A Wine’n’English tem como missão torná-lo um expert bilíngue em vinhos.
Além dos nossos conteúdos presenciais e online, desenvolvemos esse Wine Glossary para te ajudar nos primeiros passos,
quando quiser entender sobre algum termo relacionado ao mundo do vinho.
Como acontece em toda área de conhecimento, um tema pode acabar ficando muito técnico e difícil de entender. E com
isso, acabamos desistindo de seguir em frente.
Por isso estamos aqui e fizemos este e-book. Para te dar uma ajuda, de maneira fácil, rápida e prática, quando surgir
aquela dúvida sobre algumas das principais expressões relacionadas ao vinho.
Vamos lá?! Esperamos que esse e-book lhe auxilie na sua caminhada do conhecimento.
Cheers!
ABV: The abbreviation of alcohol by volume, listed as percentage on a
wine label (e.g., 13.5% ABV)
Acidity: A naturally occurring component of every wine. This
component makes a wine feel fresh, or give it lift. Too much acidity makes a
wine taste sour and feel sharp. Not enough acidity will make a wine feel
flabby.
Aeration: The process of introducing oxygen to wine (aka breathing).
This helps the wine to release its aromas. It also helps to round and soften
the wine and to reduce its alcohol perception. Decanting is one of the
methods used to allow sufficient air contact.
Aggressive: An aggressive wine is usually very high in acidity. The
term can also be used to describe wines with hard tannins.
Alcohol: The end product of fermentation; Aroma: Aroma is used to describe the scent of a
technically ethyl alcohol resulting from the interaction of wine; i.e. fruity, vegetal, spicy. Aroma compounds are
natural grape sugars and yeast; generally above 12.5 derived from grapes and fermentation and are
percent in dry table wines. volatilized by the evaporation of alcohol.
AOP: Appellation d’Origine Protegée, a French term Aroma wheel: A tool that helps individuals to
for Designation of Origin. See Appellation. Until a few categorize the aromas perceived when smelling or when
years ago, it was written AOC (Appellation d’Origine tasting wine. (See picture)
Controlée)
Assemblage: French term for the grape varieties
used to blend a wine.
Appellation: A legally defined geographical
location used to identify where (and how) grapes are
grown and made into wine.
Azienda Agricola: An Italian wine term for
an estate winery (a winery with vineyards).
Astringent: A drying mouthfeel typically caused
by tannins, which bind to salivary proteins, causing them
to depart the tongue/mouth. It results in a rough
sandpapery sensation in the mouth. Example: when
tasting wine, notice if you feel a dry-mouth sensation.
Aroma wheel
Bacchus: The Roman God of wine, known as Dionysus in ancient
Greece. Also, a hybrid white grape from Germany.
Balance: The level of harmony between acidity, tannins, fruit, oak,
and other elements in a wine; a perceived quality that is more individual
than scientific.
Balthazar: A 12-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 16 standard
bottles.
Barrel Fermented: A process by which wine (usually white) is
fermented in oak barrels rather than in stainless steel tanks; a richer,
creamier, oakier style of wine.
Biodynamic: Homeopathic manner of farming Blend: The process whereby two or more grape
that uses natural composts, or preparations, and times varieties are combined after separate fermentation. Wine
farming work with celestial cycles. It was popularized in made from more than one grape variety. Also referred to
the 1920s by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Assemblage, french term used for the same process.
Certified biodynamic wines contain very limited amount Opposite to Varietal.
of sulfites and do not necessarily taste differently than
non-biodynamic wines.
Bodega: Spanish word for winery or cellar.
Blanc de Blancs: The name for sparkling
wines made entirely from white grapes.
Body: The impression of weight on one's palate; light,
medium, and full are common body qualifiers.
Blanc de Noirs: The name for sparkling wines
made entirely from red grapes.
Bold: Red wine with dark color, high alcohol, with
concentration and intensity.
