⌈ The Vocabulary of Wine ⌉

Wine Glossary:
Every Term You Need.

Wine has a language. Once you speak it, even a little, the world of wine opens considerably. These are the terms worth knowing — explained without condescension.

Acidity: The tartness or crispness in wine, perceived as a mouthwatering sensation on the sides of the tongue. Acidity is wine’s backbone — it keeps wines fresh, makes them age well, and makes them excellent partners for food. High-acid wines: Riesling, Chablis, Barbera. Low-acid wines: many warm-climate reds.; Sommvi Acidity is one of the six dimensions in your palate profile. If you consistently love crisp, food-friendly wines, high acidity is likely a core preference.
Alcohol: Expressed as ABV (Alcohol By Volume) on every label. A proxy for ripeness: warmer climates and longer hang times produce riper grapes with more sugar, which ferments to more alcohol. 11–12.5% = lighter, cooler-climate wines. 13.5–15% = fuller, warmer-climate wines. 15%+ = fortified or unusually ripe.
Amphora: An ancient ceramic vessel used for fermenting and ageing wine, experiencing a significant revival among artisan producers. Amphora wines are typically characterised by textured, oxidative flavours and a distinctive earthy quality. See also: orange wine, skin contact.
AOC / AOP: The French system of legally protecting and defining wine regions. AOC regulations govern which grapes can be used, how the vines are grown, and often winemaking techniques. If it says AOC Pomerol, it came from Pomerol and adhered to Pomerol’s rules. The EU designation AOP has largely replaced AOC in regulation, but AOC remains in common use.
Appellation: A legally defined geographical area for wine production, with specific rules about what can be grown and how. Different countries have different systems: AOC (France), DOC/DOCG (Italy), DO/DOCa (Spain), AVA (USA). The appellation system is the key to reading Old World wine labels.
Assemblage: The blending of different grape varieties, vineyard plots, or aged reserves to create the final wine. Most Champagne, Bordeaux, and southern Rhône wines are assemblages. The opposite of a single-varietal, single-vineyard wine.
AVA: The American appellation system. Unlike European systems, AVAs define geography only — they say nothing about which grapes must be used or how the wine must be made. Napa Valley, Willamette Valley, and Sonoma Coast are well-known AVAs.

Barrique: A standard 225-litre French oak barrel, the most common size used in fine wine production. Smaller barrels impart more oak flavour to wine than larger ones (more surface contact per volume). New barriques give more oak character; older, neutral barriques are used for ageing without imparting oak flavour.
Biodynamic: A holistic farming philosophy that treats the vineyard as a self-sustaining ecosystem. Biodynamic farming follows a lunar calendar, uses natural preparations (notably compost preparations numbered 500–508), and prohibits synthetic inputs. Many of the world’s most quality-focused producers farm biodynamically. Certification is from Demeter or Biodyvin.; Sommvi Biodynamic viticulture is associated with producers who care deeply about their terroir. It’s not a quality guarantee, but it’s a meaningful signal.
Blanc de Blancs: Sparkling wine made exclusively from white grapes. In Champagne, this means 100% Chardonnay. Blanc de Blancs Champagnes tend toward precision, citrus, and a mineral, electric character.
Blanc de Noirs: Sparkling wine made from red grapes (Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier in Champagne), with the skins removed quickly to prevent colour extraction. Usually richer, fuller, and more vinous than Blanc de Blancs.
Body: The weight and texture of wine in the mouth, ranging from light (water-like) to medium (milk-like) to full (cream-like). Body is determined by alcohol level, residual sugar, and extraction. A key component of palate profile.
Botrytis cinerea (Noble Rot): A fungus that, under specific conditions of morning mist and afternoon sun, concentrates sugars and adds complex honeyed, apricot, and ginger flavours to grapes. The basis for Sauternes, Tokaji Aszú, German Trockenbeerenauslese, and other great dessert wines. When conditions are wrong, botrytis becomes “grey rot” — destructive and unwanted.
Brix: A measure of grape sugar content at harvest. Higher Brix = riper grapes = more potential alcohol. Winemakers use Brix as a key indicator of harvest timing. A Brix of 22–24 is typical for table wine; 28–30+ for late-harvest sweet wines.
Brut: The most common Champagne and sparkling wine style: dry, with a dosage of 0–12g/l residual sugar. Most people who “don’t like sweet wine” will enjoy Brut. See also: Extra Brut (very dry), Brut Nature/Zero Dosage (bone dry), Demi-Sec (noticeably sweet), Doux (sweet).

