Wine Terminology

Wine Terms

Some of the technical terms used in ratings, descriptions, and in every day dialogue between two wine lovers may be foreign to many of you. Here I will try to describe some of the more common terms that I use everyday. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions!

Breathing: This is when you allow air to interact with the wine after opening the bottle. Since it has been deprived of air for usually a year or more, when first opened a wine can have unpleasant characters which usually go away after a few minutes. This can simply be done by opening the bottle, but is more effective when pouring a glass and letting it sit or using a decanter.

Decanter: Can be any container that you pour wine in to separate juice from sediment in the bottle and to let it breathe.

Dry or Sweet: Most people confuse dryness with the chalky "drying" feeling in your mouth when drinking wine, which is caused by the Tannins. However, dryness is a measure of how much sugar is left in the wine after the fermentation process. This is why wines are classified as either Dry or Sweet. Obviously if there is a lot of sugar left in the wine, then it is considered a Sweet wine. If there is not a lot of sugar left in the wine, it is then considered dry.

Legs: When you swirl wine in a glass and then let it sit still, you will notice how the remnants of the wine of the high points of the glass drip down the sides of the glass in a tear like fashion. These are called a wines legs. It is an easy way compare the alcohol level between different glasses of wine. In general, the more "legs" a glass of wine has, the higher the alcohol percentage of the wine.

Length: When you take a sip of something, and after a few minutes go by you realize that you can still taste what you just drank. This is what is called the length, it refers to the length of time the wine stays present in your mouth. With cheaper wines you will notice that after you take a sip and swallow, the tastes and feeling of the wine soon disappear or "drop off". This is a big deal when it comes to expensive wines, if you spent a lot of money then you want to enjoy it for as long as possible!

I will be adding more terms as I think of them. If there is anything you want included or need clarification on, just leave a comment and I will be sure to include it!