Bouquet: The sum of the aromas of the wine; how
a wine smells as a whole.
Breathe: The process of letting a wine open up via
the introduction of air. Normally a decanter is used in
this process.
Brut: A French term used to describe a dry sparkling
wine.
Brut Champagne
Carbonic Maceration: A winemaking method where
uncrushed grapes are placed in a sealed vat and topped with carbon
dioxide.
Wines created without oxygen have low tannin, light color with fruit flavors
and aromas. This practice is common with entry-level Beaujolais wines.
Cava: Spanish sparkling wine made in the traditional Champagne style
originally from Xarel-lo, Macabeo, and Parellada grapes. Today the use of
Chardonnay is permitted.
Champagne: A denominated region in the northeast of Paris in
which Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes are made into
sparkling wine. Only the sparkling wines coming from this region and made
in the traditional method can be named Champagne.
Château: French word for castle, often used to refer to a winery in
France.
Cheers: Expressing good wishes before drinking, as Corked: A wine with musty, mushroomy aromas and
we raise our glasses. flavors resulting from a cork tainted by TCA
(trichloroanisol). It is considered a fault.
Chianti: A scenic, hilly region of Tuscany known for
red wines made mostly from Sangiovese grapes. Corkscrew: Device for pulling corks from bottles.
It normally consists of a spiral metal rod that is inserted
into the cork, and a handle that extracts it, although
Clarification: A process after fermentation there are many different types of corkscrew.
where proteins and dead yeast cells are removed. Main
ways of induce clarification: fining, filtration,
centrifugation and refrigeration. Crianza: A Spanish term for a red wine that has
been aged in oak barrels for at least one year.
Color: Besides a wine style (white, rosé and red), color Cru: French term for growth or vineyard that is often
is a key determinant of a wine's age and quality. White
used for Classified wines, i.e. cru bourgeois, cru classe,
wines grow darker in color as they age, while red wines
premier cru, and grand cru.
turn brownish orange.
Decant: The process of transferring wine from a bottle to another
holding vessel in order to remove the solid particles (sediments) that may
be present in the wine bottle. Most people misuse the term to refer to
aeration (See aeration)
Denominación de Origen: Spanish for 'appellation of
origin;' like the French AOP or Italian DOC.
Dionysus: Or Dionysos is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking,
and wine in ancient Greek religion and myth. In Rome, known as Bacchus.
Disgorge: The process by which final sediments are removed from
traditionally made sparkling wines prior to the adding of the dosage and
the final cork.
DOC: Denominazione di Origine Controllata, Italian Doux: French word for sweet. A sweet wine.
for ‘appellation of origin’. Same as AOP in France.
Dry: Wines where most all the grape sugar has been
DOCG: Denominazione di Origine Controllata e fermented. In Brazil, a wine containing no more than 4g/l
Garantita is the highest designation of quality among of residual (unfermented) sugar.
Italian wines and stands for ‘guaranteed appellation of
origin’.
Douro region
Dosage: A sweetened spirit added at the very end
to Champagne and other traditionally made sparkling
wines. It determines whether a wine is extra brut, brut,
extra dry, dry, or sweet.
Double Magnum: A 3-liter wine bottle. It is
equivalent to 4 standard bottles.
Douro: A river in Portugal as well as the wine region
famous for producing Port wines.
Enology: The science of wine production; an enologist is a
professional winemaker
Enophile: Also spelled oenophile. A person who enjoys wine, who is a
wine enthusiast.
Enophobia: Also spelled oenophobia. The fear of wine.
Fermentation: The process by which yeasts interact with grape
juice converting sugar into alcohol.
Filtration: The process by which wine is clarified before bottling,
using a filter to remove large particles.
Fining: Part of the clarification process whereby fining agents are used
to remove unwanted solid material from the wine, i.e. egg whites, milk
casein or bentonite.