Carbonic Maceration: A winemaking technique in which whole grape clusters are fermented in a carbon dioxide-rich environment. The fermentation begins inside the intact berry, producing soft, fruity wines low in tannin with distinctive banana and bubblegum notes. Used in Beaujolais Nouveau; the technique (or semi-carbonic variants) is also used by natural wine producers for fresh, immediate reds.
Cépage: French for “grape variety.” When you see “cépage noble,” it refers to one of the classic noble varieties — Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, etc.
Claret: The British term for red Bordeaux, particularly Left Bank Médoc wines. Historically the dominant wine import into Britain for centuries, which is why French wine culture is deeply embedded in British drinking habits.
Clone: A genetically identical cutting from a specific vine, selected for desirable traits (yield, flavour, disease resistance). Different clones of the same grape variety — Pinot Noir has hundreds — can produce wines of very different character. A single-clone bottling is sometimes indicated on premium labels.
Clos: French for a walled vineyard — historically, a plot enclosed by stone walls, typically in Burgundy. The term implies a specific, enclosed terroir. Clos de Vougeot, Clos des Mouches, Clos Saint-Denis are famous examples.
Cru: French for “growth” — in wine, a classified vineyard or estate. In Burgundy, Premier Cru and Grand Cru rank individual vineyard plots by quality. In Bordeaux, Cru Classé ranks châteaux. In Beaujolais, the ten Crus are villages considered the finest: Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Morgon, etc.
Cuvée: French for “vat” — loosely used to mean a specific blend or bottling. A producer’s “prestige cuvée” is typically their finest wine (Krug’s Clos du Mesnil, Dom Pérignon for Moët).

Demi-sec: “Half-dry” — in Champagne, a noticeably sweet style (32–50g/l residual sugar). Excellent with desserts and cheese. Often underrated as a food pairing wine.
Disgorgement: The step in the Champagne method where the yeast sediment (collected in the bottle neck during riddling) is expelled. The bottle neck is frozen, the crown cap removed, and the ice plug of sediment shoots out. The wine is then topped up with the dosage.
DOC / DOCG: Italy’s appellation system. DOC covers hundreds of regions with quality controls. DOCG (the G stands for Garantita, “guaranteed”) is the higher tier, applied to Italy’s most prestigious regions: Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone, Chianti Classico DOCG.
DO / DOCa: Spain’s appellation system. DOCa (also written as DOQ in Catalan) is the highest tier, currently held by only two regions: Rioja and Priorat. Both are recognised as regions of exceptional and consistent quality.
Dosage: The small mixture of wine and sugar (liqueur d’expédition) added to Champagne after disgorgement. The dosage determines the final sweetness level. Zero dosage = no sugar added; the wine’s natural acidity and fruit must carry the balance.

Estate-bottled / Mise en Bouteille au Château/Domaine: Indicates that the wine was grown and bottled by the same producer. A generally positive signal — the producer controlled the entire process from vine to bottle. The opposite of a négociant wine, where grapes or finished wine may have been purchased.

Fermentation: The process by which yeast converts grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Primary fermentation produces the wine’s base alcohol. Secondary fermentation in bottle produces the bubbles in Champagne. Malolactic fermentation is a separate process that softens acidity. See also: malolactic fermentation.
Finish: The flavour that lingers in the mouth after swallowing. Length of finish is one of the most reliable indicators of wine quality — great wines have finishes that last minutes. Short finish = simpler wine. Long, complex finish = quality and character.
Flor: A layer of yeast that forms naturally on the surface of certain wines during ageing, protecting them from oxidation while adding distinctive nutty, saline character. The defining feature of Fino and Manzanilla Sherry from Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Fortified Wine: Wine with spirits added, raising the alcohol level and (usually) preserving residual sweetness. Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, and Vin Doux Naturels are the major categories. Fortification was originally a preservation technique for wines being shipped long distances.

Grand Cru: “Great growth” — the top tier of quality classification in French wine. In Burgundy, Grand Cru vineyards are considered the finest plots in the Côte d’Or. In Champagne, Grand Cru villages are those rated 100% in the historic échelle des crus. In Bordeaux, Premier Grand Cru Classé (Pétrus, Ausone, Cheval Blanc) are the apex.
GSM: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre — the classic blend of the southern Rhône (Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas), also used extensively in Australia’s Barossa and McLaren Vale. Grenache brings fruit and warmth; Syrah adds pepper and structure; Mourvèdre adds earthiness and ageability.

Late Harvest / Vendange Tardive: Grapes harvested later than usual, after further ripening on the vine. The result is higher sugar content, producing sweet to very sweet wines. German Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese are a progression of late-harvest styles. French Alsace uses Vendange Tardive for the same concept.
Lees: The spent yeast cells and other deposits that remain in a wine after fermentation. Ageing on lees (sur lie) adds complexity: a creamy, bready, yeasty character (autolysis). Muscadet sur lie is a classic example; Champagne aged on lees for years develops remarkable toasty complexity.

