Glossary of Common Wine Industry Terminology & Definitions

Whether you’re a seasoned sommelier or a curious novice, this glossary of 100 wine industry terms is your golden ticket to sounding like a true vino virtuoso at your next dinner or trivia party. From the mysterious art of “Bâtonnage” (hint: it’s not a new dance craze) to the all-important “Terroir” (fancy talk for dirt and climate), this list will help you navigate the complexities of wine with ease—and maybe even impress your friends with a bit of newfound knowledge of a common, or not-so-common, wine industry phrase or term. So grab a glass, and let’s dive in!

• Acetaldehyde: A chemical compound in wine formed by the oxidation of ethanol, often contributing to a nutty or bruised apple aroma.
• Acetic Acid: A byproduct of fermentation that can lead to volatile acidity; in small amounts, it adds complexity, but in excess, it can spoil wine.
• Acidity: The sharp, crisp taste that balances the sweetness of the wine. It comes from natural acids in the grapes.
• Aeration: The process of exposing wine to air to enhance its flavor and aroma.
• Aging: The process of maturing wine in barrels or bottles, which can improve its flavor and complexity.
• Amelioration: The process of adding water or sugar to grape must to adjust acidity or sweetness before fermentation.
• Amphora: A clay vessel used for fermenting and aging wine, often associated with ancient winemaking traditions.
• Anthocyanins: Pigments found in grape skins that give red wine its color.
• Appellation: A legally defined and protected geographical area used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown.
• Assemblage: The process of blending different wines to create a final product, commonly used in regions like Bordeaux.
• Astringency: The dry, puckering mouthfeel caused by tannins in wine.
• Autolysis: The breakdown of dead yeast cells in wine, particularly in sparkling wines, which adds richness and complexity.
• Balance: The harmony between a wine’s components, such as acidity, tannins, alcohol, and sweetness.
• Barrel Aging: The process of aging wine in oak barrels, which can impart flavors like vanilla, toast, and spice.
• Bâtonnage: The stirring of lees during wine aging to enhance texture and flavor.
• Bentonite: A type of clay used as a fining agent to clarify wine by removing proteins and other particles.
• Biodynamic Viticulture: A holistic farming approach that treats vineyards as a self-sustaining ecosystem, often incorporating lunar cycles and natural preparations.
• Blending: The process of combining different lots of wine to create a desired final product, often used to achieve consistency or complexity.
• Botrytis Cinerea: A beneficial fungus also known as “noble rot” that concentrates sugars in grapes, used in making sweet wines like Sauternes.
• Brettanomyces (Brett): A type of yeast that can contribute earthy, barnyard, or medicinal aromas to wine, sometimes considered a fault.
• Brix: A measurement of the sugar content in grapes or juice, indicating potential alcohol levels in the wine.
• Brut: A term used to describe a dry style of sparkling wine with little to no residual sugar.
• Cap: The layer of grape skins and solids that forms on top of the must during fermentation, often punched down or pumped over to extract color and flavor.
• Carbonic Maceration: A winemaking technique where whole grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide-rich environment, often producing fruity, low-tannin wines.
• Capsule: The foil or plastic cover over the top of a wine bottle, protecting the cork and providing a decorative element.
• Cépage: The grape variety or varieties used in a wine.
• Chaptalization: The addition of sugar to grape must before or during fermentation to increase alcohol content, often used in cooler climates.
• Clarification: The process of removing solids from wine, making it clear and bright.
• Clone: A vine propagated from a single parent vine, chosen for its desirable characteristics.
• Cold Stabilization: A winemaking process that reduces tartaric acid by chilling the wine, preventing tartrate crystals from forming in the bottle.
• Colheita: A Portuguese term referring to a vintage-dated tawny port.
• Cooperage: The craft of making barrels, casks, and other wooden vessels for aging wine.
• Cork Taint: A musty odor in wine caused by a chemical compound (TCA) present in contaminated corks.
• Corkage: A fee charged by a restaurant for serving wine that a customer has brought from outside.
• Crémant: A type of sparkling wine made in France outside the Champagne region, using the traditional method.
• Crush: The process of breaking grape skins to release the juice, typically the first step in winemaking.
• Cru: A French term meaning “growth,” used to classify vineyards or wine regions of recognized quality.
• Cuvée: A blend of wines, often from different grape varieties, vineyards, or vintages.
• Decanting: The process of pouring wine from its bottle into another container to separate it from sediment and aerate it.
• Dégorgement: The process of removing sediment from a bottle of sparkling wine after secondary fermentation, often followed by adding dosage.
• Demi-Sec: A term for a slightly sweet style of sparkling wine.
• Dosage: A mixture of wine and sugar added to sparkling wine after dégorgement to adjust sweetness levels.
• Dolium: An ancient Roman term for a large ceramic vessel used to store and ferment wine.
• Dry: A wine with little to no residual sugar, often perceived as lacking sweetness.
• Élevage: The process of maturing and refining wine from fermentation to bottling, including techniques like aging, racking, and blending.
• En Primeur: The practice of buying wine before it is bottled, often used in Bordeaux for investment purposes.
• Estate Bottled: A term indicating that a wine was produced and bottled on the same estate where the grapes were grown.
• Extraction: The process of drawing out color, flavor, and tannin from grape skins during fermentation.
• Fermentation: The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, transforming grape juice into wine.
• Fining: A winemaking process that clarifies and stabilizes wine by removing unwanted particles.
• Filtration: A process that removes particulates from wine, making it clear and stable.
