Key to Rick's Wine Journal Comments and Notes and related Wine Terms

Abruzzi:

(Ah-broot-zee): Wine region in east-central Italy, bordering the Adriatic Sea. Red wine is made from the Montepulciano grape; white is made from the Trebbiano grape. Both are rated DOC.

Acidity:

Amarone:
amarone.wav

(Ah-ma-roe-nay): A special type of Valpolicella. Selected grapes are left to dry on racks after picking, resulting in a wine that is fuller and more concentrated.

Astringency:

American Viticultural Areas (AVA)denoting a wine grape growing area recognized and formally designated by the US as a "delimited grape growing area" that has a distinctive set of common properties including but not limited to climate, micro-climate, soil type, altitude, and other factors the taken together contribute to and make up the character of grapes grown in that AVA. AVA's are defined by the United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The TTB defines these areas at the request of wineries and other petitioners. There were 187 AVAs as of April, 2007 Prior to the installation of the AVA system, wine appellations of origin in the United States were designated based on state and county boundaries. All of these appellations were grandfathered into federal law and may appear on wine labels as designated places of origin, but these appellations are distinct from AVAs.

Barbaresco:

(Bar-ba-ress-co): Full bodied red wine from the district of Piedmont, Italy; produced from the Nebbiolo grape. Similar to Barolo, except it is lighter and is apt to mature sooner.

Barbara:

(Bar-bear-ah): Red wine grape widely used in northern Italy, especially Piedmont.

Barolo:

(Ba-roll-lo): From the district of Piedmont, northern Italy; the finest and richest wine produced from the Nebbiolo grape. Under DOC law, Barolo must be aged at least three years prior to release, with at least two years in cask; if aged four years, it is allowed to be called Riserva.

Blanc
de Blancs:

(Blawn duh blawn): White wine produced exclusively from white grapes, significant in the French champagne region.

Blanc de Noirs:

(Blawn duh Nwar): A white wine made from black grapes. Applies principally to French champagne made from the juice of black grapes (Pinot Noir varietal) removed from the skins and fermented separately so it does not extract any color from the skins.

Tasting without knowledge of what kind of wine is in the glass. In serious blind tasting's, the subjects of the test are attempting not only to place the varietal, but to achieve the more difficult task of naming the appellation, vintage, winemaker, the type of oak, even the source vineyard or other characteristics. 

Body:

A wine's structure, complexity and weight on the palate, typically described as light, medium or full.

Also referred to as "noble rot," this beneficial mold draws moisture out of grapes, concentrating sugars and flavors. Affected grapes are often used to make opulent dessert wines.

As a wine matures, its aromas tend to develop more complexity and are referred to as bouquet. Also used to refer to the smell of a wine that has been aged in oak.

(Brew-nel-lo dee Mawn-tal-chee-no): Red wine from Tuscany, Italy. Named for the Brunello grape, a clone or sub-variety of Sangiovese, the wine has a dark, rich color and enough tannin to assure development in the bottle for decades.

Brut:

The driest style of Champagne or sparkling wine.

Chianti:
chianti.wav

(Key-ahn-tee): Famous red wine from the region of Tuscany, Italy. Chianti is unique to a specific, delimited part of Tuscany, extending between the cities of Florence and Siena.

Decant:

Refers to the careful transfer of wine from the bottle to another container in order to aerate or to separate the wine from its sediment.

The complexity of the wine as indicated by the intensity of array of flavors, fullness and body of the wine, orthagonal to breadth of a wine.  

Denominazione di origine controllata is an Italian quality assurance label for food products and especially wines (an appellation). It is modelled after the French AOC. It was instituted in 1963 and overhauled in 1992 for compliance with the equivalent EU law on Protected Designation of Origin, which came into effect that year. There are three levels of labels:

• DOC � Denominazione di Origine Controllata
• DOCG � Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita
• DO � Denominazione di Origine

See IGT. There are just under 50 DOCGs, nearly 450 DOCs, and countless IGTs.

Dolcetto:

(Dole-chet-toe):  A red grape varietal grown in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. Fragrant and fruity, it is usually the quickest to mature of the red Piedmont wines.

Dry:

A descriptor used for a wine that lacks perceptible sweetness.

Estate-Bottled:

Refers to a wine of which the contents originated from the 'estate' or from the property of the producer. Wine that is bottled by the owner(s) of the vineyard or vineyards in which the grapes were grown.

Fermentation:

A natural biological process systemic to winemaking during which active yeasts transform the sugar in grape juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Finish:

The sensation a wine leaves in the mouth after swallowing or spitting (same as aftertaste).

Fortified Wine:

A wine to which a spirit has been added, either to raise the level of alcohol or to halt fermentation in order to maintain a natural sweetness.

