Wine Tasting Terms

Accessible, approachable Easy to drink, harmonious.

Acid, acidity (malic) The aroma of raw cooking apples; (tartaric) mouth- watering, refreshing,
sometimes detectable on the tongue, giving wine an essential bouquet, crispness, bite and finish.
'Volatile' acids on the nose, 'fixed' acids (tartaric and citric). Fruity acidity is the most desired.

Aftertaste Flavour remaining on the palate, throat and back nasal passages after a wine has been
swallowed. The longer, the better, Also called the finish, or the 'lingering farewell'.

Alcohol Rose-like smell, causing a burning sensation on the aftertaste. Also responsible for the
'weight' of the wine on the palate.

Aroma Fruity smell of the bouquet, or nose.

Astringent Dry, bitter, or sharp, mouth-puckering effect caused by a high tannin content. A critical
term usually used for relatively tannic white wines.

Austere Unyielding, sometimes harsh.

Backbone Firm, not flabby structure.

Balance Harmonious blend of alcohol, acid, tannin, fruit, acidity, sweetness, and wood, which
make up the harmonious whole.

Batonnage Stirring of Lees,

Bead Bubbles in sparkling wine. Fine, long-lasting bubbles are the most desirable.

Big Refers to the weight and body of the wine. A result of high alcohol, fruit, tannin, acidity and
extract.

Bitter, bitterness An unpleasant flavour detected on the palate, back of the tongue or finish.

Blackcurrants Aroma of the Cabernet-Sauvignon grape.

Blind tasting An attempt to identify and / or assess masked bottles without knowing their identity.

Body Weight of the wine in the mouth due to its alcoholic content, sugar or extract.

Bottle age Attractive development and maturity of the wine in the bottle. White wines: a creamy,
vanilla, honeyed bouquet. Dessert wines: a mellow, honeyed flavour. Red wines: a softness
through the integration of flavours.

Bottle shock Temporary oxidation after bottling, which wears off.

Botrytis A benevolent fungus, Botrytis cinerea, that grows on grapes in humid conditions,
shrivelling the skins and concentrating the flavour. Responsible for Noble Late Harvest, Pourriture
Noble in French, Edelfaule in German, Muffa in Italian. Responsible for Sauternes in France,
Selection de Grains Nobles in Alsace, German Trockenbeerenauslese and Italian Muffato.

Bouquet Attractive and characteristic smell of wine.

Buttery Rich, creamy smoothness.

Carbon dioxide Harmless gas given off during fermentation. Usually released into the air,
responsible for the bubbles in perle or spritzig wines.

Chaptalisation French term for the addition of sugar to grape must to raise the alcohol of a wine.
Not permitted in South Africa. Legal in only parts of France and Germany where they are not
usually permitted to make the acid adjustments allowed in South Africa.

Closed Not forthcoming, no strong aroma on the nose, often due to youth.

Cloying A sweet and heavy wine, which lacks acidity to make it crisp, balanced and interesting.

Cold stabilisation Winemaking technique to clean the wine and rid it of tartrates by maintaining -
4@C for about a week,

Complex/ity Beneficial adjective to describe a fine wine. layered with many flavours on the nose
and palate. Usually achieved with age,

Corked An 'off', mouldy or oxidised smell of wet hessian on the nose, with a dusty, dry rancid
almond taste on the palate.

Creamy Velvety buttery aroma and texture.

Dried out Old wine with faded fruit and flavour.

Dry Not sweet. Absent of residual, fermented-out sugar.

Earthy Aroma of soil, damp leaves, minerals or mushrooms,

Extract Soluble solids making up the wine's body and texture,

Fat Big, full.

Fermentation The conversion of sugar in grapes into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast cells.

Filtration Removal of impurities including yeast cells. If done excessively, can thin a wine.

Finesse Elegance,

Fining Ridding the wine of suspended particles by adding proteins.

Finish End-taste, aftertaste of a wine.

Flabby Wine lacking acid.

Flinty Gun-flint on the nose and taste.

Flowery Floral - rose, honeysuckle, jasmine.

Full / Full bodied Body and weight on the palate.

Fruity Attractive aroma, derived from good ripe grapes.

Gamey Overripe flavour.

Glycerol Colourless, sweet-tasting flavour that adds body to a wine.

Gravel/ly Minerally, earthy quality

Green Usually unripe, sour, or acidic.

Grip Firm texture on the palate created by tannin and acid.

Hard Texture due to too much tannin or acid.

Herbaceous Grassy hay-like, thatch.

Honey / honeyed Honey or beeswax taste or flavour found on mature wines. Characteristic aroma
of Noble Late Harvests.

Intensity Complexity depth of flavour.

Lean Thin in texture.

Lees / Leesy Created by dead yeast cells and other solid matter which collects at the bottom of the
container after fermentation. Lees stirring or batonnage involves mixing the bed of lees in a barrel
or tank through the wine, which is said to be sur lie. Lees contact or lees stirring imparts richness,
creamy yolk flavour to a wine. Referred to as leesy Used mainly on barrel- fermented white wines.
The main effects of mixing lees and wine are to prevent off-odours (mainly the rotten eggs smell of
hydrogen sulphide) developing from lack of oxygen, to limit the amount of wood tannin and flavour
extracted and to increase a creamy flavour and texture.

Legs or tears Droplets which slide down the sides of the glass after the wine is swirled, indicating
a rich wine. They have nothing to do with glycerol.

