USING YOUR WINE WORDS WISELY Fruity: a pleasant fragrance from ripe grapes made into wine; a berry-like quality akin to fruits in general. Full: see big, a full-bodied wine. Grapey: similar to fresh, also applied to wines which smell and taste like fresh-picked grapes, such as Asti or Lambrusco. Grassy: Sauvignon blanc-based wines remind many tasters of grass. Green: usually said of younger, raw, acidic white or red wine; a rough aspect that usually softens with age; also the appearance of a more acidic than average wine will be green-tinged. Green bell peppers: Cabernets (franc and Sauvignon), Sauvignon blancs, Merlots and other varieties are said to produce a green bell pepper character, especially when the grapes are grown in cooler climates or under dense foliage conditions. Green olives: I have had very few wines that smelled of green olives, but those few have been Cabernets. Hard: akin to green, but indicative more of a high tannin level. Harsh: A hard or green wine will generally soften with age; a harsh wine, because of its excessive astringency, probably will not. 1957 Château Latour comes to mind. Herbaceous: smelling or tasting of soil-covered herbs; sometimes used to describe Merlots. Hot: a wine that reminds you more of alcohol than anything else is considered hot. Hydrogen sulfide: the smell of rotten eggs or like substances often found in wines; may dissipate with aeration. Kraut: perceived in many wines from the Merlot variety. Late Harvest: a term seen on wine labels to indicate that the grapes for the wine were left on the vine to ripen, often raisin, for longer than normal. Usually a so-labeled wine will be higher than average in residual sugar and/or alcohol. Legs: a wine’s body or viscosity can be determined, often, by the way rivulets (or sheets, or “tears”) of wine descend the inner glass after swirling. It has to deal with the surface tension and other technical stuff; but a look at the legs will give you tips on the wine’s nature: in a dry wine, slow falling legs indicate a full-bodied-wine; quick-falling indicate a light wine. Light: not a pejorative term: somewhat akin to feminine and the opposite of big or full. Luscious: a rich wine, high in sugar and, often, in glycerine, is sometimes referred to as luscious. Sauternes, Portos and some sweet white wines affected by Botrytis cinerea fill the bill. Matchstick: burnt matchstick odor is that derived from an excess of sulfur dioxide which is added to a wine; with time it will usually dissipate. Many contend that the flavor of wooden matchsticks is a tell-tale signal that a wine contains Pinot noir. Mellow: a soft, smooth, often sweet-edged wine a “jug red” and a well-aged Cabernet-Sauvignon or Zinfandel may all be mellow. Mint: a term often used to express the flavors of wood aging-specifically French oak aging—or specific vineyard characteristics--in red wines (try Heitz “Martha’s Vineyard”). Mushrooms: older (more than twenty years) red Bordeaux and a few Cabernets and Zinfandels from California, some times smell of fresh-picked, dirt-laden mushrooms. Musty: somewhat similar to bottle stink, but not so definite, it is often indicative of poor wood aging or faulty handling, and seldom dissipates. Numb: akin to dumb but without connoting that the wine has promise or future; an overly chilled wine will be numb or odor-less. See dumb. Oaky: term used to describe the flavor of wines that have been aged in small, usually newish wood barrels. Orange juice, spoiled: some wines that have undergone an improper Malolactic fermentation will smell similar to o.j. (from concentrate) that has been kept in the fridge too long. Oxidized: all wines are oxidized to a degree because of the presence of oxygen in or near them. A high degree of oxidation is not desirable in most table wines, while in fortified wines, especially Sherries, a greater oxidation is attained and desired. A table wine smelling more like a Sherry and tasting generally lifeless is said to be more or less oxidized. Peaches: sometimes sensed in sweet, late-picked wines affected by Botrytis, or in many Muscat-flavored wines. Peppermint: sometimes sensed in 100 percent, well-made Pinot noirs. Plums: sometimes found in Late Harvest wines of higher than average sugar-at-picking or alcohol contents; also noticed in some Zinfandels, Petite Sirahs, Cabernet-Sauvignons, and older Port(o)s. Prickly: a taste sensation derived from small amounts of residual carbon dioxide in wines. Often a prickly character can be noticed in white wines fermented cold (the lowering of the temperature tends to integrate more carbon dioxide than usual); its appreciation is relative to the individual taster. Prunes: sometimes sensed in old Portos and in American Ports of some interest. Raisiny: the flavor one senses in wines made from grapes that have more or less dried (shriveled and/or raisined) on the vine; often encountered in hot-climate wines. Raspberries: sensed in many red wines including Zinfandels, Petit Slrahs, and Gamays. Restrained: see dumb Robust: see big Rotten eggs: the odor emitted by a wine rich in hydrogen sulfide; it may dissipate with aeration, but most often not in time for you to enjoy the wine. Salty: often this term applies to the general mineral content of wines. Wines from many countries of the Southern Hemisphere, including Chile, Argentina, and Australia, seem to have a slightly salty/minerally taste. This taste may also be noticed in the Sherries from Manzanilla, Spain. Shoe Polish/Paste: this smell usually indicates the presence, more or less, of a fungus called brettanomyces (“bret”). This manifestation usually shows itself most distinctly in red Bordeaux or some California Cabernets. See also tomatoes. Soft: see mellow. Sour: see acidic. Spicy: many wines will display distinct or nebulous (“what is that flavor?”) spicy flavors such as dill, basil, or the like. Often, any tangy character in a wine, such as that in a fairly dry Gewürztraminers, will be described as spicy. Stemmy: a term applying either to wines actually having been fermented in contact with their stems, or to wines which, owing to an unusually brutal crushing or pressing, contain an excess of the bitter tannins of the stems. Sweet: a basic taste sensation dependent mainly upon grape sugars, but also one resulting from alcohol, new oak and to a degree glycerin,. A sweet, as opposed to a dry wine is one which retains some sugar after fermentation has ended. Tannin: a natural constituent of wines, especially reds. It is a bitter-tasting material which is partially responsible for preserving wines during their sometimes long aging periods. Bite a grape seed to experience the flavor of tannin or have a cup of tea, neat. Teinturier: generic name for any grape whose natural juice is red-colored or pink-colored, (as opposed to most varieties whose juice is colorless). In Spanish, tintorera. Thin: lacking in body or alcohol; a watery wine. Tomatoes (stewed, canned): not necessarily a sought-after taste or odor (although to the converted it is wonderful in small doses, especially in Pinot noirs), it generally arises from the yeast called brettanomyces (dekkera). Ullage: the distance between the cork and the wine as the bottle stands upright. A large ullage in an older wine is normal; a similar level in a younger wine might mean trouble. Source: www.wineschool.com/vocabulary.html
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