OK, so one of the big things that make wine intimidating is the lingo. (Have you ever noticed that almost everything has it’s one lingo that lets the “insiders” lord it over the rest of us who don’t know what they’re talking about?) Luckily, wine terminology is actually fairly simple (at least, the stuff you need to know is).
Vineyard – a place that makes wine, and generally grows the grapes for that wine (note that Estate bottled means that vineyard grew the grapes and made the wine, in other cases, the grapes may be grown elsewhere).
Varietal – the variety of grape the wine is made from. You’ll hear names like Merlot, Chardonnay, Shiraz, etc. Sometimes you’ll see a mix (called a blend) such as Shiraz-Cabernet or Shiraz-Merlot. Once in awhile, you’ll see a “red blend” that doesn’t list the actual varietals (which I hate).
Vintage – the year the wine was made. Normally this is clearly marked on the bottle, but sometimes it isn’t (which is a pain).
Reserve – this is supposed to mean “best wine from this vineyard” but the term has pretty much degraded into a marketing term (which, I’m embarrassed to add, tricks me more often than I’d like to admit).
In fancier wines (and French wines especially) you’ll see these terms.
Appellation – The place the wine was made. Many French wines won’t list the varietal but instead will list the appellation. So the bottle may say Burgundy, which (if red) is Pinot Noir and (if white) is Chardonnay. If you get into French win (which you probably won’t see much of on this site, because it’s generally expensive) then you should learn the entire Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) which will tell you everything on you need to know about the wine you’re looking at.
Cru – similar to Reserve, but because of the French rules about wine, much more accurate – you may see premier cru and grand cru, both of which are the really top end vineyards. Don’t expect reviews of these wines here.
Cuvée – blend – a mixture of several varietals (or even several blends).
Tasting Terms
Dryness – Wine is either sweet (and there are sickly sweet wines) or dry. This is actually a technical term, referring to the amount of sugar left over after fermentation (residual sugar). More than 30 grams per litre is sweet, and less than 10 is dry. Now because of other flavours in wine, a dry(er) wine with less acidity may taste less sweet than sweeter wine with more acidity. A wine that has been oaked will pick up caramel or smoke flavours that will make it taste sweeter even though it has less residual sugar.
Finish – The taste that’s left after you swallow the wine. Sounds so much better than “aftertaste”. Some wines have a “long finish” – the taste lingers a long time (so hopefully it’s a good taste).
Tannins – tannins create the structure in the wine. It’s the part that makes your mouth almost pucker (drink cool black tea to understand strong tannins). A wine with strong tannins is often referred to as chewy. You can soften strong tannins by decanting the wine which makes it smoother.
Legs – This is a term that a lot of wine snobs use to sound smarter than the rest of us. They swirl the glass, then observe the drops that slide down the inside of the glass in long lines and say “great legs”. Unfortunately, legs have more to do with the alcohol content (the higher the alcohol, the stronger the legs) than with the quality of the wine. On the other hand, it is a funny to say “great legs” in polite company.