Glossary of winemaking terms - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This glossary of winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...

terms list some of terms and definitions involved in making wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

, fruit wine

Fruit wine

Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients ; they may also have additional flavours taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any fermented alcoholic beverage except beer...

, and mead

Mead

Mead , also called honey wine, is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash, which is strained immediately after fermentation...

A

Acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3CHO or MeCHO. It is one of the most important aldehydes, occurring widely in nature and being produced on a large scale industrially. Acetaldehyde occurs naturally in coffee, bread, and ripe fruit, and is produced by plants as part...

The main aldehyde

Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....

found in wines, most notably Sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

Acetic acid

Acetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CO2H . It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is the main component of vinegar , and has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell...

One of the primary volatile acids in wine

Acids in wine

The acids in wine are an important component in both winemaking and the finished product of wine. They are present in both grapes and wine, having direct influences on the color, balance and taste of the wine as well as the growth and vitality of yeasts during fermentation and protecting the wine...

Acetification

The process through which acetic acid is produced in wine.

Acetobacter

Acetobacter is a genus of acetic acid bacteria characterized by the ability to convert ethanol to acetic acid in the presence of oxygen. There are several species within this genus, and there are other bacteria capable of forming acetic acid under various conditions; but all of the Acetobacter are...

A bacterium found in wine that causes acetification resulting in the conversion of wine to vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

Acidity

The quality of wine that gives it its crispiness and vitality. A proper balance of acidity must be struck with the other elements of a wine, or else the wine may be said to be too sharp – having disproportionately high levels of acidity – or too flat – having disproportionately low levels of acidity. The three main acids found in wine are tartaric acid

Tartaric acid

Tartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds; is commonly combined with baking soda to function as a leavening agent in recipes, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to...

, malic acid

Malic acid

Malic acid is an organic compound with the formula HO2CCH2CHOHCO2H. It is a dicarboxylic acid which is made by all living organisms, contributes to the pleasantly sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms , though only the L-isomer exists...

and lactic acid

Lactic acid

Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

. The first two come from the grapes and the third from Malolactic fermentation which often occurs in the winemaking process.

Active acidity

The concentration of acids in the wine with positively charged hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

ions. Used to gauge the "total acidity" in the wine. Measured using the pH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

scale.

Aging barrel

A barrel, often made of oak, used to age wine or distilled spirits.

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

Generally refers to ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

, a chemical compound

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

found in alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s. It is also commonly used to refer to alcoholic beverages in general.

Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....

A component of wine that is formed during the oxidation of alcohol. It is midway between an acid and an alcohol.

Alternative wine closures

Alternative wine closures are substitute closures used in the wine industry for sealing wine bottles in place of traditional cork closures. The emergence of these alternatives has grown in response to quality control efforts by winemakers to protect against "cork taint" caused by the presence of...

Various substitutes used in the wine industry for sealing wine bottles in place of traditional cork closures

Cork (material)

Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...

Amino acids

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

found in wine grapes that are formed by fruit esters and consumed during the fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...

process and/or autolysis. They contribute to the sense of complexity in a wine.

Amphora

An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...

A type of ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

vase

Vase

The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....

, used for transporting and storing wine in ancient times.

Anaerobic

The opposite of aerobic, referring to a chemical process that takes place in the absence of oxygen. As a wine ages in a sealed wine bottle, it is going through anaerobic changes.

Angel's share

The portion of a wine in an aging barrel that is lost to evaporation

Evaporation

Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...

Phenolic pigment

Pigment

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...

s that give red wine its color

Wine color

The color of wine is one of the most easily recognizable characteristics of wines. Color is also an element in wine tasting since heavy wines generally have a deeper color. The accessory traditionally used to judge the wine color was the tastevin, a shallow cup allowing to see the color of the...

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When...

Chemicals, such as sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...

, that are used to prevent the grape must from oxidizing.

Aromatized wine

A wine that has been flavored with herbs, fruit, flowers and spices. Examples: Vermouth

Vermouth

Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with various dry ingredients. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced around the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Italy and France...

, Retsina

Retsina

Retsina is a Greek white resinated wine that has been made for at least 2000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo Pine resin in ancient times. Before the invention of impermeable glass bottles, oxygen...

or mulled wine

Mulled wine

Mulled wine, variations of which are popular in Europe, is wine, usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.-Glühwein:...

Ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves well in water to give mildly acidic solutions. Ascorbic acid is one form of vitamin C. The name is derived from a- and scorbutus , the...

An antioxidant used to prevent grape must from oxidizing.

Aseptic

The characteristic of a chemical (like sulfur dioxide or sorbic acid) to kill unwanted or beneficial bacteria.

Assemblage

The blending of base wines in order to create a final blend or cuvee.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere (unit)

The standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...

The measure of atmospheric pressure within a wine bottle

Wine bottle

A wine bottle is a bottle used for holding wine, generally made of glass. Some wines are fermented in the bottle, others are bottled only after fermentation. They come in a large variety of sizes, several named for Biblical kings and other figures. The standard bottle contains 750 ml,...

. The average internal pressure inside a bottle of sparkling wine is 6 atmospheres.

Autolysis

Autolysis (wine)

Autolysis in winemaking relates to the complex chemical reactions that take place when a wine spends time in contact with the lees, or dead yeast cells, after fermentation. While for some wines autolysis is undesirable, it is a vital component in shaping the flavors and mouth feel associated with...

The breakdown of dead yeast cells (or lees) and the process through which desirable or undesirable traits maybe imparted to the wine. Wines that are deliberately aged sur lie such as Muscadet

Muscadet

Muscadet is a white French wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region neighboring the Brittany Region. More Muscadet is produced than any other Loire wine. It is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often referred to simply as...

or some white Burgundies derive certain flavors and textures from this process.

B

Back-Blend

Blending unfermented, fresh grape juice into a fully fermented wine in order to add sweetness. Synonymous with the German winemaking technique Sussreserve.

Barrel fermented

A wine fermented in oak barrels as opposed to stainless steel or concrete. Traditional with white Burgundies, some Chardonnays and some Champagne.

Baumé

Baumé scale

The Baumé scale is a pair of hydrometer scales developed by French pharmacist Antoine Baumé in 1768 to measure density of various liquids. The unit of the Baumé scale has been notated variously as degrees Baumé, B°, Bé° and simply Baumé . One scale measures the density of liquids heavier than water...

A measure of the sugar concentration in the juice or wine.

Beeswing

Potassium bitartrate

Potassium hydrogen tartrate, also known as Potassium bitartrate, has formula KC4H5O6, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking it is known as cream of tartar. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid, a carboxylic acid.-Occurrence:...

