‘nervy’ and less than ‘hard’.

Answer 28

GREEN

Question 29

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that lacks body, it is often very tannic and/or acidic.

Answer 29

HARD This is due either to an excessively long barrel or tank fermentation, or excessive acidity (the result of a premature decision to harvest the grapes).

Question 30

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is smooth and silky.

Answer 30

VELVETY

Question 31

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A drying mouthfeel typically resulting in a rough sandpapery sensation in the mouth.

Answer 31

ASTRINGENT | Is caused by tannins, which bind to salivary proteins, causing them to depart the tongue/mouth.

Question 32

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that with each subsequent sip, makes your mouth dries up making it hard to drink, better to sip.

Answer 32

GRIPPY (tannins)

Question 33

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A very astringent wine. It’s tannin structure is pronounced or rustic. On the astringency scale, it is stronger than unripe and weaker than inky.

Answer 33

RASPY

Question 34

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A harsh, very astringent unsophisticated wine, lacking finesse and which gives the impression of significant dryness in the mouth.

Answer 34

COARSE | A synonym of abrasive

Question 35

(What is the descriptor for….)
…An astringent wine that is tannic and of low quality.

Answer 35

HARSH

Question 36

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is rich in alcohol but not spirity, in contrast to a heady wine. Often produced during warm and sunny vintages.

Answer 36

GENEROUS

Question 37

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine whose alcohol content creates an impression of heat.

Answer 37

WARMING

Question 38

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A thick wine with a high percentage of alcohol.

Answer 38

HEAVY

Question 39

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with a high alcohol content, may even be overpowering.

Answer 39

HEADY

Question 40

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine (very) high in alcohol.

Answer 40

HOT

Question 41

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has an excessive alcohol content, and is therefore unbalanced on the palate. It is expressed by excessive fullness and an ‘alcoholic’ character sometimes with a drying sensation on the finish.

Answer 41

BURNING

Question 42

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with no flavor a/o substance

Answer 42

HOLLOW, EMPTY

Question 43

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with low tannins and insufficient body, unbalanced.

Answer 43

THIN

Question 44

(What is the descriptor for….)
…light- to medium-weight wines with good flavors.

Answer 44

DELICATE | A desirable quality in wines such as Pinot Noir or Riesling

Question 45

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A delicate and elegant wine whose balance creates a velvety harmony of flavors and aromas.

Answer 45

FINESSE Finesse implies that the wine is polishd and sophisticated. Hearty, rustic country wines would not be descriped as having finesse.

Question 46

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with such finesse and balance that it tastes refined rather than rustic. A wine that is NOT big, NOT fruity, NOT opulent and NOT bold.

Answer 46

ELEGANT Off-vintages are often referred to as elegant vintages as they have higher acid and tend to have more ‘green’ characteristics. Elegant wines may taste like crap when they first release but they also tend to age better.

Question 47

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with a ‘less-is-more’ character

Answer 47

REFINED | Refined is a subset of elegant

Question 48

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine whose suppleness, smoothness and body create a pleasantly sensation on the palate.

Answer 48

ROUND

Question 49

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that combines a good constitution (structure and flesh) with a warm character (high alcohol).

Answer 49

BODY

Question 50

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is well made, especially when it has a good structure.

Answer 50

SOLID

Question 51

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has a good constitution, with richness and tannins, in contrast to a watery, or thin wine.

Answer 51

WELL-STRUCTURED | A well-structured wine usually has good bottle ageing potential.

Question 52

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A (red) wine with a powerful and pronounced tannin structure on the palate

Answer 52

FULL-BODIED

Question 53

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A well-structured, full-bodied and powerful wine.

Answer 53

VIRILE

Question 54

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that gives the impression of filling up the mouth.

Answer 54

VOLUME

Question 55

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A balanced wine which gives the impression of filling the mouth completely with a lingering sensation.

Answer 55

AMPLE

Question 56

(What is the descriptor for….)
… A wine with good extract and a smooth texture.

Answer 56

FLESHY | The sensation of drinking the wine recalls biting into ripe, fleshy fruit such as a plum.

Question 57

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A complex wine, at once in terms of its pronounced color, strength and the diversity of its aromas.

Answer 57

CONCENTRATED The concentration of a wine is often the result of a long maceration process during fermentation. It is made possible when the grapes are fully ripe and have a high tannin concentration.

Question 58

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has both thickness and volume. A wine that dries out the interior of your mouth so that you need to clean out the insides of your mouth.

Answer 58

CHEWY

Question 59

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with massive flavor in your mouth that takes up all sections of your mouth and tongue. Not necessarily a fruit-forward wine, it can also mean that it has high tannins.

Answer 59

BIG

Question 60

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with a pronounced color that gives a sensation of heaviness and thickness on the palate.

