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Wine glossary
B
Bacchus
The Roman god of wine, known as Dionysus in ancient Greece; a hybrid white grape from Germany.
Backbone
Describes the structure of a wine, referring to balanced acidity, alcohol and, in red wines, tannin. Wines lacking structure are thin or flabby.
Backward
Backwards is used to define a wine that is tight, closed in or reserved. This means the aromatic and other qualities in the wine are not available to the taster. This is often a normal trait in young wines.
Balance
The level of harmony between acidity, tannins, fruit, oak, and other elements in a wine; a perceived quality that is more individual than scientific.
Balthazar
A 12 liter wine bottle. Equal to 16 standard bottles.
Barnyard
Wines with this aroma are best described as earthy, with animal scents that remind tasters of a barn. In small doses, this can be a positive trait. In large amounts, this is a defect. This can be caused by a natural aromas that develop with bottle age, or in the worst cases from wines that were made in unclean barrels or facilities.
Barrel
A vessel to age wine which is usually made from oak.
Barrel Aged
Denotes a wine that has spent a period of time in barrels before bottling. This affects wine in numerous ways—the flavors in newly blended wines knit together, tannins in red wines soften and white wines become richer and more full-bodied. Aging in new oak barrels (barrels used for the first few times) can add aromas and flavors of vanilla, spice and smoke.
Barrel Fermented
A process by which wine (usually white) is fermented in oak barrels rather than in stainless steel tanks; a richer, creamier, oakier style of wine.
Barrel Making
After the wood for a barrel is cut and dried, the cooper heats the wood while shaping it into a barrel. Steam, natural gas, boiling water, the burning of oak chips or some combination of these is used in the three-part heating process. The first application of heat (the warming stage) is called chauffage, the bending of the wooden staves into a barrel shape is called cintrage and, finally, the toasting of the wood for flavor is called bousinage.
Barrel Tasting
When a taster tries a wine before it has been bottled.
Barrique
French for ‘barrel,’ generally a barrel of 225 liters.
Batonnage
French term for stirring of the lees.
Baume
A measurement of the dissolved solids in grape juice that indicates the grapes’ sugar level and ripeness and therefore the potential alcohol in the wine. Commonly used by winemakers in France and Australia. Other sugar measurement scales include Oechsle and Brix.
BDX
Abbreviation for Bordeaux.
Bead
The stream of tiny bubbles found in sparkling wines; a small, persistent bead is an indicator of quality.
Beans
Small bean-shaped pieces of wood added to wine during winemaking to impart oak flavors. Less expensive than oak barrels, beans are used primarily in inexpensive wines. They are rounder in shape and thought to add fewer harsh flavors than oak chips.
Beefy
A big, masculine and often muscular styled wine. This is the same as brawny.
Beerenauslese (BA)
Meaning «berry select harvest,» this wine label term is used to indicate a quality tier in the Prädikatswein systems used in Austria and Germany. In both countries grape berries are hand-selected for the presence of noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). BA wines are typically dessert wines. For wines to qualify as Beerenauslese in Germany, grape must density is between 110–128 ºOe (between 26–29.8 ºBx) with a potential alcohol of 15%–17.6% ABV. For wines to qualify as Beerenauslese in Austria, grape must density must be at or above 127 ºOe (29.6 ºBx) with a potential alcohol level at or above 17.5% ABV.
Bentonite
A clay compound used in the fining process of white wines. The clay binds with solids that might otherwise cause a white wine to become cloudy, removing them from the wine, although some molecules that would contribute to the wine’s flavor profile are also removed in the process.
Berry
Berry is another term for grape.
Berry scented
Wines are made from grapes. Yet all red wine wines smell like berries. They could remind you of blackberries, strawberries, cherries, black raspberries, red raspberries or even cranberry or mulberry.
Big
A big wine is one that is filled with ample amounts of ripe, normally alcoholic fruit. If the wine is in balance, this is not a problem. But wines that are too large and not in balance are not fun to taste.
Bin Number
A term sometimes used to designate special wines, but often applied to ordinary wines to identify a separate lot or brand.
Biodynamic
Vineyard management techniques based on the writings of Rudolph Steiner that on one side, are the best organic techniques, and on the other side can include moon phases, the alignment of the planets, planting cow horns and more. Scoff at this, fair enough. But it does seem to work and it’s becoming slowly, but surely increasingly popular and accepted.
Biologique
An organically produced wine.
Bite
A marked degree of acidity or tannins. An acid grip on the finish should be more like a zestful tang, and is in general prized only in richer, fuller-bodied wines.
Bitter
A taste sensation that is sensed on the back of the tongue and caused by tannins.
Black Grapes
Another term for red grapes. Also, in medieval times, used specifically in reference to Malbec in Bordeaux and Cahors in France.
Blanc de Blancs
The name for Champagne made entirely from Chardonnay grapes.
Blanc de Noirs
The name for Champagne made entirely from red grapes, either Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier, or both.
Blending
Wines are blended for many reasons. To make a more harmonious or complex wine, wines with complementary attributes may be blended. For example, a wine with low acidity may be blended with a high-acid wine or a wine with earthy flavors may be blended with a fruity wine. To create a uniform wine from many small batches is another goal, since grapes from different vineyards, stages of the harvest and pressings are frequently vinified separately and the small batches differ slightly. Red Bordeaux offers a prime example; five different grapes may be used, each contributing its own nuances to the blend.