A light sediment, chiefly mucilage

Mucilage

Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by most plants and some microorganisms. It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide.It occurs in various parts of nearly all classes of plant, usually in relatively small percentages, and is frequently associated with other substances, such as...

, found in Port

Port wine

Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...

Bentonite

Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, essentially impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. There are different types of bentonite, each named after the respective dominant element, such as potassium , sodium , calcium , and aluminum . Experts debate a number of nomenclatorial...

A type of clay used in wine as a clarifying agent

Clarifying agent

-Process:Particles finer than 0.1 µm in water remain continuously in motion due to electrostatic charge which causes them to repel each other. Once their electrostatic charge is neutralized by the use of coagulant chemical, the finer particles start to collide and agglomerate under the...

Blanc de Blancs

A white wine, usually sparkling, made exclusively from white grapes, often Chardonnay.

Blanc de Noirs

A white wine, usually sparkling, made from red grapes.

Blending

The mixing of two or more different parcels of wine together by winemaker

Winemaker

A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:*Cooperating with viticulturists...

s to produce a consistent finished wine that is ready for bottling. Laws generally dictate what wines can be blended together, and what is subsequently printed on the wine label

Wine label

Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...

Blush wine

A pale, pinkish color wine. It may refer to a sweet rosé

Rosé

A rosé is a type of wine that has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.- Production techniques :There are three major ways to produce rosé...

such as White Zinfandel

White Zinfandel

White Zinfandel, often abbreviated as White Zin, is an off-dry to sweet, pink-colored blush wine. White Zinfandel is made from the Zinfandel wine grape, which would otherwise produce a bold and spicy red wine. As such, it is not a grape variety but a method of processing Zinfandel grapes...

Botrytized grapes

Grapes that have been rotted by botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea

Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot; in horticulture, it is usually called grey mould or gray mold.The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of...

Bottle Age

The length of time that wine has been allowed to age and mature in bottle.

Bottle shock

Bottle-shock

Bottle-shock or Bottle-sickness is a temporary condition of wine characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines are given an additional dose of sulfur , and are subject to other forms of handling and transport...

Also known as bottle-sickness, a temporary condition of wine characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are shaken in travel. After several days the condition usually disappears.

Bottle variation

Bottle variation is the degree to which different bottles, nominally of the same product, can have different taste, smell, etc.There are many possible causes of bottle variation:* variation in the contents prior to packaging...

The degree to which bottled wine of the same style and vintage

Vintage

Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...

can vary.

Box wine

A box wine is a wine packaged as a Bag-In-Box. Such packages contain a plastic bladder protected by a box, usually made of corrugated fiberboard.- History :...

Wine packaged in a bag usually made of flexible plastic and protected by a box, usually made of cardboard. The bag is sealed by a simple plastic tap.

Brettanomyces

Brettanomyces is a non-spore forming genus of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae, and is often colloquially referred to as "Brett". The genus name Dekkera is used interchangeably with Brettanomyces, as it describes the teleomorph or spore forming form of the yeast. The cellular morphology of...

A wine spoilage yeast

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...

that produces taints in wine commonly described as barnyard or band-aids.

Brix

Degrees Brix is the sugar content of an aqueous solution.One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength of the solution as percentage by weight . If the solution contains dissolved solids other than pure sucrose, then the °Bx is only approximate the...

A measurement of the dissolved sucrose

Sucrose

Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...

level in a wine.

Brut

A French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

term for a very dry

Dryness

Dryness is a property of alcoholic beverages that describes the lack of a sweet taste. This may be due to a lack of sugars, the presence of some other taste that masks sweetness, or an underabundance of simple carbohydrates that can be converted to sugar by enzymes in the mouth...

champagne or sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...

. Drier than extra dry.

Bung

A bung is truncated cylindrical or conical closure to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube or barrel. Unlike a lid which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner volume, a bung is partially inserted inside the container to act as a seal...

A stopper

Stopper (plug)

used to seal a bottle or barrel. Commonly used term for cork

Cork (material)

Burnt wine

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

Another name for Brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

, a liquor made from distilled wine. It is often the source of additional alcohol in fortified wines.

Butt

Butt (unit)

The butt or pipe is an old English unit of wine casks, holding two hogsheads ....

An old English unit of wine casks, equivalent to about 477 litre

Litre

pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...

s (126 US gallons/105 imperial gallons).

C

Cap

The layer of grape skins that are forced by rising carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

gas to the top of the fermentation vessel during cuvaison.

Carbonic acid

Carbonic acid is the inorganic compound with the formula H2CO3 . It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, because such solutions contain small amounts of H2CO3. Carbonic acid forms two kinds of salts, the carbonates and the bicarbonates...

Carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the water content of wine. It is a volatile acid that held in equilibrium

Dynamic equilibrium

A dynamic equilibrium exists once a reversible reaction ceases to change its ratio of reactants/products, but substances move between the chemicals at an equal rate, meaning there is no net change. It is a particular example of a system in a steady state...

with the dissolved carbon dioxide gas and can not be isolated in a pure form.

Carbonic gas

A natural by product of the fermentation process in which yeast cells convert sugar into nearly equal parts alcohol and carbonic gas. While a small amount stays presence in the wine as carbonic acid, most of the gas will rise to the surface of the fermentation vessel and attempt to escape into the air. If the fermentation vessel is closed (such as a sealed wine bottle

Wine bottle

used to make sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

), the gas will dissolve into the wine and when released will make the wine sparkling.

Carbonic maceration

Carbonic maceration is a winemaking technique, often associated with the French wine region of Beaujolais, in which whole grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide rich environment prior to crushing. Conventional alcoholic fermentation involves crushing the grapes to free the juice and pulp from the...

A winemaking practice of fermenting whole grapes that have not been crushed.

Casein

Casein is the name for a family of related phosphoprotein proteins . These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk, making up 80% of the proteins in cow milk and between 60% and 65% of the proteins in human milk....

A fining agent derived from a milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

protein

Protein

Cellaring

Wine cellar

A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...

To age wine for the purpose of improvement or storage.

Centrifugal filtration

The process of separating unwanted particles (such as dead yeast cells or fining agents) from the wine by use of centrifugal force.

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

filtration

A filtration process of the wine that utilizes perlite

Perlite

Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently...

and is able to fine the wine to an ultrafine degree.

Chaptalization

Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...

A winemaking

Winemaking

Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...

process where sugar is added to the must

Must

Must is freshly pressed fruit juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace; it typically makes up 7%–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must is the first step in winemaking...

to increase the alcohol content in the fermented wine. This is often done when grapes have not ripened adequately.