• Field Blend: A wine made from multiple grape varieties that are harvested, fermented, and vinified together.
• Filtration: The process of removing particulates from wine, making it clear and stable.
• Fortified Wine: A wine to which distilled spirits (usually brandy) have been added, increasing its alcohol content.
• Foxy: A term used to describe the distinctive, often musky aroma of wines made from certain North American grape varieties like Concord.
• Free-Run Juice: The juice that flows freely from grapes without pressing, often considered the highest quality for winemaking.
• Grafting: The process of joining two plants together, often used in viticulture to combine a grapevine’s rootstock with a desired grape variety.
• Green Harvest: The practice of thinning grape clusters before they ripen to improve the quality and concentration of the remaining grapes.
• Ice Wine: A sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine, concentrating their sugars and flavors.
• Jeroboam: A large wine bottle holding the equivalent of four standard bottles, often used for Champagne.
• Kabinett: A classification of German wine indicating a light, usually off-dry wine made from fully ripened grapes.
• Kosher Wine: Wine made according to Jewish dietary laws, overseen by a rabbi, and often produced with no animal-based fining agents.
• Lactic Acid: The acid produced during malolactic fermentation, contributing a creamy texture and reducing overall acidity.
• Late Harvest: Wines made from grapes harvested later in the season, often sweeter due to higher sugar levels.
• Lees: The dead yeast cells and other sediment that settle at the bottom of the fermentation vessel, often stirred back into the wine (lees stirring) to add complexity.
• Lees Stirring: The practice of stirring the lees during aging to enhance mouthfeel and flavor complexity in the wine.
• Legs: The streaks of wine that form on the inside of a glass after swirling, often used as an indicator of alcohol content.
• Malolactic Fermentation (MLF): A secondary fermentation that converts malic acid into softer lactic acid, reducing acidity and adding complexity.
• Maceration: The process of soaking grape skins, seeds, and stems in juice to extract color, flavor, and tannins.
• Méthode Champenoise: The traditional method of producing sparkling wine, where secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle.
• Micro-oxygenation: A technique that introduces small amounts of oxygen to wine during aging to soften tannins and enhance complexity.
• Microclimate: The specific climate conditions of a small area within a vineyard, which can influence the characteristics of the grapes.
• Monopole: A vineyard or wine appellation owned entirely by one producer, a rarity in regions like Burgundy.
• Must: The freshly crushed grape juice, including skins, seeds, and stems, that will be fermented into wine.
• Must Weight: The measure of sugar concentration in grape must, often used to predict potential alcohol content.
• Noble Rot: A beneficial form of Botrytis cinerea that causes grapes to shrivel and concentrate their sugars, used to produce certain sweet wines.
• Orange Wine: A type of wine made from white grapes that are fermented with their skins, resulting in an amber or orange hue and a tannic structure.
• Oxidation: The exposure of wine to oxygen, which can lead to spoilage if excessive, but can add complexity in controlled amounts.
• Phylloxera: A tiny aphid-like insect that feeds on grapevine roots and can devastate vineyards.
• Pigeage: The French term for “punching down” the cap during fermentation to extract more color, flavor, and tannin.
• Pétillant Naturel (Pét-Nat): A naturally sparkling wine made by bottling wine before primary fermentation is complete, resulting in a lightly effervescent wine.
• Pip: The seed of a grape, which can contribute bitterness if crushed during winemaking.
• Porte-greffe: The French term for rootstock, the part of the vine that supports the grafted scion.
• Press: A machine or method used to extract juice or wine from grapes after crushing.
• Punt: The indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle, originally used for structural integrity and now a design feature.
• Pyrazines: Compounds in certain grape varieties that can impart green, vegetal aromas, such as bell pepper in Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Qvevri: A traditional Georgian clay vessel buried underground used for fermenting and aging wine.
• Racking: The process of transferring wine from one container to another to clarify it by leaving sediment behind.
• Residual Sugar: The natural grape sugar left in wine after fermentation, contributing to sweetness.
• Sparkling Wine: Wine that contains carbon dioxide bubbles, either naturally produced through fermentation or added artificially.
• Sur Lie: A French term meaning “on the lees,” indicating that the wine has been aged on its sediment, adding complexity.
• Tannins: Compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems that give wine its structure, mouthfeel, and aging potential.
• Terroir: The combination of soil, climate, and other environmental factors that influence the characteristics of a wine.
• Titratable Acidity (TA): A measure of the total acidity in wine, important for determining its balance and aging potential.
• Ullage: The space between the wine and the top of the bottle or barrel, allowing for air exposure.
• Véraison: The stage in grape ripening when grapes change color and begin to soften and accumulate sugars.
• Vinification: The process of converting grapes into wine, encompassing all stages from fermentation to aging.
• Volatile Acidity (VA): The presence of acetic acid in wine, which in small amounts can add complexity, but in excess can spoil the wine.
• Yeast: Microorganisms that convert sugar into alcohol during fermentation, essential for winemaking.
• Yield: The quantity of grapes or wine produced per unit of vineyard area, often measured in tons per acre or hectoliters per hectare.

That should do it! We always encourage educating yourself whenever possible, so feel free to send over any corrections or changes that need to be made here so we can all continue to learn and thrive! Cheers!