CARTOON BY THERESA (T) MCCRACKEN
What do legs, barnyard, body, wet dog, dry and bouquet all have in common? They can all be found in a dictionary … and are also used to describe wine.
Learn some of the wine lingo now so you don’t have to nod in clueless agreement at your next wine tasting.
wINE lINGO
aroma
Specific scents you can pick up after sniffing a glass of wine, such as peach, cherry, or blackberry. The aroma depends heavily on the grapes used.
DRY
Not sweet, sometimes on champagne and sparkling wine bottles you will see the word “brut” – it means the same thing.
VINTAGE
The year the grapes were harvested. As in “2006 was a great vintage.”
TANNINS
Astringency. If you have ever steeped tea too long you know what tannins are.
balance
The overall unity of the flavors.
acidity
Tartness. Think lemon, lime, grapefruit, blueberries and cranberries.
barnyard
A wine that smells like farmyard animals.
earthy
A wine that has a distinct dirt like taste.
appelation
A geographic region where grapes are grown.
body
The fullness, density or weight of a wine in your mouth.
bouquet
The overall smell of the wine, usually reserved for older wines that have been aged in oak barrels.
legs
The streaks that a wine leaves after swirling it around in your glass. Lighter-bodied wines will have thinner legs that dissipate quickly, while full-bodied wines cling to the inside of the glass.
wet dog
An aroma is commonly associated with wine that is corked (aka TCA taint).
terroir
Is how a particular region’s climate, soils and aspect (terrain) affect the taste of wine. Some regions are said to have more ‘terroir’ than others.