Charmat process

The Charmat or bulk process is a method where sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

s receive their secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation is a process commonly associated with winemaking, which entails a second period of fermentation in a different vessel than what was used when the fermentation process first started. An example of this would be starting fermentation in a carboy or stainless steel tank and then...

in large tanks, rather than individual bottles as seen in Méthode champenoise.

Clarification

A winemaking

Winemaking

process involving the fining and filtration

Filtration

Filtration is commonly the mechanical or physical operation which is used for the separation of solids from fluids by interposing a medium through which only the fluid can pass...

of wine to remove suspended solids and reduce turbidity

Turbidity

Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality....

Cold stabilization

A winemaking

Winemaking

process where wine is chilled to near freezing temperatures for several weeks to encourage the precipitation

Precipitation (chemistry)

Precipitation is the formation of a solid in a solution or inside anothersolid during a chemical reaction or by diffusion in a solid. When the reaction occurs in a liquid, the solid formed is called the precipitate, or when compacted by a centrifuge, a pellet. The liquid remaining above the solid...

of tartrate

Tartrate

A tartrate is a salt or ester of the organic compound tartaric acid, a dicarboxylic acid. Its formula is O−OC-CH-CH-COO− or C4H4O62−.As food additives, tartrates are used as antioxidants, acidity regulators, and emulsifiers...

crystals.

Cork

Cork (material)

A wine bottle

Wine bottle

stopper

Stopper (plug)

made from the thick outer bark of the cork oak

Cork Oak

Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...

tree.

Cork taint

Cork taint is a broad term referring to a wine fault characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage that can only be detected after bottling, aging and opening...

A type of wine fault

Wine fault

A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor winemaking practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage. Many of the compounds that cause wine faults are already naturally present in wine but at insufficient concentrations to adversely...

describing undesirable aromas and flavors in wine often attributed to mold

Mold

Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...

growth on chlorine

Chlorine

Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

bleach

Bleach

Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...

ed cork

Cork (material)

Crossflow filtration

A highspeed form of microfiltration

Microfiltration

Microfiltration is a membrane technical filtration process which removes contaminants from a fluid by passage through a microporous membrane. A typical microfiltration membrane pore size range is 0.1 to 10 micrometres...

that has the wine flow across a membrane filter rather than through it.

Crown-cap

A beer bottle

Beer bottle

A beer bottle is a bottle made to contain beer, usually made of glass.Bottled beer has been in use since as early as the 16th century. Beer bottles come in various sizes, shapes and colours....

cap used as a temporary closure for a sparkling wine as it undergoes as secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation

Crush

After harvest

Harvest (wine)

The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...

, and prior to pressing, grape are "crushed" or broken up so that the juice is released and allowed to macerate

Maceration (wine)

Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds— are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. Maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since 99% of all grape juice is...

with the skins prior to and during fermentation. In viticultural terms, "Crush" is used as a synonym for harvest time.

Cut

A blending term used to refer to either blending a wine with one distinct characteristic (such as high acidity) into a wine that currently dominated by the opposite characteristic (such as low acidity). It can also mean blending a red wine with a white wine in order to make a rosé. Cutting may also refer to the illegal practice of diluting a wine with water. The French term tailles or "cut" refers to the point during pressing when the quality of the grape juices degrades. The first tailles is the free-run juice followed by successive pressing.

Cuve

A large vat used for fermentation.

Cuve Close

Alternative name for the Charmat method of sparkling wine production

Sparkling wine production

There are four main methods of sparkling wine production. The first is simple injection of carbon dioxide , the process used in soft drinks, but this produces big bubbles that dissipate quickly in the glass. The second is the Metodo Italiano – Charmat process, in which the wine undergoes a...

Cuvée

Cuvee

Cuvée is a French wine term derived from cuve, meaning vat or tank. The term cuvée is used with several different meanings, more or less based on the concept of a tank of wine put to some purpose:...

A wine blended from several vats or batches, or from a selected vat. Also used in Champagne to denote the juice from the first pressing of a batch of grapes.

D

Dégorgement

The disgorging or removal of sediment from bottles that results from secondary fermentation.

Délestage

French term for racking

Racking

Racking is the process of siphoning the wine or beer off the lees into a new, clean barrel or in the case of beer off the trub. Racking allows clarification and aids in stabilization. Wine that is allowed to age on the lees often develops "off-tastes". A racking hose or tubing is used and can be...

with the purpose of removing harsh tannins from the wine in the form of grape seeds. In this process the wine is drained into a secondary vessel, allowing the cap to settle to a bottom and loosen the seeds that are trapped in the pulps. As the wine drains, a filter captures the seeds and removes them from the wine. The wine is then returned the first vessel.

Demi-muid

A large oak barrel that holds 159 gallon

Gallon

The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...

s (600 liter

Litér

- External links :*...

s). In between the petit foudre and the barrique.

Demi-sec

Moderately sweet to medium sweet sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Depth filtration

A means of filtering a wine that takes solely inside filtration medium, such as a kieselguhr, rotary drum vacuum or a frame filter.

Devatting

The process of separating red must from pomace, which can happen before or after fermentation.

Doble pasta

Spanish winemaking term describing a wine that is macerated with double the normal ratio of grape skins to juice. This is achieved by the winemaker bleeding off and disposing of extra juice in order to increase the ratio of grape skin and concentration of phenolic compounds.

Doppelstück

A German oak barrel that holds 635 gallons (2,400 liters).

Doux

The French

French language

word for sweet

Sweetness

Sweetness is one of the five basic tastes and is almost universally regarded as a pleasurable experience. Foods rich in simple carbohydrates such as sugar are those most commonly associated with sweetness, although there are other natural and artificial compounds that are sweet at much lower...

. Usually refers to the sweetest category of wines.

Drawing off

see Devatting.

Dry

Dryness

Wines with zero or very low levels of residual sugar. The opposite of sweet, except in sparkling wines, where dry means sweet.

E

Egg white

Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around either fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks...

fining

A technique of fining that uses the whites of eggs to attract negatively charged matter.

Enology

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

spelling of oenology

Oenology

Oenology,[p] œnology , or enology is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which is a subfield called viticulture. “Viticulture & oenology” is a common designation for training programmes and research centres that include both the...

, the study of wine.

En Tirage

French

French language

for "in pulling", refers to the period of time in which bottled sparkling wine is rested in contact with lees generated during secondary fermentation. Part of the Méthode Champenoise process.

