Wine Odyssey Wine Glossary

Can a wine be funky, gentle or austere? It sure can! Test your wine knowledge with some common wine terms in our WINE ODYSSEY MASTERCHEF WINE GLOSSARY, written by the Wine Odyssey Sommelier Team

Alcohol
In terms of wine, low is under 12%, whereas I think 20 years ago “low” meant under 10%. Medium alcohol in this book refers to 12–14% (in the past 10–12% was the accepted figure). High alcohol – above 14% – has not really changed over time. But what has changed is the increasing number of red wines over 15% and riesling or moscato at under 10%.

Aperitif
A wine that is either drunk by itself (i.e. without food) or before a meal in order to stimulate the appetite.

Austere
A term used when describing the firm, tingling, acid sensation usually associated with young white wines.

Barrel aging
The period of time between the end of fermentation and bottling. The wine is stored in oak barrels and extracts compounds from the oak that give extra complexity to the aroma and flavour profile of the wine.

Beaumé
The common Australian unit for measuring grape sugar ripeness.

Blind tasting
A cornerstone process, much loved by the Australian wine industry for assessing wine quality with the terms of reference relating to the vintage, variety or style of the wines under examination. You are given no clues, just a bottle in a bag or, better still, a single glass and the chance to divine the contents and describe or rate them as closely as possible.

Body
Impression of weight and consistency in the mouth due to a combination of alcohol, tannin extract and fruit.

Bouquet
The term used to describe the pleasant and characteristic fragrance when smelling a wine. Bouquet is more traditionally talked about with mature wines and the subtle aromas that develop with bottle age.

Carbonic Maceration
A process by which grapes are left whole and allowed to undergo a form of internal maceration and fermentation by which the resultant wine is fragrant and fruity, but lower in tannin.

Corked
A wine fault that occasionally occurs due to a tainted cork which imparts a mouldy, musty, dusty smell and flavour into a wine. The fruit character of the wine is also dulled.

Complexity
In wines refers to the wine possessing aromas and flavour beyond the simple fruit or oak combination and therefore offering a wider range of characters than just the basic elements. Winemakers working with wines can often induce aromas and flavour at the threshold level, so as to be a nuanced, rather than dominant, theme in a wine and exceptional growers, regions and seasons can all contribute to the sensation of repeated smelling and tasting, and finding new elements to observe that makes complexity rewarding.

Concentration
A desirable flavour element of wine as long as the wine also possesses freshness of fruit and flavour to match the concentration. Alas, it often comes with huge alcohol and tannins and oak, so it’s a term to be viewed carefully from a number of perspectives. It is fashionable in some circles to produce extremely concentrated shiraz wines. It may also refer to the intensity of flavour, sugar, tannin or oak.

Continental fruit
Such as Chardonnay Orange and Tumbarumba, has a sweet nectarine, white peach and more luscious open fruit with fragrance and juiciness, offering a rich taste.

Dense
Can mean dumb flavours and a thick texture, but most likely means the wine has a feeling of density or thickness from concentration.

Elegance
Relates at a wine that contains all the elements of flavour and structure and is discretely flavoured, rather than powerful, heavy or rich. The opposite of heavy or rich.

Finish
Both a term to comment on the content on the wine’s fruit, tannin and oak, and its ability to contribute to the end of the wine’s palate structure and how it leaves the mouth. In terms of structure, one hopes for length with a clean finish which is long and structured, and can be said to be either soft or firm finishing.
In terms of tasting, one hopes for a clean finish so as to be ready for the next mouthful. A good many wines are clean from acidity or, less often, tannin. One hopes not to find wines with a hot finish, which refers to alcoholic heat and its ability to distress the mouth.

Flight
A series or group of wine to be tasted is often called a flight. I have no idea why this term was given, but a number of ways to conduct a flight tasting are: blind, horizontal, vertical and vertizontal (see separate entries).

Fortification
The process of adding wine spirit to increase alcohol content and / or stop fermentation depending on the desired wine style.

Freshness
The aim of many wines is to bring the fruit to bottle and the consumer in its most pure state. Wines that are seen to be containing more of the intrinsic nature of the grape are referred to as “fresh” – as in fresh and youthful. Some styles are intrinsically fresher than others, such as riesling versus gewürztraminer.
The vintage quality of a year will in part be judged by how long the wines keep their freshness and avoid tiring, so in a sense, could be said to measure the energy of the fruit.

Fruit sweetness
(as opposed to “sugar sweet”). A wine can have sweet fruit without sugar – so is chiefly a mix of ripe flavours sometimes helped by the alcohol. To me, it’s high praise although sometimes it comes from a lack of acidity and can seem sweet up front and short. Mostly it’s a mark of deliciousness.

Full bodied
Literally a mouth full of flavour and structure from acid, fruit oak and tannin.

Funky
A range of largely yeast-derived aromas and flavours that contribute aromas outside fruit. This can include matchstick smells, flint and sometimes just the aromas left from a wild yeast ferment, which can be malt and marzipan, depending on the yeast.

Gentle
A term describing how the aroma, flavour and mouth feel are smooth and subtle but not weak, and how that combines in the mouth with a smooth flowing structure. Wines such as Mount Mary as a group and many pinot noirs have this facility.

G.I.
Stands for Geographical Indication and states which wine region the wine comes from.
To carry the name of a region on the label the wine must consist of at least 85 per cent of the fruit sourced from the zone. Australia has over 60 designated wine regions.