Answer 60

THICK

Question 61

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has substance and sweetness (though it might be perfectly dry).

Answer 61

FAT | Its viscosity is down to its alcohol content, but especially glycerol, which is produced by yeasts during fermentation

Question 62

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is rich, smooth and bold

Answer 62

OPULENT

Question 63

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine trying to get your attention with an abundance of fruit.

Answer 63

FLAMBOYANT

Question 64

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has concentrated aromas on the nose and palate.

Answer 64

DENSE | A good sign in young wines.

Question 65

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine not ready to drink usually having very high tannins and hard-to-identify fruit characteristics.

Answer 65

TIGHT | This wine could benefit from being decanted

Question 66

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with long length of flavors and aromas being a positive sign of a wine’s power.

Answer 66

PERSISTENCE

Question 67

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A very unfriendly wine, that hits your mouth and then turns it inside out. It usually means the wine has very high acidity and very little fruit flavors.

Answer 67

AUSTERE

Question 68

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that hits you in specific places with high impact and not elsewhere. It’s like getting punched in the arm in the same place over and over again. Having also high acidity.

Answer 68

ANGULAR

Question 69

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine, especially an aged wine, in which the various characters mingle harmoniously together to form an even and balanced wine.

Answer 69

MELLOW

Question 70

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine whose components have not been well-knit, harmonious or become out of balance. Its components no longer complement each other or the timing of the components may be off. For example, a white wine whose acidity is too high (due to unripe grapes) or whose tannins are too harsh (excessive barrel fermentation time).

Answer 70

DISJOINTED

Question 71

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with no immediate or apparent faults, either in terms of aroma or flavor.

Answer 71

CLEAN | Also used as synonym of straightforward

Question 72

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with spicy aromas

Answer 72

SPICY

Question 73

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that expresses the aroma of big game meat.

Answer 73

GAMEY

Question 74

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with odors or aromas which recall dried hay, tobacco or fresh grass.

Answer 74

HERBY | A negative connotation because it derives from grapes that have been harvested before they have ripened correctly.

Question 75

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine expressing a group of tertiary aromas that derive from perfumery such as vanilla, incense, sandalwood, pine resin, as well as beeswax and camphor.

Answer 75

BALSAMIC | These aromas appear when a wine develops during its bottle ageing process. They are generally very highly prized.

Question 76

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A non-scientific term used to describe flavors that smell or taste like rocks or organic matter (soil). Thought to be presence of trace minerals in wine, recent research suggests the majority of these aromas in wine are due to sulfur compounds derived from fermentation.

Answer 76

MINERALITY

Question 77

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with aromas of the bushy, fragrant plants that grow wild in southern France, such as juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender.

Answer 77

GARRIGUE

Question 78

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with notes of toasted bread in young wines, and gradually transforms into vanilla, mocha, chocolate or coconut.

Answer 78

OAKY | Oaky aromas derive from the tannins in the barrels during the maturation process.

Question 79

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A tasting term to describe a wine that has a freshly fermented flavor.

Answer 79

VINOUS

Question 80

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is balanced, at its very best. Just like in a floral sense, it refers to a wine whose bouquet is at its peak. A wine at the peak of its ageing process, its point of balance, right before it begins its decline.

Answer 80

IN FULL BLOOM, OPEN

Question 81

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that seems to have potential, but it flavors are muted and not exhibiting well.

Answer 81

CLOSED(-IN) A wine can be closed in for a variety of reasons. It is young and needs additional bottle ageing time. Or it is densely concentrated and needs oxygen from carafing to breathe and open up.

Question 82

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that temporarily has little taste. This can be a wine, usually white, that is served to cold that it tastes as though it is not altogether there. Or it can be a wine, usually red, in an akward stage of its development when it tastes neither full or fruity and young, nor mature (adolescence)

Answer 82

DUMB

Question 83

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is loosing color, fruit or flavor.

Answer 83

FADING

Question 84

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has lost some or all of its bouquet after oxidation.

Answer 84

MUSTY

Question 85

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has neither aromas nor any particular flavor.

Answer 85

TASTELESS

Question 86

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that during its excessive ageing process it has acquired a madeira-like taste and an amber color.

Answer 86

MADERIZED | A maderized wine is a wine that has reached the end of its life.

Question 87

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that smells and tastes of grape stems or has leaf- or hay-like aromas.

Answer 87

STALKY

Question 88

(What is the descriptor for….)
…Wines with too pronounced aromas such as hay, green pepper or licorice. They are usually the result of prematurely harvested grapes.

Answer 88

VEGETAL

Question 89

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with green flavors of unripe fruit or wood, frequently a result of a wine being fermented too long with the grape stems.