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

A protein created by yeast

Yeast

that act as a bio-chemical catalysts in grape or wine development. An example would be the enzyme invertase

Invertase

Invertase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose . The resulting mixture of fructose and glucose is called inverted sugar syrup. Related to invertases are sucrases. Invertases and sucrases hydrolyze sucrose to give the same mixture of glucose and fructose...

which aids the storage of sugars within individual grape berries.

Esters

Compounds formed in wine either during fermentation or the wine's aging development that contribute to a wine's aroma.

Estufagem

Portuguese term for the process where Madeira is heated in estufas (ovens) and then cooled to create the unique flavors and texture of the wine.

Ethanoic acid

Another name for acetic acid

Acetic acid

Ethanol

Also known as "ethyl alcohol". The primary alcohol

Alcohol

in wine and most other alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

s. The alcohol content of a wine contributes to its body.

Extract

Everything in a wine except for water, sugar, alcohol, and acidity, the term refers to the solid compounds such as tannins. High levels of extract results in more colour and body, which may be increased by prolonging the wine's contact with the skins during cuvaison.

Extra dry

A champagne or sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

with a small amount of residual sugar (slightly sweet). Not as dry

Dryness

as Brut.

F

Fall bright

The point when a wine becomes limpid, or clear, after all the cloudy sediments falls to the bottom of container. The wine is then usually racked over the sediment or, in the case of sparkling wine, disgorged.

Fatty acids

Another term used in winemaking to describe volatile acids such as butyric or propionic acid

Propionic acid

Propanoic acid is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula CH3CH2COOH. It is a clear liquid with a pungent odor...

Fault

Wine fault

An unpleasant characteristic of wine resulting from a flaw with the winemaking process or storage conditions.

Fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

The conversion of sugars to alcohol

Alcohol

by yeast

Yeast

Feuillette

A French wine barrel with the capacity to hold 30 gallons (114 liters) in Burgundy and 35 gallons (132 liters) in Chablis.

Filtration

Filtration is commonly the mechanical or physical operation which is used for the separation of solids from fluids by interposing a medium through which only the fluid can pass...

The removal of unwanted particles suspended in wine or grape juice.

Fining

A clarification process where flocculants

Flocculation

Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process wherein colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc or flakes by the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to flocculation, colloids are merely suspended in a liquid and not actually...

, such as bentonite

Bentonite

or egg white, are added to the wine to remove suspended solids. Fining is considered a more gentle method of clarifying a wine than filtering.

First pressing

The first press, after the free run juice has been collected, that contains the clearest and cleanest juice that will come out of pressing.

Fixed acidity

A measurement of "total acidity" (TA) of a wine minus the volatile acids.

Fixed sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

The molecules of sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide

that binds with sugar and acids in the wine. This leaves the unbound "free sulfur" to combine with molecules of oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

in order to prevent oxidation.

Flash Pasteurization

Flash pasteurization

Flash pasteurization, also called "High Temperature Short Time" processing, is a method of heat pasteurization of perishable beverages like fruit and vegetable juices, beer, and some dairy products...

A procedure different than full pasteurization

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...

where the wine is subjected to high temperatures around 176Â°F (80Â°C) for intervals of 30-60 seconds.

Flor

Flor is a winemaking term referring to a film of yeast on the surface of wine and which is important in the manufacture of certain styles of sherry. The flor is formed naturally under certain winemaking conditions, from indigenous yeasts found in the region of Andalucía in southern Spain...

The yeast

Yeast

responsible for the character of dry Sherries

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

Fortification

The process of adding pure alcohol or very strong (77 to 98 proof

Proof (alcohol)

Alcohol proof is a measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage. The term was originally used in the United Kingdom and was defined as 7/4 times the alcohol by volume . The UK now uses the abv standard instead of alcohol proof. In the United States, alcoholic proof is defined...

) grape spirit to a wine. Depending on when the alcohol is added, either before, during or after fermentation, this can result in a wine with a high alcohol content and noticeable sweetness.

Foudre

A generic French term for a large wooden vat between 20 and 120 hectoliters.

Free sulfur

The active element of sulfur dioxide that combined with molecules of oxygen to prevent oxidation. For more details see fixed sulfur above.

Free run

Juice

Grape juice

Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid. The juice is often sold in stores or fermented and made into wine, brandy, or vinegar. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7-23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as "must"...

obtained from grapes that have not been pressed.

Fruit wine

A fermented alcoholic beverage made from non-grape fruit juice which may or may not include the addition of sugar or honey. Fruit wines are always called "something" wines (e.g., plum wine), since the word wine alone is often legally defined as a beverage made only from grapes.

Fuder

A German oak barrel with the capacity to hold 265 gallons (1000 liters)

Fully fermented

A wine that was allowed to complete the process of fermentation with interruption to produce a wine that is completely dry.

Fût

Generic French term for an oak cask where wines are fermented and/or aged.

G

Gelatine

A fining agent used to remove excessive amounts of tannins and other negatively charged phenolic compounds from the wine.

Geosmin

Geosmin, which literally translates to "earth smell", is an organic compound with a distinct earthy flavour and aroma, and is responsible for the earthy taste of beets and a contributor to the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is...

A chemical compound found in wine grapes that is responsible for some earthy aromas and flavors. Geosmin is also found in beet

Beet

The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family which is now included in Amaranthaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet...

s and potatoes

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

Grape juice

The free-run or pressed juice from grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s. Unfermented grape juice is known as "must

Must

H

Hogshead

A hogshead is a large cask of liquid . More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial units or U.S. customary units, primarily applied to alcoholic beverages such as wine, ale, or cider....

A wine barrel that holds approximately 63 gallons (239 liters).

Halbfüder

A German oak barrel with the capacity of 132 gallons (500 liters)

Halbstück

A German oak barrel with the capacity of 159 gallons (600 liters)

Hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...

The combination of hydrogen

Hydrogen

and sulfur dioxide which can produce a fault in the wine reminiscent of the smell of rotting eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

that may eventually develop in the bottle into mercaptans.

L

Lactic acid

The acid in wine formed during the process of malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation is a process in winemaking where tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation tends to create a rounder, fuller mouthfeel. It has been said that malic acid tastes of green apples...

Lagar

A traditional Portuguese concrete vessel used for treading grapes by foot.

Late disgorgement

A term, often abbreviated as LD on sparkling wine labels, that means the wine was recently disgorged after spending an extended period aging on its lees.

Leaching

A process of oak barrel production during which some tannins are deliberately removed from the wood by steaming

Steaming

Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food.-Method:...

. The viticultural term refers to the loss of certain qualities of the soil, such as pH

, when rainwater removes or "leaches out" carbonates from the soil.

