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Wine glossary
D
DAC
See Districtus Austriae Controllatus.
Decadent
Decadence in a wine is a good thing. They are rich, sexy, opulent wines with mouth coating textures.
Decant
The process of transferring wine from a bottle to another holding vessel. The purpose is generally to aerate a young wine or to separate an older wine from any sediment.
Degorgement
See Disgorgment.
Degree Days
A method of classifying the climate based on the number of days the temperature is within a range that vines can grow. In California, climates are rated from coolest (Region I) to the warmest (Region V). This classification can help winemakers determine where to plant which variety.
Delestage
French term for racking and returning a wine back to the tank. Wine is pumped out of the fermenting tank and back over the cap to facilitate extraction of color and flavor.
Delicate
Light wines are delicate. This is not a quality to seek in Bordeaux. It is better suited for some white wines and Pinot Noir.
Demeter
A non-profit organization that promotes and certifies biodynamic farming.
Demi-Muid
A French term for 600-liter capacity oak barrels, typically used in the Rhône Valley.
Demi-sec
French term meaning “half-dry” used to describe a sweet sparkling wine.
Demijohn
See Carboy.
Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.)
One of Spain’s regulatory classification systems, created in the early 1990s, and the highest given to a wine region. Rioja and Priorat are the only two Spanish wine regions to have earned the D.O.Ca.
Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C.)
Italian for a controlled wine region; similar to the French AOC or Spanish DO.
Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (D.O.C.G.)
The Italian system for defining wine regions and wine names. D.O.C.G. wines are submitted to tougher requirements than those labeled D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), including tasting approval.
Dense
Dense wines are filled with high levels of raw material giving the wine concentration. This is positive.
Depth
Wines with depth has layers of flavor and concentration making the wine feel deep. This is a good quality.
Dessert Wine
Created for tax purposes, dessert wines are wines high in alcohol ranging from 14% to 24% alcohol. Many riper syles of California Cabernet Sauvignon and classified as dessert wine, due to their high alcohol levels.
Destemming
Not used in every region, destemming is the removal of the grapes from the stems.
Desuckering
The process of removing shoots that are not fruit bearing.
Deutscher Tafelwein
A wine classification within Germany’s lowest level of wines, Tafelwein; indicates that the grapes were grown in Germany.
Devatting
Also known as délestage, the oxidative winemaking process in which, after the cap of grape musts, skins, seeds and stems forms on the top of a vat of fermenting wine, the wine is drained through a valve at the base of the tank into another vat and reserved while the remaining solids are allowed to drain for a few hours. The reserved wine is then pumped back into the original tank over the top of the drained skins, seeds and stems. Like punch downs and pump overs, the purpose of devatting is to increase the extraction of color, flavor, tannins and aromas from the solids, as well as aerate the fermenting wine.
Developing
Refers to a wine that is starting to show signs of age in flavor, aroma or color.
Diacetyl
An organic compound found in wine that tastes like butter. Diacetyl comes from oak aging and malolactic fermentation.
Dirty
Covers any and all foul, rank, off-putting smells that can occur in a wine, including those caused by bad barrels or corks. A sign of poor winemaking.
Disgorgement (Disgorge)
When making sparkling wine, this technique is used to remove frozen sediment remaining in the bottle after the second fermentation. Through the riddling process, the sediment settles in the bottle neck and the neck is then dipped into a brine solution and frozen. Working quickly, the bottle is turned upright and the crown cap removed. The plug of frozen sediment is ejected by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. Also known as Dégorgement.
Disjointed
Describes wine with components that are not well-knit, harmonious or balanced. The timing of the components may be off; upon tasting, a disjointed wine might first reveal big fruit, followed by a blast of screeching acidity and finishing off with a dose of tannins.
Districtus Austriae Controllatus
The Austrian system of appellations, established in the early 2000s and modeled after France’s Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée. To carry an appellation in this system, a wine must follow rules describing the area the grapes are grown in, the varieties used, the ripeness, the alcoholic strength, the vineyard yields and the methods used in growing the grapes and making the wine.
Diurnal Temperature Shifts
The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, which can affect the speed of ripening and grape quality. Shifts can be considerable; parts of Napa Valley regularly experience a 40-degree difference.
Dolce
Italian wine term to describe a rich, sweet wine.
Domaine
French term for an estate. This is used most in The Rhone Valley and Burgundy.
Dosage
A sweetened spirit added at the very end to Champagne and other traditionally made sparkling wines. It determines whether a wine is brut, extra dry, dry, or semisweet.
Double Blind
When wines are double tasted double blind, no information of any type is given to the tasters.
Double Decanting
Double decanting is the act of pouring wine from the bottle into a decanter. Washing the bottle out with clean water to remove any sediment and then pouring the wine back into the original bottle. This adds twice as much into a wine, than ordinary decanting.
Double Magnum
A 3l wine bottle. Equal to 4 standard bottles.
Douro
A river in Portugal as well as the wine region famous for producing Port wines.
Doux
French word for sweet. A sweet wine.
Drip Irrigation
An irrigation process associated with grapegrowing. Hoses with individual spouts for each vine deliver precise amounts of water, drop by drop. This saves water and allows grapegrowers to carefully control the water vines receive in dry areas.
Dry
A wine containing no more than 0.2 percent unfermented sugar.
Dry Farming
Agricultural technique that prohibits irrigation; it is mandatory in some wine regions—and in most of Europe—and strongly encouraged in other drought-susceptible areas, such as California’s Paso Robles, Sierra Foothills and Santa Barbara County.
Drying Out
When a wine is drying out, it is over the hill and losing its fruit.
Dumb
Wines that are dumb have little to offer. They are closed.