Fruit Character - Those characteristics of a wine that derive from the characteristics of the grape, such as aromas and flavors



Finish - The final impressions a wine gives after you have swallowed it or spat it out.

Zymology - The science of fermentation.

Vegetal - A wine that has aromas and flavors that suggest vegetables. Unless you really like asparagus or broccoli, not generally well looked upon.

Young - Wine that is not matured and usually bottled and sold within a year of its vintage.

Wood Tanin - Those tannins in a wine that are attributed to the wood barrels, usually oak, the wine is aged in versus the grape fermented.

Vigneron - French for vine grower.

Vertical and horizontal wine tasting - In a vertical tasting, different vintages of the same wine type from the same winery are tasted. In a horizontal tasting, the wines are all from the same vintage but are from different wineries.

Alcohol Level - As the name suggests, the level of alcohol in a wine. Whites range from 9 to 14 percent. Reds from 10 to 14. Beer is about 6 percent for a contrasting view.

Winemaker - A person engaged in the occupation of making wine.

Tasting flight - Refers to a selection of wines, usually between three and eight glasses, but sometimes as many as fifty, presented for the purpose of sampling and comparison.

Puncheon - A wine barrel that holds approximately 318 litres (160 U.S. gallons).

Varietal - Wines made from a single grape variety.

Wine cave - A large cave that is excavated to provide a cool location for storing and aging wine. Similar to wine cellar.

Templar Castello - Castle winery in Italy rumored to have been owned by a Templar Knight at some point. One does tastings and looks for secret messages and the Holy Grail. Rumored to be the basis of Dan Brown's idea for the Di Vinci Code.

Wine tasting - The sensory evaluation of wine, encompassing more than taste, but also mouthfeel, aroma, and colour.

Wine cellar - A cool, dark location in which wine is stored, often for the purpose of ageing.

Terroir - French for soil, the physical and geographical characteristics of a particular vineyard site that give the resultant wine its unique properties.

Sangria - A tart punch made from red wine along with orange, lemon and apricot juice with added sugar.

Vinho verde - An effervescent white wine produced in Portugal.