Blind Tasting
The identity of the wine is hidden from the taster. In theory, this allows for an unbiased evaluation of the wine. Single blind means the type of wine is known to the taster, but not the specific wine. Double blind means, the taster has no prior information on the wine.
Blunt
Strong in flavor and often alcoholic, but lacking in aromatic interest and development on the palate.
Blush
A wine made from red grapes but which appears pink or salmon in color because the grape skins were removed from the fermenting juice before more color could be imparted; more commonly referred to as rose.
Bodega
Spanish for winery; literally the ‘room where barrels are stored.’
Body
The impression of weight on one’s palate; light, medium, and full are common body qualifiers.
Bold
Red wine with dark color, high alcohol, with concentration and intensity, that is usually in a forward style.
Botrytis Cinerea
A beneficial mold that causes grapes to shrivel and sugars to concentrate, resulting in sweet, unctuous wines; common botryt’s wines include Sauternes, Tokay, and German beerenauslese.
Bottle Age
All quality wines need to be aged in the bottle before being opened. For some wines, this could be a few years. Other wines in select vintages require 30 years or more to become mature.
Bottle Shapes
Although a standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters, or 25.4 ounces, wine bottles vary in shape, depending on regional, cultural and marketing considerations. The basic shapes identify wines by type in most parts of the world. Bordeaux-style wines (red wines made of blends relying on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc; whites made of Sauvignon Blanc and/or Sémillon) are put in Bordeaux-style bottles with straight sides and high shoulders. Burgundy’s traditional varieties (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) go into slope-shouldered Burgundy-style bottles. Aromatic wines (such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer) usually go into tall, narrow German-style bottles and sparkling wines go into thick, heavy Champagne bottles with deep punts designed to withstand the gas pressure inside.
Bottle Shock
A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile, older wines) are shaken in travel; a few days of rest is the cure.
Bottle Sickness
A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile, older wines) are shaken in travel. A few days of rest is the cure.
Bottled By
Means the wine could have been purchased ready-made and simply bottled by the brand owner, or made under contract by another winery. When the label reads «produced and bottled by» or «made and bottled by» it means the winery produced the wine from start to finish.
Bottling
Putting wine into bottle is an automated process. The bottle is washed, dried and then filled with wine. Before the cork is inserted, a puff of inert gas displaces any oxygen remaining in the bottle to prevent spoilage.
Bouquet
The sum of a wine’s aromas; how a wine smells as a whole; a key determinant of quality.
Box wine
Wine sold in a cardboard box, as an alternative packaging to glass bottles. More accurately referred to as bag-in-box wines, the wine is packaged in a plastic bladder fitted with a spout and contained by a cardboard box. Another category of box wines is packaged in aseptic foil-and-paper containers called Tetra Paks.
Brawny
A big, masculine and often muscular styled wine. This is the same as beefy.
Breathe
The process of letting a wine open up via the introduction of air
Brettanomyce (Brett)
A wine-spoiling yeast that produces barnyard, mousy, metallic, or bandaid-ish aromas.
Briary
Describes young wines with an earthy or stemmy wild berry character.
Bricking
When red wines mature or age, they lighten in color and move from purple, to dark red, to ruby and finally to the color of brick. This is the same term as browning.
Bright
A term used for acidic red fruits.
Brilliant
A tasting note for wines that appear sparkling clear.
Brix
A scale used to measure the level of sugar in unfermented grapes. Multiplying brix by 0.55 will yield a wine’s future alcohol level.
Broker
In Bordeaux, a broker is the same as a Courtier, which is a person acting as the intermediary between chateau and the negociants. Outside of Bordeaux, brokers act as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of wine.
Brooding
Wines that are brooding offer dark colors with intense concentration of flavor.
Browning
When red wines mature, they lighten in color and move from purple, dark red, to orange and then finally brown. This is the same term as bricking.
Bud burst
Term for when the vines begin to produce their first new shoots for the growing season. This takes place in the spring. This is the same term as bud break.
Buttery
Usually used for Chardonnay that has a butter, or buttered popcorn character. Butter characteristics are found in richer styles of Chardonnay that were often aged in barrel and have finished malolactic fermentation.
Brut
A general term used to designate a relatively dry-finished Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Brut Nature
The driest Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Brut Zero
See Brut Nature.
Budbreak
Refers to the start of the new growing season, when tender green buds emerge in early spring’s warm temperatures; typically March in the Northern Hemisphere and September in the Southern Hemisphere. The vines are especially vulnerable to frost at this stage.
Bung
The plug used to seal a wine barrel.
Bung hole
The opening in a cask in which wine can be put in or taken out.
Burnt
Describes wines that have an overdone, smoky, toasty or singed edge. Also used to describe overripe grapes.
Buttery
Indicates the smell of melted butter or toasty oak. Also a reference to texture, as in «a rich, buttery Chardonnay.»
By-the-Glass
Refers to the section of a restaurant’s wine list that offers wines by the glass as opposed to by the bottle. Convenient for small parties and/or moderate drinking, these selections tend to have higher mark-ups.