Lees

Lees (fermentation)

Lees refers to deposits of dead yeast or residual yeast and other particles that precipitate, or are carried by the action of "fining", to the bottom of a vat of wine after fermentation and ageing. The yeast deposits in beer brewing are known as trub...

Wine sediment that occurs during and after fermentation, and consists of dead yeast, grape seeds, and other solids. Wine is separated from the lees by racking.

Liqueur de tirage

French term for a liquid containing saccharose and yeast

Yeast

used to effect the second fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

in sparkling wine production

Sparkling wine production

Liqueur d'expedition

French term for "shipping liquid" or dosage, used to top up and possibly sweeten sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

after disgorging. Usually a solution of saccharose in base wine.

M

Maceration

Maceration (wine)

The contact of grape skins with the must

Must

during fermentation, extracting phenolic compounds including tannins, anthocyanin

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...

s, and aroma. See also cuvaison.

Madeirized

A wine showing Madeira

Madeira wine

Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. Some wines produced in small quantities in California and Texas are also referred to as "Madeira", or "Madera", although those wines do not conform to the EU PDO regulations...

-like flavor, generally evidence of oxidation. Sometimes used to describe white wine that has been kept long past its prime.

Maillard reactions

The complex chemical reaction between amino acid

Amino acid

Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...

s and sugar in the wine or grapes. During the raisin

Raisin

Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...

ing process of grapes, such as in the production of straw wine

Straw wine

Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine process, but suitable for warmer climates. The classic method dries clusters of grapes on mats of straw in the sun, but some regions dry them under...

, the Maillard reaction process play a vital role in concentrating the flavors of the grapes. During sparkling wine production

Sparkling wine production

, the amino acids created during the autolysis

Autolysis (wine)

process reacts with the residual sugar of the wine to create a series of aromas and flavors associated with premium quality Champagne.

Malic acid

A strong tasting acid in wine reminiscent of the flavor of green apples. The amount of malic acid in grapes is gradually reduced during the ripening process while the grapes are on the vine and can be further reduced during winemaking by fermentation and malolactic fermentation.

Malolactic fermentation

Also known as malo or MLF, a secondary fermentation in wines by lactic acid bacteria

Lactic acid bacteria

The lactic acid bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bacteria, usually found in decomposing plants and lactic products, produce...

during which tart tasting malic acid is converted to softer tasting lactic acid

Lactic acid

Mannoprotein

A nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

rich protein secreted by dead yeast cells during the autolysis process that occur while the wine ages on its lees

Lees (fermentation)

Marc

French for "fruit skins". See "pomace

Pomace

Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....

Mead

A wine-like alcoholic beverage made of fermented honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

and water rather than grape juice.

Membrane filtration

A process of filtration that uses a thin screen of biologically inert

Inert

-Chemistry:In chemistry, the term inert is used to describe a substance that is not chemically reactive.The noble gases were previously known as inert gases because of their perceived lack of participation in any chemical reactions...

material, perforated with microsize pores that capture matter larger than the size of the holes.

Mercaptans

Chemical compounds formed by the reaction of ethyl

Ethanol

and methyl alcohol with hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide

to produce a wine fault

Wine fault

that creates odors in the wine reminiscent of burnt rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

, garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s or stale cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

Méthode Champenoise

(aka Methode Traditionelle, Traditional Method) Process whereby sparkling wines receive a second fermentation in the same bottle that will be sold to a retail buyer. Compare with Charmat, transfer or bulk fermented methods.

Méthode Rurale

A method of sparkling wine production similar to the Champagne method except there is no secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation

. Rather the wine bottled before the primary fermentation has completed, trapping the resulting carbon dioxide gas, and leaving the residual sediment in the wine.

Microoxygenation

Micro-oxygenation is a process used in winemaking to introduce oxygen into wine in a controlled manner. Developed in 1991 by Patrick DuCournau, working with the exceptionally tannic grape Tannat in Madiran, the process gained usage in modern winemaking following the 1996 authorization by the...

The controlled exposure of wine to small amounts of oxygen in the attempt to reduce the length of time required for maturation.

Microvinification

A winemaking technique often used for experimental batches of wine where the wine is fermented in small, specialized vats.

Mistelle

French term for fresh grape juice that has had alcohol added to it (Fortification) before fermentation has started. This results in a generally sweet wine.

MOG

A winemaking abbreviation for "Material Other than Grapes". Usually refers to debris like leaves, dirt and stems that can be unintentionally harvested

Harvest (wine)

with the grapes.

Mud

See "Lees".

Muid

French term for a large oval barrel with a capacity of 159 gallons (600 liters)

Must

Unfermented grape juice, including pips (seeds), skins and stalks.

Must weight

Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice , and hence indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar...

The level of fermentable sugars in the must and the resultant alcohol content if all the sugar was converted to ethanol.

Mutage

- Typical mechanism :The typical process involves the addition of alcohol to the must so that the fermentation process is prematurely stopped. Most yeast dies when the alcohol content in their environment is raised to approximately 13-15%. By stopping the fermentation of sugars, a sweet taste of...

French term for fortifying a wine by adding alcohol to the must either before fermentation (i.e. vin de liqueur) or during (i.e. vin doux naturel)

O

Oak

The most commonly used wood source for fermentation vessel and barrel aging. Oak influence can also be imparted to a wine by the used of oak chips or staves.

Oechsle

a measure of must weight

Must weight

Oenology

The science of wine and winemaking

Winemaking

Off-dry

A wine that has the barest hint of sweetness; a slightly sweet wine in which the residual sugar is barely perceptible.

Orange wine

Orange wine is wine made from white wine grape varieties that have spent some maceration time in contact with the grape skins. Typically white wine production involves crushing the grapes and quickly moving the juice off the skins into the fermentation vessel...

A white wine with extending skin contact, similar to red wine production. The opposite of a rosé

Rosé

Organic winemaking

A style of winemaking using organically grown

Organically grown

is a privately held Delaware limited liability company owned by Organically Grown Group LLC, with offices in Encino, California. Julia and Robert Stein founded the company in October 2007. Organically Grown's mission is to provide affordable, fashionable, organic, worker-friendly products to the...

grapes and a minimum amount of chemical additives such as sulfur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide

Osmotic pressure

Osmotic pressure is the pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of water across a semipermeable membrane....

The tendency of water of within two solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane to travel from a weaker solution to the more concentrated one to achieve equilibrium. In winemaking, osmotic pressure is observed in yeast

Yeast

cells added to grape must with a high sugar content. The water in the yeast cell escapes through the cell mebrane into the solution causing the cell to experience plasmolysis

Plasmolysis

Plasmolysis is the process in plant cells where the cytoplasm pulls away from the cell wall due to the loss of water through osmosis. The reverse process, cytolysis, can occur if the cell is in a hypotonic solution resulting in a higher external osmotic pressure and a net flow of water into the cell...

