A Primer of Common Wine Terms

By Tom Black

Attack – The first impression the wine makes as it enters your mouth. Usually the fruit is represented in the attack since our sweet taste buds are on the front of our tongues.

Balanced – This is wine which has no characteristic stronger than the others. It is a balance of fruit, acid and tannin.

Complex – A wine with a number of flavors and qualities (all good). It’s the opposite of “one dimensional.”

Finish – The last impression the wine makes as it leaves your mouth when it’s swallowed. Usually, the longer the finish the better the wine. The opposite of a long finish would be an “aftertaste” which is the flavor that remains in the back of the throat and nasal passages after the wine has been drunk. Usually this is the sign of a wine in poor condition.

Nose – The aroma of the wine – the way it smells.

Palate – The way the wine feels in your mouth or the weight of the wine in your mouth.

Weight – The texture and heft of a wine. Wines can be thick or thin, heavy or light.

Light-bodied – For red wines, this means not much tannin. Lots of wine under $15/bottle is light-bodied. Beaujolais Nouveau wine is light-bodied. Full-bodied red wine is the opposite. Most high-priced California cabernet sauvignons are full-bodied. Light bodied white wine means a lack of acidity. Again, inexpensive white wines are usually light-bodied. Most Grand Cru white burgundies have good acidity and are full-bodied.

Good acidity – On the nose, good acidity is usually reflected by strong fruit scents – especially citrus, crisp apple and ripe pineapple. On the palate, mouthwatering – it is like biting a lemon. Acidity is reflected on the sides of your tongue. Lack of acidity gives wine a flabby characteristic and a watery finish. If the wine seems to lack vitality, it’s usually a lack of acidity.

Baked – When there is a very hot growing season with very little rainfall, the grapes may get burned. This makes the wine smell and taste earthy and “hot.” This is most often seen where wine is grown in hot climates.

Bitter – Obviously a taste detected in the mouth. Its causes are legion. However, it makes a wine undrinkable.

Coarse – A term used to describe a rough or “coarse” wine. It shows a lack of sophistication and breeding – usually a characteristic of poor or indifferent winemaking. Many great young wines seem coarse. They are not – they are immature. Immature wines are not coarse, they are young and need development much like a child versus a hopelessly coarse 60-year-old adult.

Corked – An often overused descriptor. It is caused by the bacteria, TCA. It has a very distinct wet cardboard smell and will only get worse as the bacterium multiplies during contact with air. If there’s any doubt whether or not a wine is corked, let it sit. If the smell gets worse, it’s corked.

Maderized – A heavy, flat smell marked by the lack of fresh fruit and metal elements. It’s caused by age or exposure to oxygen and is usually associated with “oxidized” which is an over exposure to oxygen. In red wine, it’s a burned metal smell. In white wine, usually the color has become deeper yellow and the nose is metallic.

Spritz or Spritzy – This is a flaw in non-sparkling wine. It is caused by refermentation starting once the wine is bottled. CO2 is released in fermentation and the wine, once bottled, can’t let that gas escape. You can recognize it by a slight prickle on the tongue.

There are plenty of other terms you can learn and hear but these will let you enjoy wine speak with a wine geek. Above all, remember – the only person whose opinion matters when it comes to wine is you.

Tom Black, an avid wine collector, oenophile and Phelps fan, is based in Nashville, TN.