Finish: Finish can refer to the aftertaste, to how long the flavors last
until they fade, and also to the textural impact.
Flavors: The sensory impression of the taste of a wine,
through the combination of the two senses: taste and smell.
As with aromas, main flavors can be categorized as fruity,
floral, spicy, vegetal or oaky.
Flaws: Fault or defect in wine, generating unpleasant Fortified wines
characteristics often resulting from poor winemaking practices
or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage.
Fortified Wine: A wine in which grape brandy is
introduced during fermentation. Alcohol stops the
fermentation process, resulting in a sweet and fortified wine.
Frizzante: An Italian term for a lightly sparkling wine.
Wine before and after fining
Gran Reserva: A Spanish term used for wines that are aged in
wood and bottles for at least five years prior to release. Most used in Rioja
region.
Grand Cru: French for 'great growth;' the very best vineyards.
Grape varietal: See Varietal
Grapevine: A vine bearing grapes used for eating or winemaking
Hectoliter: A metric measure equal to 100 liters or 26.4 gallons.
Herbaceous: An aroma or flavor similar to green; often an
indication of underripe grapes or grapes grown in a cool climate.
Ice Wine: From the German Eiswein, this is low alcohol sweet wine
made from frozen grapes.
Imperial: A 6-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 8 standard bottles
(aka Methuselah).
Intensity: The concentration of color and aroma in a wine, which can
be described as low, medium or high.
Jeroboam: A 4.5-liter still wine bottle. It is equivalent to 6 standard
bottles
Kosher: A wine made according to strict Jewish rules under rabbinical
supervision.
Late Harvest: A term used to describe dessert wines made from
over ripen grapes left on the vines for an extra-long period. It results in a
naturally sweet and high acid wine.
Lees: Sediment from dead yeast left in wine after the fermentation.
Lees stirring or, as they say in French, "sur lie" can add a richer body and
creaminess to wine.
Maceration: Time during vinification when the grapes, seeds, skins
and pulp allow their materials to be extracted, adding color,
Flavor and tannins to the wine.
Madeira: A fortified wine that has been made on the Portuguese
Madeira island since the fifteenth century.
Magnum: A 1.5-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 2 standard bottles.
Malolactic Fermentation (MLF): Not technically a
fermentation but a bacteria called Oenococcus oeni that converts one type
of acid (malic acid) to another type of acid (lactic acid). MLF makes wine
taste smoother and creamier. Nearly all red wines and some white wines,
like Chardonnay, go through MLF.
Melchoir: An 18-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 24 standard
bottles (aka Solomon).
Methuselah: A 6 liter-wine bottle. It is equivalent to
8 standard bottles (aka Imperial).
Minerality: A non-scientific term used to describe
flavors that smell or taste like rocks or organic matter (soil).
Some of the descriptors are chalky, flinty or aroma of wet
cement.
Mouth-Feel: The textural sensation that takes place
in the mouth when drinking wine. Examples of mouth-feel
descriptors: smooth, velvet, soft, astringent, thick, flat, flabby
Must: Freshly pressed grape juice that still contains the
seeds, stems, and skins of a grape.
Standard vs Magnum bottles
Natural Wine: A generalized term used to describe wines that are
produced with sustainable, organic, and/or biodynamic viticulture. Wines are
processed using minimal or no additives. There is no regulation with regards
to natural wine.
Nebuchadnezzar: A 15-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 20
standard bottles.
Noble Rot: Noble rot is a fungal infection caused by Botrytis cinerea,
common in areas with high humidity, which dries the grapes, increasing the
sugar concentration in each berry. It is considered a flaw in red grapes but
appreciated in white grapes. Infected grapes make a natural sweet wine with
flavors of honey, ginger, marmalade, and chamomile. Dessert wines from
Sauternes and Tokaj regions are made through noble rot.
Nose: A wine tasting term used to describe how wine smells in the glass.