Malolactic Fermentation (MLF): A secondary fermentation in which sharp malic acid (naturally occurring in grapes — think green apple sharpness) is converted to softer lactic acid (think milk) by bacteria. MLF softens acidity and adds a creamy, buttery character. Most red wines undergo MLF. For whites, it’s a stylistic choice: Chardonnay often undergoes it (contributing creaminess); Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling typically don’t (to preserve freshness).
Méthode Champenoise / Méthode Traditionnelle: The method by which Champagne and other quality sparkling wines are made: secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle, creating bubbles, and the wine is aged on lees before disgorgement. This method is used in Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Franciacorta, and many premium sparkling wines worldwide. The term Méthode Champenoise can only be used on labels from Champagne itself.
Micro-oxygenation: A controlled winemaking technique in which tiny amounts of oxygen are introduced to wine to soften tannins and stabilise colour — mimicking the slow oxygen exchange that occurs naturally in barrel ageing. Used in tank-aged wines to achieve barrel-like results at lower cost.
Minerality: A tasting descriptor — controversial among scientists, beloved by wine drinkers — for qualities that evoke stone, chalk, wet slate, flint, or the sea. Chablis is the textbook example: that sensation of sucking a pebble from a chalk riverbed. Whether it comes directly from soil minerals, from reductive winemaking, or from other compounds is debated. The sensation itself is unmistakable.

Natural Wine: Wine made with minimal intervention: native (wild) yeasts, no or minimal sulphur, no additives, unfiltered. The movement is as much a philosophy as a category. Quality ranges from extraordinary to undrinkable. The best natural wines have unmatched character and vitality; the worst are funky and unstable.; Sommvi If you’re curious about natural wine, start with producers who make both conventional and natural wines — the comparison is illuminating.
Négociant: A merchant who buys grapes, must, or finished wine from growers and blends, ages, and bottles under their own label. Burgundy négociants (Jadot, Drouhin, Faiveley) are the most famous. Quality ranges enormously. The opposite of domaine-bottled or estate wines.
Noble Rot: See Botrytis cinerea.
Non-vintage (NV): A wine blended from multiple harvests, most common in Champagne. The NV cuvée is typically a house’s signature style — consistent from year to year regardless of vintage variation. Krug Grande Cuvée and Bollinger Special Cuvée are celebrated NV Champagnes that can match many vintage wines for complexity.

Oak: Wine aged in oak barrels absorbs compounds from the wood: vanilla, toast, spice (clove, nutmeg), cedar, and coconut (from American oak). New oak imparts more flavour; older, neutral oak is used for ageing without adding wood character. French oak gives finer-grained tannins and subtle spice; American oak gives more obvious vanilla and coconut.
Old Vines / Vieilles Vignes: A term with no legal definition, used to indicate wine from older vines. Older vines produce lower yields and often more concentrated, complex fruit — the vine’s energy goes into fewer grapes. “Old” is relative: some producers mean 20 years; the most dramatic examples are 100+ year-old ungrafted vines.; Sommvi Old vine wines can be extraordinary. But without context about actual vine age, the term is marketing. Seek out producers who specify the age.
Orange Wine: White wine made with prolonged skin contact — sometimes days, sometimes months — producing an amber to deep orange colour and extracting tannins, phenolics, and texture not normally found in white wine. The result is characterful, grippy, and unlike anything else. Georgia (the country) is the ancient home of this style.
Oxidation: Exposure of wine to oxygen. Controlled oxidation during ageing adds complexity, nutty notes, and colour. Uncontrolled oxidation is a wine fault — producing a flat, stale, sherry-like character in wines that shouldn’t have it. Wines like Sherry, Madeira, and Vin Jaune are deliberately oxidatively aged; in them, it’s a feature, not a fault.

Pétillant Naturel (Pét-nat): “Naturally sparkling” — a method of making sparkling wine by bottling it before primary fermentation is complete, allowing it to finish in bottle under a crown cap. The result is a gently fizzy, often cloudy, rustic sparkling wine of great charm. The oldest method of making sparkling wine. Wildly fashionable in natural wine circles.
Premier Cru: “First growth” — the second tier of quality classification in Burgundy (below Grand Cru), and the highest tier in some other systems. Premier Cru Burgundy represents some of France’s finest and most collectible wines. In Bordeaux, “Premier Grand Cru Classé” is the apex of the 1855 classification and is separate from the Burgundy system.

Residual Sugar (RS): The sugar remaining in wine after fermentation, expressed in grams per litre. Bone dry = under 2g/l. Off-dry = 4–12g/l. Medium = 12–35g/l. Sweet = 35g/l+. Most table wines are dry or nearly dry. A wine can taste very dry despite having some RS if it has high acidity.
Reserve: Legally meaningful in Rioja (minimum ageing of 1 year in oak, 3 years total) and a few other regions. Elsewhere, an unregulated marketing term that may or may not indicate higher quality. Context matters.
Riddling (Remuage): In the traditional Champagne method, bottles are gradually turned and tilted (traditionally by hand, now usually by gyropallet machines) over weeks to encourage the yeast sediment to collect in the neck before disgorgement.