, caving in on itself and dying.

Oxidation

The degradation of wine through exposure to oxygen. In some aspects oxygen plays a vital role in fermentation and through the aging process of wine. But excessive amounts of oxygen can produce wine faults.

OTR

Oxygen transmission rate

Oxygen Transmission Rate

Oxygen transmission rate is the measurement of the amount of oxygen gas that passes through a substance over a given period. It is mostly carried out on non-porous materials, where the mode of transport is diffusion, but there are a growing number of applications where the transmission rate also...

. A factor of cork

Cork (material)

closures which shows some variation in their oxygen transmission rate, which translates to a degree of bottle variation

Bottle variation

P

Pad filitration

A technique of filtering wine that involves running the wine through a series of pads made of asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

, cellulose

Cellulose

Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....

or thin paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

sheet.

Passito

A method of straw wine

Straw wine

production that involves drying bunches of grapes in a special room in order to dehydrate them and concentrate flavors. In some circumstances the grapes maybe left on the vine to dry out in a method similar to the French technique of passerillage.

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...

An umbrella term

Umbrella term

An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of concepts that all fall under a single common category. Umbrella term is also called a hypernym. For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields...

for various methods of sterilization

Sterilization (microbiology)

Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media...

and stabilization

Clarification and stabilization of wine

The clarification and stabilization of wine in winemaking involves removing insoluble and suspended materials. The insoluble material causes a wine to be cloudy. These processes may include fining, filtration, centrifugation, flotation, refrigeration, barrel maturation, pasteurization and racking...

of the grape must.

Pectic enzyme

An enzyme added to fruit to increase juice yield. Also used as a clarifying agent

Clarifying agent

in fruit wines when added to wine or must to eliminate pectin

Pectin

Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot...

hazes.

Perlant

French term for a very lightly sparkling wine with less effervescence than a crémant or pétillant

Perlite

A fine, powder-like substance of volcanic origins that is sometimes used for ceramic filtration. It has many of the same filtering properties as diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite or kieselgur/kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micrometre to more than 1 millimetre, but typically 10 to...

A measure of the acidity. The lower the pH, the higher the acidity. The term comes from the French Pouvoir Hydrogéne meaning "hydrogen power". pH is a shorthand for its mathematical approximation: in chemistry a small p is used in place of writing log10 and the H here represents [H+], the concentration of hydrogen ions.

Phenolic compounds

Compounds found in the seeds, skins and stalks of grapes that contribute vital characteristics to the color, texture and flavor of wine. Two of the most notable phenols in wine include anthocyanin

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...

s which impart color and tannins which add texture and aging potential.

Pipe

A Portuguese oak barrel with the capacity of 145 gallons (550 liters).

Polishing

An ultrafine means of filtration usually done with kieselguhr or perlite that leaves a wine with exceptionally bright clarity – giving the impression that it has been polished

Polishing

Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection In some materials polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to...

. Premium wines will often decline polishing because ultra fine precision can also remove flavor and phenolic compounds that may diminish the quality and aging potential of the wine.

Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone

Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone is a highly cross-linked modification of polyvinylpyrrolidone ....

A fining agent, more commonly abbreviated as PVPP, used in white wine production to remove compounds that can contribute to premature browning of the wine.

Pomace

Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....

The skins, stalks, and pips (seeds) that remain after making wine. Also called marc.

Post-disgorgement aging

The time a sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

spend aging in the bottle between when it has been disgorged to when the bottle is opened for consumption.

Potassium sorbate

Potassium sorbate is the potassium salt of sorbic acid, chemical formula C6H7KO2. Its primary use is as a food preservative . Potassium sorbate is effective in a variety of applications including food, wine, and personal care products....

A wine stabilizer and preservative.

Pre-fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

maceration

Maceration (wine)

The time prior to fermentation that the grape must spends in contact with it skins. This technique may enhance some of the varietal characteristics of the wine and leech important phenolic compounds out from the skin. This process can be done either cold (also known as a "cold soak") or at warmer temperatures.

Proof

Proof (alcohol)

Refers to the alcohol content of a beverage. In the United States, proof represents twice the alcohol content as a percentage of volume. Thus, a 100 proof beverage is 50% alcohol by volume and a 150 proof beverage is 75% alcohol. In the Imperial system, proof, (or 100% proof), equals 57.06% ethanol by volume, or 48.24% by weight. Absolute or pure ethanol is 75.25 over proof, or 175.25 proof.

Protein

haze

A condition in wines with an excessive amount of protein particles. These particles react with tannins to create a cloudy, hazy appearance in the wine. This condition is rectify with the use of a fining agent, such as bentonite

Bentonite

, to remove the proteins.

Puncheon

Puncheon is a tool or instrument for piercing or punching, such as those used for impressing designs onto coin dies. The "barrel" meaning is thought to derive from the fact that it would have been marked by use of a punch to denote its contents....

An oak wine barrel with the capacity of 119 gallons (450 liters)

Pyrazines

A group of aromatic compounds in grapes that contribute to some of the green herbaceous notes in wine from the green bell pepper notes in some Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

to the grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

y notes of some Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

. In red wines, the abundance of pyrazines can be a sign that the grapes came from vines with vigorous leaf canopy

Canopy (vine)

In viticulture, the canopy of a grapevine includes the parts of the vine visible aboveground - the trunk, cordon, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit. The canopy plays a key role in light energy capture via photosynthesis, water use as regulated by transpiration, and microclimate of ripening grapes...

that impeded the ripening process of the grapes.

R

Racking

The process of drawing wine off the sediment, such as lees, after fermentation and moving it into another vessel.

Rancio

French and Spanish term for a fortified wine

Fortified wine

Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it...

that has been madeirized, often by storage in oak barrels for at least two years often exposed to direct sunlight. Rancio wines are often found in the Roussillon region of France and in various Spanish regions.

Ratafia

Ratafia is a liqueur or cordial flavoured with lemon peel, herbs in various amounts typically combined with sugar. It may also be prepared with peach or cherry kernels, bitter almonds, or other fruits, as many different varieties are made...

A liqueur made by combing unfermented grape juice with a brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

made from the residue of seeds, skins and grape stalks left over from pressing.

