They say every wine tells a story. The flavours, the textures, the grapes (or other fruits) and the sensations they create inside your mouth — a wine connoisseur can spin tales after tales about the oldest social drink of the fermented variety.
The history of wines goes back to thousands of years, and in fact, it is said its origins predate written records. Wines are known to be a great conversation starter, but you must know some of its basics to be able to strike that conversation.
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Here are some basic wine terminologies that you may add to your vocabulary if you want to impress a Master Sommelier.
Acidity — The acids in a wine provide liveliness, longevity and balance
Aging — Advancing the wines to a desirable state holding them in barrels, tanks, and bottles
Astringent — A term used by wine tasters when they note the unpleasant sensations — harsh, bitter, and drying — caused by high levels of tannin
Blend — When a wine is made from more than one variety of grapes
Bouquet — The complex aromas in aged wines
Brut — This is how you designate the driest wine
Chaptalization — When sugar is added during the preparation of wine to increase alcohol levels
Claret — Old fashioned. The term is used for red wines from Bordeaux, France
Cork taint — The unpleasant aromas and flavors wines acquire when kept in a wet cardboard or moldy basements
Dry — A wine defined as ‘dry’ contains no more than 0.2% of non-fermented sugar. Dry wines are not sweet, and the sensation is often attributed to tannin
Decanting — It’s the process of transferring wine from a bottle to another vessel. Usually done to aerate the wine or separate the sediment
Depth — Term used to describe the complexity and concentration of flavours