Different wines will produce different aromas. (See Aroma)
Oak: American white oak (Quercus alba) is primarily used in the
Bourbon industry. American oak is known for adding flavors of coconut,
vanilla, cedar, and dill to the wine. European oak (Quercus robur) is
sourced primarily in France and Hungary. European oak is known for
adding flavors of vanilla, clove, allspice, and cedar to the wine.
Oaked: A term used to describe a wine that aged in oak barrel for a
certain period. Opposite: unoaked.
Oaky: A term used to describe woody aromas and flavors; butter,
popcorn, and toast notes are found in 'oaky' wines.
Off-Dry: A term to describe a wine that is slightly sweet. In Brazil, a
wine containing between 4 and 25g/ of residual (unfermented) sugar
Orange Wine: A term used to describe a style
of white wine where the grape must is fermented with the
skins and the seeds, much like a red wine. This
fermentation process dyes the wine a deeper orange
color. It is a very old style of producing white wines.
Organic: Grapes grown without the aid of
chemical-based fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides.
Organic wines are made with organic grapes.
Oxidized: A wine that is no longer fresh because it
was exposed to too much air. When wine is exposed to
oxygen, a chain of chemical reactions occur that alter the
compounds, modifying the wine aromas, taste and color.
In case of red wine, color changes to slightly brown, it
shows no fruity aromas and displays some notes of Regular vs oxidized red wine
vinegar.
Pétillant: A French term for sparkling wine bubbles. Slightly sparkling
wine.
pH: An indication of a wine's acidity expressed by how much hydrogen is
in it. Wine pH scale goes from 2.5 (sweet wine, which has high acidity) up to
4.5 (low acid red wines).
Phylloxera: A microscopic louse that eats Vitis vinifera roots and
kills vines. It was responsible for devastating the majority of the world’s
vineyards in the nineteenth century.
Port Wine: A sweet, fortified wine made in the Douro Valley,
Portugal. Port styles include Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage,
White and Rosé.
Press: The process by which grape juice is extracted;
a machine that extracts juice from grapes.
Primary aromas: When made into wine, each
grape variety offers a unique set of aromas called
primary aromas. These aromas are typically fruit, herb
and flower smells and come naturally just from the grape.
See also secondary and tertiary aromas.
Prosecco: Sparkling wine that originates from the
Veneto region in Italy. The wine is made with Prosecco
grapes (also called “Glera”) and using a different method
of the Champagne production.
Pruning: Done to reduce yields in the winter,
pruning involves the cutting and removal of different
parts of the vines. Vertical wine press
Racking: The process of moving wine from barrel to barrel, while
leaving sediments behind.
Reduction: When wine doesn’t receive enough air during
fermentation, the yeast will substitute its need of nitrogen with amino acids
(found in grapes). This creates sulfur compounds that can smell like rotten
eggs, garlic, burnt matches. It is the opposite of oxidation.
Reserva: A Spanish wine term that is used to describe a wine that
has been aged for longer than the standard denomination. Aging varies
from region to region.
Reserve: A largely American term indicating a wine of higher quality;
it has no legal meaning.
Residual Sugar (RS): The unfermented
sugar from grapes left over in a wine after a
fermentation stops. Residual Sugar ranges from nothing
to upward of 400 grams per liter for very natural sweet
wines.
Riddling: The process of rotating sparkling wine
bottles in order to shift sediment toward the cork.
Ripe: A ripe wine is one that is produced when its
grapes have reached the optimum level of maturity.
Riddling
Salmanazar: A 9-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to 12 standard
bottles.
Sauternes: A sweet white wine made from botrytized grapes
(affected by noble rot) of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, coming from the
French region with same name.
Screwcap: A metal cap that screws onto threads on the neck of a
bottle, generally with a metal skirt down the neck to resemble the
traditional wine capsule.
Secondary Aromas: The process of fermentation creates a
specific group of bouquets, the secondary aromas. Examples are bread,
butter, mushroom and yeasts.