Remontage

French term for the process of pulling out wine from underneath the cap of grape skins and then pumping it back over the cap in order to stimulate maceration

Maceration (wine)

Reserve cuvee

In sparkling wine production

Sparkling wine production

, these are the still wines kept over from previous vintages in order to blend with the product of a current vintage in order to improve quality or maintain a consistent house style with a non-vintage wine.

Rémuage

See "riddling".

Residual sugar

Also known as RS, the level of sugar that remains unfermented in a wine. See also sweetness of wine

Sweetness of wine

The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine to be sure, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Briefly: sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness; acids and bitter tannins counteract it...

Reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis is a membrane technical filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and...

A process used to remove excess water from wine.

Riddling

Also known as "Rémuage" in French, part of the Méthode Champenoise process whereby bottles of sparkling wine are successively turned and gradually tilted upside down so that sediment settles into the necks of the bottles in preparation for degorgement.

Ripasso

An Italian method of winemaking that involves putting a wine through a secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation

on the lees from a previously made recioto wine. This method is common in the Valpolicella

Valpolicella

Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine...

area among Amarone

Amarone

Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina , Rondinella and Molinara varieties. The wine was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990...

producers who make a secondary Ripasso wine.

Rosé wines

Rosé

Pink wines are produced by shortening the contact period of red wine juice with its skins, resulting in a light red colour. These wines are also made by blending a small amount of red wine with white wine.

S

Saccharometer

A winemaking tool that uses specific gravity

Specific gravity

Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...

to measure the sugar content of grape juice.

Screwcap

A screw cap or closure is a common type of closure for bottles, jars, and tubes.-Usage:A screw closure is a mechanical device which is screwed on and off of a "finish" on a container. Either continuous threads or lugs are used...

An alternative to cork for sealing wine bottles, comprising a metal cap that screws onto threads on the neck of a bottle. Also called a "Stelvin".

Sec

Seč is name of several locations in central Europe:* Seč, a city in Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic** Seč dam next to the Seč village* Seč, a village in the Trenčín Region of Slovakia...

French

French language

for dry

Dryness

, except in the case of Champagne, where it means semi-sweet.

Secondary fermentation

Most commonly the term is used to refer to the continuation of fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

in a second vessel – e.g. moving the wine from a stainless steel tank to an oak barrel.

Skin contact

Another term to describe maceration

Maceration (wine)

Solera system

Solera

Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. A solera is literally the set of barrels or other...

A process used to systematically blend various vintages of Sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

Sorbic acid

Sorbic acid, or 2,4-hexadienoic acid, is a natural organic compound used as a food preservative. It has the chemical formula C6H8O2. It is a colourless solid that is slightly soluble in water and sublimes readily...

An acid that can be added to wine in order to halt yeast activity and alcohol production – such as in the production of some sweet wines. If a wine goes through malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation

when there is a significant amount of sorbic acid present, the wine can develop a fault characterized by a strong odor of crushed geraniums.

Souped up

A wine that starts out as a lighter bodied and perhaps weaker flavor that is blended with a stronger, more robust wine.

Sparging

A process of adding carbonic gas to a wine just before bottling in order to add some slight effervescence

Effervescence

Effervescence might refer to one of the following:*Effervescence is the escape of gas from an aqueous solution.*Collective effervescence is a perceived energy formed by a gathering of people....

to the wine.

Spinning cone

Spinning cone columns are used in a form of steam distillation to gently extract volatile chemicals from liquid foodstuffs while minimising the effect on the taste of the product...

column

Used to reduce the amount of alcohol in a wine.

Stabilization

Clarification and stabilization of wine

The process of decreasing the volatility of a wine by removing particles that may cause unwanted chemical changes after the wine has been bottled. In winemaking wines are stabilized by fining, filtration, adding sulfur dioxide or techniques such as cold stabilization where tartrate

Tartrate

chemicals are precipitated out.

Stabilizer

An additive such as potassium sorbate

Potassium sorbate

which is added to wines before they are sweetened. Unlike sulfites, these products do not stop fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

by killing the yeast, rather they prevent re-fermentation by disrupting the reproductive cycle of yeast

Yeast

Stretching

Cutting or diluting a wine with water, often used to lower the alcohol level of the wine. In many wine regions this practice is illegal.

Still wine

Wine that is not sparkling wine

Sparkling wine

Stoving wine

A production method of artificially mellowing wine by exposing it to heat.

Stück

A large German oak barrel with the capacity of 317 gallons (1,200 liters)

Stuck fermentation

A stuck fermentation occurs in brewing beer or winemaking when the yeast become dormant before the fermentation has completed. Unlike an "arrested fermentation" where the winemaker intentionally stops fermentation , a stuck fermentation is an unintentional and unwanted occurrence that can lead to...

A fermentation that has been halted due to yeast prematurely becoming dormant or dying. There are a variety of causes for a stuck fermentation including high fermentation temperatures, yeast nutrient deficiency, or an excessively high sugar content.

Sulfites

Compounds (typically: potassium metabisulfite

Potassium metabisulfite

Potassium metabisulfite, K2S2O5, also known as potassium pyrosulfite, is a white crystalline powder with a pungent sulfur odour. The main use for the chemical is as an antioxidant or chemical sterilant. It is a disulfite and is chemically very similar to sodium metabisulfite, with which it is...

or sodium metabisulfite

Sodium metabisulfite

Sodium metabisulfite or sodium pyrosulfite is an inorganic compound of chemical formula Na2S2O5. The substance is sometimes referred to as disodium...

) which are added to wine to prevent oxidation, microbial spoilage, and further fermentation by the yeast.

Sulphur dioxide

A substance used in winemaking as a preservative

Preservative

A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....

Sur lie

A winemaking practice that involves prolonged aging on the dead yeast cells (the lees).

Süssreserve

A reserve of unfermented grape juice that is added to wines as a sweetening device.

Sweetness of wine

Defined by the level of residual sugar in the final liquid after the fermentation has ceased. However, how sweet the wine will actually taste is also controlled by factors such as the acidity and alcohol levels, the amount of tannin present, and whether the wine is sparkling.

T

Tannin

Phenolic compound that give wine a bitter, dry, or puckery feeling in the mouth.

Tartaric acid

An important acid found in grapes that increases during the veraison

Veraison

Véraison is a viticulture term meaning "the onset of ripening". It is originally French, but has been adopted into English use...

period.

Tartrates

Crystalline deposits of the tartaric acids that precipitate out of the wine over time or through exposure to cold temperatures such as the process of cold stabilization.

TCA

An abbreviation for trichloroanisole which is the prime cause of wines developing the wine fault

Wine fault

of cork taint

Cork taint

Terpene

Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants, particularly conifers, though also by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies, which emit terpenes from their osmeterium. They are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective...