Answer 89

STEMMY

Question 90

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine having an off-putting moldy or mildewy smell.

Answer 90

MUSTY The result of a wine being made from moldy grapes, stored in improperly cleaned tanks and barrels, or contaminated by a poor cork.

Question 91

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that is both refreshing and fruity

Answer 91

FRUIT-DRIVEN

Question 92

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has layers of soft, concentrated, velvety fruits and are lush, rich, and intense.

Answer 92

UNCTUOUS

Question 93

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine having the taste of raisins from ultra-ripe or overripe grapes. Can be pleasant in small doses in some wines.

Answer 93

RAISINY

Question 94

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine wine with a cooked berry sweetness that is syrupy.

Answer 94

JAMMY | Often used to describe American wines like zinfandel, grenache, cabernet franc and Australian shiraz

Question 95

(What is the descriptor for….)
…An overripe wine made from grapes affected by noble rot. Expresses the aromas of oven-roast fruit, citrus peel, dried fruit or toasted bread.

Answer 95

ROASTED

Question 96

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A (table) wine with overripe, caramel like, or even burnt aromas.

Answer 96

BAKED

Question 97

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that expresses a family of aromas that recall burnt, cooked or smoked notes.

Answer 97

EMPYREUMATIC | from the Greek pyros, meaning fire

Question 98

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with off-flavours and aromas resulting from faulty winemaking

Answer 98

DIRTY

Question 99

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that leaves little after-taste in the mouth after tasting.

Answer 99

SHORT

Question 100

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that leaves no after-taste that may suggest any sort of fault.

Answer 100

HONEST | It is also said to be clean or straightforward.

Question 101

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine of which the aftertaste remains on the palate for several seconds

Answer 101

LINGERING

Question 102

(What is the descriptor for….)
…The overall impression of a wine or one of its elements (color, bouquet, taste, etc.) that has no flaw or uncertainty.

Answer 102

STRAIGHT-FORWARD

Question 103

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A simple every day drinking wine

Answer 103

QUAFFING (wine)

Question 104

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A basic quality wine

Answer 104

VIN ORDINAIRE | French term used to denote an ‘ordinary wine’ as opposed to a premium quality wine

Question 105

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A light, supple wine that is easy to drink and should be enjoyed while it produces fruity aromas. An easy drinking wine is also soft, pleasant and smooth.

Answer 105

GOULEYANT (easy drinking) | From the old French term 'goule' which refers to the mouth and throat.

Question 106

(What is the descriptor for….)
…An ordinary wine.

Answer 106

PINARD A popular French nickname entered into the dictionary of the Académie Française in 1935, and it has three possible origins. The Greek word pino meaning to drink, a certain Jean Pinard from the 17th century, or indeed a derivative of pineau, a Burgundian grape variety. The word pinard was also used to describe a comforting companion for infantrymen in the trenches during the First World War.

Question 107

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that falls on its face unless you have it with food. It’s lacking something that eating something will fulfill.

Answer 107

FOOD-FRIENDLY | Keep in mind, wines that stand on their own are better drunk without food.

Question 108

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with aromatic expression associated with the components in the soil. It gives the wine its own specific characteristics, typical of the location where the grapes were grown. For example, Pomerol’s violet aroma.

Answer 108

TERROIR (taste of)

Question 109

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine expressing the characteristics inherent to the variety of grape

Answer 109

TYPICITY

Question 110

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine made by old-fashioned methods or tasting like wine made in an earlier era.

Answer 110

RUSTIC Can be a positive quality in distinctive wines that require aging. Can also be a negative quality when used to describe a young, earthy wine that should be fresh and fruity

Question 111

(What is the descriptor for….)
…An excellent wine of high quality; balanced, complex and persistent.

Answer 111

FINE (wine)

Question 112

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A distinctive and original wine.

Answer 112

RACY

Question 113

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that satisfies on a hedonistic level

Answer 113

INTELLECTUALLY SATISFYING

Question 114

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with qualities such as smoothness, roundness, gentleness, finesse, elegance and delicacy.

Answer 114

FEMININE | Usage of 'feminine' is in decline in favor of these more specific terms.

Question 115

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine with firmness, power and strength.

Answer 115

MASCULINE

Question 116

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine which is ample, full-bodied, generous and with a complex bouquet.

Answer 116

POWERFUL

Question 117

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has undergone a treatment that has destabilised it, for example immediately after racking (change of oak barrel), after filtering or transportation. It is therefore more difficult to taste.

Answer 117

TIRED

Question 118

(What is the descriptor for….)
…A wine that has lost all of its qualities. It is worn out.

Answer 118

PAST ITS BEST | Usually the wine has spent too long in a cellar, and is at the end of its life.