Skin Contact: The practice of leaving fermenting white wine in contact with its grape skins, extracting colour, tannins, and phenolics. Brief skin contact (a few hours) adds texture without colour; extended skin contact produces orange wine. See also: orange wine.
Sommelier: A trained wine professional, typically in a restaurant context, responsible for the wine list, service, and pairing recommendations. A good sommelier is as much a guide as an authority — their job is to find what you’ll love, not to impress you with their knowledge.
Sparkling Wine: Any wine with significant dissolved carbon dioxide, producing bubbles. Methods include: Champagne method (secondary fermentation in bottle), Charmat/tank method (secondary fermentation in pressurised tank, used for Prosecco), and Pétillant Naturel (fermentation completing in bottle with crown cap).
Sulphur (SO₂): A preservative used in almost all wine, added at various stages to prevent oxidation and microbial spoilage. The claim “contains sulphites” on labels simply reflects this. Sulphur in wine is typically at very low levels — far less than in many dried fruits. Genuinely sulphite-sensitive individuals are rare; most headaches attributed to wine sulphur are more plausibly from other compounds, alcohol, or dehydration.
Sur Lie: “On the lees” — ageing wine on the spent yeast cells from fermentation. Adds a creamy, bready, autolytic complexity. Required for Muscadet sur lie; used for premium Chardonnay, Champagne, and certain red wines.

Tannin: Polyphenol compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems (and contributed by oak barrels). Tannin causes the drying, grippy sensation in red wines. Young, tannic wines can feel harsh; tannins soften with ageing. High tannin varieties: Nebbiolo (Barolo), Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat. Low tannin: Pinot Noir, Gamay.; Sommvi Tannin tolerance is one of the most individually variable palate characteristics. Some people find high tannin deeply satisfying; others find it unpleasant regardless of wine quality.
Terroir: The complete natural environment of a vineyard: soil type, subsoil, drainage, slope, aspect, altitude, climate, and microclimate. The French concept that place is part of flavour — that a wine from a specific plot cannot be identically replicated anywhere else, even with the same grape and winemaker.; Sommvi Terroir is one of the most useful and most abused concepts in wine. At its most honest, it’s the observation that geography shapes flavour in measurable, consistent ways.
Typicity: How faithfully a wine expresses the character expected from its grape, region, and style. A Chablis with typicity tastes like Chablis — mineral, crisp, unoaked. A wine lacking typicity may be good, but it doesn’t taste like what it says on the label.

Unoaked: Wine fermented and/or aged without contact with oak barrels. Many white wines — particularly Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chablis — are deliberately unoaked to preserve freshness and fruit purity. Stainless steel tanks or cement vats are common alternatives.

Varietal: A wine made predominantly (usually 75–100%, depending on country regulations) from a single grape variety, named after that grape on the label. A Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a varietal wine. Most New World wines are labelled varietally; most Old World wines are labelled by appellation.
Vendange Tardive: See Late Harvest.
Vigneron: A French term for a winegrower — someone who grows grapes and makes wine from them. More specific than viticulteur (vine grower) or vinificateur (winemaker). A vigneron does all of it.
Vin de Pays / IGP: “Country wine” — a French category below AOC, with fewer restrictions on grape varieties and production methods. Once a mark of lower quality, IGP wines now include some of France’s most exciting bottles, particularly in the south, where innovative producers use it to escape restrictive AOC grape variety rules.
Vintage: The year the grapes were harvested. Every bottle of wine is the product of a specific year’s weather, and vintage variation matters significantly in regions with variable climates (France, Germany, northern Italy). In more consistent climates (California, much of Australia, Spain), vintage variation is less dramatic.
Viticulture: The science and practice of growing grapes. Encompasses everything from vine training and pruning to soil management, disease control, and harvest timing. Viticulture is where wine quality is made or lost — the best winery cannot rescue poor fruit.

Whole Cluster Fermentation: Fermenting red wine with intact grape clusters (stems and all) rather than destemmed berries. Stems add tannins of a different character — sometimes described as “crunchy” or “savoury” — and can add freshness. Used by many Burgundy producers (Romanée-Conti notably uses a high proportion of whole clusters) and increasingly by producers worldwide.

Know the Words.
Taste the Wine.

The vocabulary of wine is easier than it looks. And when you want a recommendation rather than a definition — ask your sommelier.

Wine Glossary:Every Term You Need.

Know the Words.Taste the Wine.

Wine Glossary:
Every Term You Need.

Know the Words.
Taste the Wine.