A class of unsaturated hydrocarbons that are responsible for certain aromas that are characteristic of a grape variety such as the petrol notes of mature Riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

or the floral aromas of Muscats.

Téte de Cuvée

The juice that comes from the very first pressing of the grapes. After the free run juice, this is the highest quality juice with the best balance of phenols, sugars and acids.

Toast

The charcoal that is burned into the inside of wine casks.

Topping

Topping may refer to:* Hill-topping, a mate-acquisition strategy amongst insects* Topping, slang term for capital punishment, especially hanging or beheading* Topping , the name of several people...

The process of filling the headspace that is created inside a barrel through wine evaporation into the barrel wood.

Total acidity

The total amount of acidity (Tartaric, latic, malic, etc) in a wine as measured in grams per liter

Litér

- External links :*...

Transfer method

A method of sparkling wine production

Sparkling wine production

where a wine undergoes normal secondary fermentation

Secondary fermentation

in the bottle but then after the bottles are open, its contents transferred to a tank where they are filtered and then rebottled in small "splits" or large format size bottles. Also known as transvasage.

Tun

- Science and technology :* TUN/TAP, a computer network device driver* TUN , a Danish product standard for building materials* Tun , a part of the Mayan long count calendar system* A unit of time in the Mayan Long Count calendar...

A wine cask that holds approximately, two butts

Butt (unit)

The butt or pipe is an old English unit of wine casks, holding two hogsheads ....

, or 252 U.S. gallons.

U

Ullage

Ullage (wine)

Ullage is a winemaking term that has several meanings but most commonly refers to the headspace of air between wine and the top of the container that it is in...

Also known as headspace, the unfilled space in a wine bottle, barrel, or tank. Derrived from the French

French language

ouillage, the terms "ullage space" and "on ullage" are sometimes used, and a bottle or barrel not entirely full may be described as "ullaged". It also refers to the practice of topping off a barrel with extra wine to prevent oxidation.

V

VA lift

Winemaking technique where the volatile acidity of a wine is deliberately elevated in order to enhance the fruitiness of wines that are meant to be consumed young.

Vanillin

Vanillin is a phenolic aldehyde, an organic compound with the molecular formula C8H8O3. Its functional groups include aldehyde, ether, and phenol. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. It is also found in Leptotes bicolor, roasted coffee and the Chinese red pine...

An aldehyde

Aldehyde

An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a formyl group. This functional group, with the structure R-CHO, consists of a carbonyl center bonded to hydrogen and an R group....

found naturally in oak that imparts a vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

aroma in wine.

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

A wine made from a single grape variety

Viertelstück

A German wine barrel with the capacity of 80 gallons (300 liters)

Vin de goutte

French term for free run juice

Vin de liqueur

A fortified wine

Fortified wine

that has been fortified with alcohol

Alcohol

prior to fermentation.

Vin de paille

French for "straw wine

Straw wine

", a dried grape wine.

Vin de presse

The dark, tannic wine produced from pressing the cap of grape skins.

Vin doux naturel

A fortified wine that has been fortified with alcohol during fermentation. Example: Muscat de Beaumes de Venise

Vin d'une nuit

A French rosé

Rosé

that spends only one night in contact

Maceration (wine)

with the red grape skins.

Vin gris

A light pale rosé

Vinegar

A sour-tasting, highly acidic, liquid made from the oxidation of ethanol in wine, cider, beer, fermented fruit juice, or nearly any other liquid containing alcohol.

Viniculture

The art and science of making wine. Also called enology (or oenology). Not to be confused with viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

Vinification

The process of making grape juice into wine.

Vin jaune

Vin jaune is a special and characteristic type of white wine made in the Jura wine region in eastern France. It is similar to dry fino Sherry and gets its character from being matured in a barrel under a film of yeast, known as the voile, on the wine's surface...

French for "yellow wine", a wine fermented and matured under a yeast film that protects it, similar to the flor

Flor

in Sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....

production.

Vinimatic

An enclosed fermentation tank with rotating blades that operates similar to a cement mixer

Cement mixer

A cement mixer is a shot drink. It often consists of:*1 part Bailey's Irish Cream *1 part Lime juice...

with the propose of maximizing extraction during maceration

Maceration (wine)

and minimizing the potential for oxidation.

Volatile acidity

The level of fatty or volatile

Volatility (chemistry)

In chemistry and physics, volatility is the tendency of a substance to vaporize. Volatility is directly related to a substance's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure.The term is primarily...

acids in a wine that are capable of evaporating at low temperatures. Acetic

Acetic acid

and carbonic acids are the most common volatile acids but butyric, formic

Formic acid

Formic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid. Its chemical formula is HCOOH or HCO2H. It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in the venom of bee and ant stings. In fact, its name comes from the Latin word for ant, formica, referring to its early...

and propionic acid

Propionic acid

Propanoic acid is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula CH3CH2COOH. It is a clear liquid with a pungent odor...

s can also be found in wine.

Volatile phenols

Phenolic compounds found in wine that may contribute to off odors and flavors that are considered wine faults. The most common types of volatile phenols found in wine are ethyl and vinyl

Vinyl

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...

phenols. To a limited degree some volatile phenols may contribute pleasing aromas that add to a wine's complexity, such as ethyl-4-guaiacol which imparts a smokey-spicy aroma.

W

Wine

An alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

of unmodified grape

Grape

juice.

Wine cave

A large cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

that is excavated to provide a cool location for storing and aging wine. Similar to wine cellar

Wine cellar

A cool, dark location in which wine is stored, often for the purpose of ageing.

Wine fault

Undesirable characteristics in wine caused by poor winemaking techniques or storage conditions.

Winemaker

A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:*Cooperating with viticulturists...

A person engaged in the occupation of making wine.

Wine-press

Fruit press

A fruit press is a device used to separate fruit solids - stems, skins, seeds, pulp, leaves, and detritus - from fruit juice.-Cider press:A cider press is used to crush apples or pears...

A device, comprising two vats or receptacles, one for trodding and bruising grapes, and the other for collecting the juice.

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

A building, property, or company that is involved in the production of wine.

Wood lactones

The various esters that a wine picks up from exposure to new oak. These lactones are responsible for the creamy and coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

aromas and flavors that develop in a wine.

Y

Yeast

A microscopic unicellular fungi responsible for the conversion of sugars in must

Must

to alcohol. This process is known as alcoholic fermentation.

Yeast enzymes

The enzymes within yeast cells that each act as a catalyst for a specific activity during the fermentation process. There are at least 22 known enzymes that are active during fermentation of wine.