Herbaceous
Used to describe the vegetal characteristics of a wine, for example cut grass, capsicum, tomato leaf, gooseberry, lantana. It is commonly found in cooler climate style wine and varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Horizontal tasting
Refers to a common feature among the wines being tasted, such as different wines from the same vintage. This allows the quality of different properties to be measured with the possible varieties compared.

Left on Lees
Some white wines such as Chardonnay will be left in contact with the dead yeast cells and other particles generated from the fermentation process to add flavour and complexity to the finished wine.

Length or Long
A positive expression giving high praise as the flavour lasts a long time.

Lush
Used when the fruit is soft and richly flavoured.

Malo-lactic Fermentation
A biologic form of wine deacidification whereby harsh malic acid is transformed into softer lactic acid. It also stablises the wine, protecting it against refermentation once in the bottle.

Maritime fruit
Especially in early ripening varieties such as chardonnay and pinot noir, means more tightly structured, less pungently aromatic and stronger, denser in the mouth, making for tighter wines often in the lemon citrus mould for chardonnay (with a good example being Mornington compared to Yarra Valley). In pinot, there is a tighter fruit structure and less immediate richness.

Mint
Refers to an aroma or flavour compound which may be positive or negative depending on the extent of its appearance. Mint is associated with cabernet in cool climates where it’s a part of the methoxypyrazine green flavour that is lost in hotter climates. Too much spoils a
wine, but there is a 1961 Coonawarra Peppermint Patty which kept the character as a positive part of its flavour for 30 years. Appears with eucalypt in Central Victoria as part of the region’s personality. It can also be positive, contributing to the complexity of wines.

Mouthfeel
The same as texture; the tactile qualities of a wine, often compared to the feel of fine materials.

Peppery
Can have two meanings: the positive is the level of spice (white pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove) which is a shiraz and sometimes grenache related
term; or else the green pepper of a green fruit and not liked.

Power
Refers to wines with more strength to their fruit and often alcohol. These full bodied wines at the extreme end can struggle for freshness. The opposite of power is gentle.
Purity in varietal whites is high praise for the aromas and flavours being absolutely typical of the varietal and not in the least boring.

Rancio character
Derived from maturity, is a nutty or savoury (think walnuts and almonds) candied fruit character signifying great age.

Rich tannins
Involve a wine well-endowed with tannin, while the texture is that of a thick structure.

Rhythm
A wine that has good rhythm has all its components in balance and can also be said to have energy in its fruit, acid and/or tannins to enable it to last the length of time in the taster’s mouth – plus a certain harmony of balance within them.

Savoury
A positive term meaning an additional detail to the taste and smell of a wine occurring in whites, reds and fortifieds.
In whites it can come from the fermentation of cloudy juice and adds a mineral note to the aromas, or it can come from yeast-derived compounds from ageing on lees.
Savoury in red wines is often a fruit flavour ranging from the black pepper in shiraz to something wilder, like a smoked meat or barbecue hot plate. It can also describe a minerally, sulphur compound tinged flavour found in some South Australian reds. In fortifieds, it’s a hessian-like edge in cask-aged fortifieds that a previous generation called baggy (smells like bag that has held superphosphate), invoking the idea the wine had spent too long in oak without refreshing or sulphuring.

Seamless
Refers to the flow of the wine and indicates that the texture moves smoothly from the front of the tongue to the back of the mouth.

Scented
The most appealing form of fruit aromas.

Soft
Refers to the quantity of acid and the quality of the tannins or the finish of the wine. The truism here is that a soft wine can struggle to have a long flavour, as it takes a very talented viticulturalist and winemaker to induce the fatness of soft fruit to run long on the tongue.

Sommelier
Their principal work is in the areas of wine buying, wine list creation & most importantly expert advice to customers. Working alongside the chef, they pair & suggest wines that will best complement the menu items.

Tasting
As we differ so much in our ability to detect aroma and flavour, tastings is a vital part of learning, particularly as wine has a strong oral tradition. There is no substitute for tasting and talking about the same wine with a group. Unleash your curiosity and ask questions, that’s how you learn!

Toast
The smell of burning toast often associated or cross referenced to kerosene. Aromas that indicate a wine is too old and started to lose its fruit to tertiary characters.
Evident in riesling and semillon.

Tight
The flavours are closed to the taster and, although structured, the wine is not offering a lot when tasted.

Vanilla
One of the smells most commonly associated with ageing in new oak barrels.

Varietal
If a wine is said to be varietal, the aromas and flavour characteristics are very typical or true to the particular grape variety. The winemaker has been able to capture the essence / identity of the grape variety in the bottle that closely represents what it is like on the grapevine.

Vertical tasting
This is a comparison tasting of different, often succeeding years of the same wine to reveal differences in the vintages.

Vertizontal tasting
This tasting includes wines from different producers of the same variety across different years. It provides a rare opportunity to taste a wide cross section of wines generally from a common district.

Yeasty
Generally derived from techniques that will involve yeast lees, which are yeast cells after they have finished fermenting. When a positive, refers to aromas or flavours and textures derived from the yeast breakdown and ageing on lees. Sparkling wines are often described as yeasty, due to extended ageing in the presence of yeast lees, which introduces a complex smell akin to fresh bread to more developed shortbread biscuit scents and a creamy texture. Yeasty as a chardonnay tasting note indicates a wine with complexity. Can be negative as in “the wine smells of fermentation and yeast-like aromas”

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