Sediments: Solid material that settles to the Sherry: A fortified wine from a denominated region
bottom of a wine bottle. It is normal to occur with non- in southwest Spain (Jerez de la Frontera). Sherry styles
clarified wines. Sediment will not harm you and are not a include Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso, Amontillado and PX.
signal of spoiled wine. When a wine contains sediments it is (aka Jerez)
described as dull. If there are no sediments, it is described
as clear.
Solomon: An 18-liter wine bottle. It is equivalent to
24 standard bottles (aka Melchoir).
Sommelier: Specialist in all aspects of the wine
service.
Spicy: Aroma or flavor of spice that may be present
in a wine glass. It is more often associated with red wines
and adds a warming effect to the drink. Common spicy
aromas are black pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg,
aniseed or ginger
Sediments in a glass
Sparkling wine: Wine style characterized by
effervescence due to high levels of carbon dioxide. Wine
with bubbles (or pétillance, in French).
Still wine: Wine without any carbon dioxide
making it still, not bubbly, sparkling or fizzy. Opposite of
sparkling wine.
Sulfites: Sulfites, sulfur dioxide, or SO2 is a
preservative that is either added to wine or present on
grapes before fermentation. Wines range from about 10
ppm (parts per million) to 350ppm. Wines must label if
they contain more than 10 ppm.
Sweet: A wine with more than 25g/l of residual
(unfermented) sugar. The opposite of dry wine. Screwcap
Table Wine: A term used to describe wines of between 10 and 14
percent alcohol. It does not denote quality.
In Europe, table wines are those made outside of regulated regions or by
unapproved methods. In Brazil, it refers to wines produced with non-
European grapes, coming from non-Vitis vinifera vines, such as Bordô,
Concord or Niagara.
Tank: A vessel for fermentation that is most often made of stainless
steel, concrete or oak. This is the same as a vat.
Tannins: Phenolic compounds that exist in most plants; in grapes,
tannins are found primarily in the skins and seeds. Tannins are astringent,
provide structure to a wine and are also antioxidants agents.
Terroir: A French term for the combination of soil,
climate, aspect and all the other factors that influence
the ultimate character of a wine.
Tertiary Aromas: Process of aging wine adds
aromas (bouquet) compounds in wine, known as tertiary
aromas. They are non fruit aromatics like truffles,
tobacco, leather, tar, nuts and spice.
Tokaji: A dessert wine made in Tokaj, Hungary from
dried Furmint grapes affected by noble rot.
Tokaj region
Varietal: A wine made from just one grape type and named after
that grape; the opposite of a blend.
Vin Santo: Sweet wine from Tuscany made from late-harvest
Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes.
Vineyards: A plantation of grapevines
Vinification: The conversion of grape juice into wine by
fermentation. It is a term used to describe the winemaking process.
Vintage: A particular year in the wine business; a specific harvest.
Viticulture: The science and business of growing wine grapes.
Weight: Similar to “body”, the sensation when a wine feels thick or rich
on the palate.
Wine: Alcoholic beverage made from fermented juice from grapes
Wine cellar: A room for storing wine
Wine pairing: The technique of pairing food dishes with wine to
enhance the dining experience.
Wine styles: A way to classify different types of wine based on
many different factors or characteristics of the wine. The main wines styles
are: red, white, rosé, sparkling, still, dessert and fortified wine.
Wine tasting: Sensory examination and
evaluation of a wine.The main steps of the wine tasting
process are visual, olfaction and taste analysis, and final
conclusion.
Winery: A building or establishment where wine is
made.
Yeast: Organisms that issue enzymes that trigger the fermentation
process; yeasts can be natural or commercial.
Yield: The amount of grapes harvested in a particular year.
Young: An immature wine that is usually bottled and sold within a
year of its vintage. Wines meant to be drunk “young” are noted for their
fresh and crisp flavors.
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