Length Long finish on aftertaste.

Light Low alcohol or lack of body

Maderised Wine smells / tastes oxidised and flat.

Malic acid Sharp, appley acid.

Malolactic Fermentation Abreviated to MLF. Conversion of harsh Malic acid to a softer Lactic
acid, and carbondioxide. Desirable in young wines with a high acidity as it softens the wine, adding
a normal and healthy process, especially in reds, provided it occurs before bottling.

Maturation Ageing process of the wine. A relatively full red wine with tannin and a fixed acid
content can develop complexity subtlety and smooth mellowness with age. Lighter wines with lower
tannins are drinkable sooner but may not reach the same level of complexity Chardonnays and
Rieslings, mature well over several years. Most whites best drunk in their fruity youth, up to 18
months.

Medium (body) Neither light nor heavy in alcohol, refers to the weight on the palate.

Medium-dry Wine containing some residual sugar.

Medium-sweet Considerable residual sugar.

Methode Champenoise Traditional French method of making Champagne, by adding yeast and
sugar to the bottle to encourage a second fermentation in the bottle. Cape sparkling wines made
accordingly are called Methode Cap Classique (MCC).

Middle palate The impression of a wine on the palate, between the entry and the finish.

Mousse Quality, size and effervescence of bubbles in sparkling wines.

Mouth feel Physical impact of a wine on the palate.

Must Pulpy mass at any stage between grape juice and wine.

Musty Bad smell, due to poor casks or a cork fault.

New World An assessment adjective. Refers to the upfront, fruit and flavour of wines from New
World Countries. Old World refers to wine styles which are more subtle and complex, and
obviously oaked.

Nose Bouquet.

Off-taste Unclean, tainted or diseased wine; not necessarily undrinkable.

Oxidation Change or deterioration due to exposure to air, in whites changes the colour to dark
yellow, altering the taste (called maderisation). Controlled aeration is done for the desirable
development of the wine.

pH A chemical evaluation. The pH of a wine is its effective, active acidity - not in volume but by
strength or degree. The reading provides a guide to a wine's keepability. The optimum pH is
between 3,1 and 3,4 - which significantly improves a wine's protection from bacterial spoilage,
allowing it to mature and develop if properly stored.

Palate Flavour, taste and texture in the mouth.

Porty Heavy, over-ripe, stewed flavour.

Powerful High level of alcohol or extract.

Residual sugar (RS) The amount of unfermented sugar left in a wine after fermentation.

Rich Fruit flavour, alcohol, extract and apparent sweetness.

Round Well balanced.

Soft Accessible, not much tannin and grip in the mouth.

Skin contact Amount of time grape skins remain with the wine to extract flavour.

Spicy Rich, herb-like aroma and flavour of the variety - Shiraz and Gewurztraminer.

Spritz/ig Slightly gassy.

Stewed Over-ripe.

Strong Powerful, alcoholic.

Structure Make up of a wine, refers to the acid, tannin, alcohol, balance.

Stylish Elegance, finesse.

Sugar Levels in the grapes, transformed into alcohol during fermentation.

Supple Soft, refined, elegant.

Sulphury Sulphur has a volcanic or match smell. Can be detected by a prickly sensation in the
nostrils and the back of the throat. Used as a preservative, an antiseptic in cleaning casks and
bottles. When over-used its undesirable odour is evident.

Sweet A high sugar content.

Tannin/ic Taste of tea that has drawn too long, giving a raw, harshness on the tip of the tongue,
and mouth-puckering dryness around the gums. No red wine matures into a great one without
tannin. Gives grip in youth and softens and mellows with age. In young reds look for tannin with
layers of underlying fruit. An essential grape preservative; (grape tannin) derived from grape skins,
seeds and stems during fermentation, or (wood tannin) from oak barrels.

Tart Sharp, tongue-curling acidity

Tartaric acid One of the good and essential acids in wine, giving a crisp palate and a necessary
preservative. Tartrates, harmless white crystals in white wine, dyed deep red in red wines.

Thin Watery, lacking body

Toasty Biscuity character.

Tropical Pawpaw, granadilla aromas.

Unbalanced Component parts on palate ill matched: over-tannic. over-acid, lacking fruit.

Unripe Two senses: (taste) raw; 'green' under-ripe taste, or (physical ripeness): grapes that are not
fully ripened.

Vanilla Creamy vanilla essence flavour.

Velvety Silky and smooth texture on the palate.

Vertical tasting Comparative tasting of the same wine from different vintages from the same
winery.

Vinegar The smell of ethylacetate, indicative of bacteriological infection. Usually undrinkable.

Volatile acidity Sharp, 'hot', vinegary smell. Undesirable and usually indicates acetic deterioration.
In South Africa, wines must legally be less than 1,2 g/l of VA; in practice, most are well below 1 g/l.

Watery Lacking fruit, extract, low in alcohol and acidity

Well-balanced Harmonious blend of fruit, acid, tannin, alcohol.

Wood Distinct and desirable smell of oak barrels.

Woody An undesirable taste imparted by wine kept too long in the barrel.

Yeasty Smell of yeast from fermentation. On sparkling wines, indication recent secondary
fermentation. Aroma of warm bread or brioche. Yeasts are micro-organisms which convert or
ferment sugar into alcohol. Naturally present in vineyards and on grapes but locally, wild yeasts are
usually killed by addition of sulphur, and cultured yeasts added.

Young, youthful Fresh acidity; immature.