It Starts With A Grape

Some of you may have found yourselves reading one of our reviews only to come across a word and ask yourself; “What on earth are Legs, I had no idea wine could walk!”. Well, don’t worry about it, even the most experienced wine critic will eventually come across a word they have never heard before. That’s part of the beauty of wine, its constantly evolving, and there’s always more to learn. There are however a few frequently used set of word to describe wine. To help you out, here’s the list, and what they mean (In alphabetical order):

*If there are any other ’sticky’ words you have come across on our site, or elsewhere in the wine world, let us know, We’ll gladly fill you in!

Acidic: A tart or sour taste, sometimes perceived as a ’sharp edge’.

Aroma: The all around smell.

Astringent: Leaves a rough, or puckery feeling in your mouth. To much astringency can make for an unpleasant feeling or taste.

Balance: When all of the components of a wine work together harmoniously.

Bite: A notably high level of acidity, or tannin.

Body: The weight of feeling of fullness a wine has in your mouth. Wines can be: light, medium, heavy bodied, or anywhere in between. Ex: “The Merlot was on the lighter side of being heavy bodied”, meaning its still heavy, just not super heavy. Or, “It had a huge body”, usually referring to being really heavy in body, this is also sometimes described as ‘full-bodied’.

Bouquet: Another word to describe the smell of a wine, but usually for deeper, more complex aromas.

Buttery: The smell, perception through taste, or texture of melted butter, usually found in Chardonnays.

Chewy: When a wine is rich, full-bodied, heavy, and usually fairly complex.

Clean: Displaying crisp, fresh flavors, usually light bodied.

Components: All of the different ‘pieces’ of the wine. Ex: The taste, smell, body, tannin, depth etc…

Corked: A musty, or moldy taste or smell.

Depth: Having multiple layering of flavors and aromas, or lack there of.

Earthy: It can be a good or bad, taste or smell of freshly turned dirt (Think gardening), forest floor (think walk in the back woods, or park, after a rain), or the smell of a barnyard, again, it can be good or bad, depending on the wine and how well it meshes with the other components.

Finish: The overall feeling, taste, and smell that lingers in your mouth or nose after you have finished a sip of wine. It could be a long flavorful finish, or a crisp, clean finish.

Flabby: Lacking in balance, acidity, and/or body.

Floral: Usually found it white wines, it can be the smell of a particular flower, or just flowers in general.

Fresh: Clean, lively, and usually fruity flavors and aromas.

Grassy: Think fresh cut grass. Usually found in Sauvignon Blanc.

Green: An unripened fruity or vegetative aroma or taste, it can be good or bad depending on the wine.

Harsh: Overly astringent, or acidic.

Herbaceous: The smell or taste of any type of herb, or herbs, in a wine, it may also be referred to as an herbal characteristic.

Hollow: Lacking in flavor, aroma, body, and/or finish.

Hot/Heat: The apparent feeling of alcohol. Is also perceived as a ‘burning’ feeling. (Think vodka)

Leafy: Used to describe the smell of leafy vegetables of plants, sometimes herbs.

Legs: After swirling your wine up the sides of your glass, you will notice little droplets trickling down, these are the legs. If the legs are skinny and fall quickly its usually an indication of a lighter, thinner wine. If they are thick and fall slowly, its usually an indication of a heavy bodied, or ‘bigger’ wine.

Length: The amount of time flavors or aromas linger on your palate (in your mouth and nose). Ex:’ The wine had a lengthy finish’, or ‘The finish was lacking in length’.

Lingering: A taste or aroma that hangs around after tasting a wine.

Meaty: See ‘Chewy’ (Think regular spaghetti sauce, compared to one with beef in it.)

Nose: What you smell initially, and what you “smell with your mouth” so to speak. You know when you have a cold and you can’t taste anything because your nose is plugged up, we taste with our nose. It’s Both those aspects combined. Also see: Aroma, and Bouquet

Oaky: A woody smell, of almost any kind. The wine picks this up from being aged in oak barrels, or with oak chips. You can taste or smell toastiness, vanilla, dill, cedar, burnt wood, smokiness, charred, lumber, etc..and they all fall under oaky.

Puckery: A strong acidic or tannic taste or feel in your mouth.

Round: A smooth, velvety, or silky texture in your mouth.

Soft: When a wine displays low levels of tannins and acidity, it is soft, and usually ‘easy-drinking’.

Spicy: Any sort of spice that you smell or taste in a wine.

Structure: How well all of the components of a wine fit/work together. Ex: A wine can be firm in structure, or lacking in structure.

Subtle: Any delicate or understated aromas or tastes. Ex: The wine was definitely fruit forward, but also had subtle hints of oak. Nuances is another word used to describe a subtle hint of something, or a flutter. Ex: There were nuances of fresh peach, and just a flutter of cherry blossom.

Supple: A rich, thick, flavorful quality, or body, usually positive.

Tannin: When a wine makes your mouth pucker or it feels like the moisture has been sucked out of your mouth, that’s tannin. It comes from grape seeds, stems, and skin. Wines can also pick it up from being aged in oak barrels. Wines can have strong or weak tannins, or anywhere in-between for that matter. But all wines have some amount of tannin.

Tart: A sharp or sour taste, think green apples verses red delicious apples, or unripened cherries verses ripe black cherries. The latter of both examples are tart.

Thin: Lacking in body and/or substance.

Tight: Used to describe super concentrated, ultra structured wines.

Vegetative: Any smell or taste of any kind of vegetable or vegetative life form what-so-ever.