In 1855 at the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris a classification ranking was assigned to the top wine producers in the Bordeaux wine growing region in five categories according to prestige, quality, reputation and consistency. The resulting Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 listed the top ranked wines named the Grand Crus Class�s (Great Classified Growths), ranked and placed in one of five divisions with the top being the 'first growths', followed by subsequent lesser rankings were 2nd, third, fourth, and fifth growth wines.

The best of the best wines assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru were the top four from Ch�teau Latour, Ch�teau Lafite Rothschild, Ch�teau Margaux and Ch�teau Haut-Brion. Chateau Mouton Rothschild was added in 1973. All but one of the top 61 great classified wines came from the M�doc region. The exception was the premier cru Ch�teau Haut-Brion, produced in the appellation AOC of Graves.

A 'big' wine that is high in alcohol content and robust with flavor. Also referred to as 'forward', (as opposed to 'backward' which would also be described as more subdued or subtle).

A French wine Appellation d'Origine Contr�l�e (AOC) in the southern Rh�ne wine region of France. A neighbor to and considered a poor man's version (more economical version) of Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape Gigondas produces primarily red wines that are syrah, mouvedre or grenache... spicy peppery wines that are generally of good value. See my Rhone Wine Experience.

The different Pr�dikat designations used are as followed, in order of increasing sugar levels in the must:

Term from the German Pradikats (QmP) system referring to fully ripened light wines from the main harvest, typically semi-sweet with crisp acidity, but can be dry if designated so.

Late-Harvest Wine:

A wine made from extra-ripe grapes picked late in the season, which when allowed to ripen further increase in sugar resulting in a sweet character in the finished product.

Malolactic Fermentation:

An optional secondary fermentation process in winemaking during which malic acid is naturally converted into subtler lactic acid. This process typically results in softer red wines and more complex white wines.

Montepulciano di Abruzzo:

(Mawn-tay-pool-chon-no dee Ah-broot-zo): Red wine produced in the Abruzzi region of southern Italy.

• Atlas Peak AVA
• Calistoga AVA
• Chiles Valley AVA
• Diamond Mountain District AVA
• Howell Mountain AVA
• Los Carneros AVA
• Mt. Veeder AVA
• Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley

•  AVA
• Oakville AVA
• Rutherford AVA
• Spring Mountain District AVA
• St. Helena AVA
• Stags Leap District AVA
• Wild Horse Valley AVA
• Yountville AVA

A wine grape varietal. most associated with a wine growing region in Northern Italy. The great grape of Northern Italy, which excels there in Barolo and Barbaresco, strong, ageeable wines. Mainly unsuccessful elsewhere, Nebbiolo also now has a small foothold in California. So far the wines are lighter and less complicated than their Italian counterparts.

Residual Sugar:

The percentage of sugar remaining in a wine after fermentation.

See Wine Rating Page

Ros�:

A pink wine made from red grapes. The juice is allowed only minimal contact with the skins to impart a controlled degree of color, aroma and flavor.

An wine growing area or appellation in the French wine area of Bordeaux to the east of the town of Bordeaux along with adjacent Pomerol appellation. The region on the right bank of the Gironde River. The primary grape varieties used are Merlot and Cabernet Franc blended with relatively small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon - essentially opposite of the Left Bank which uses primarily Cabernet Sauvignon blended with lesser amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

A wine growing area or appellation in the French wine area of Bordeaux to the west of the town of Bordeaux along with adjacent Pauillac appellation, the region on the left bank of the Gironde River. The primary grape varieties used are primarily Cabernet Sauvignon blended with lesser amounts of Merlot and lesser amounts of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

A wine growing area or appellation in the French wine area of Bordeaux to the west of the town of Bordeaux along with adjacent Pauillac appellation, the region on the left bank of the Gironde River. The primary grape varieties used are primarily Cabernet Sauvignon blended with lesser amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

Soave:

(So-ah-vay): Famous white wine of Italy, produced in the region of Veneto to the east of the city of Verona.

Characteristics of a wine that possesses and reveals less minerals and acid tastes.

Sonoma is the southwestern county of Northern California's Wine growing region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino, and Lake counties. Sonoma Valley runs adjacent to and to the west of Napa Valley. The town of Sonoma anchors the south end of the Sonoma Valley at the entrance from the populous San Francisco Bay area to the south. The Sonoma Coast is the wine growing area along Pacific Ocean known for it Pinot Noir varietal based wines.  Sonoma has 13 approved American Viticultural Areas and over 250 wineries. Sonoma County has almost 60,000 acres of vineyards with over 1100 growers' grape production exceeding that of neighboring Napa County by about 30 percent. The most common varieties planted are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, with lesser amounts of Merlot and Zinfandel. Sonoma County is home to more than 250 wineries with eleven distinct and two shared American Viticultural Areas, including the Sonoma Valley AVA, Russian River Valley AVA, Alexander Valley AVA, Bennett Valley AVA and Dry Creek Valley AVA, which is known for the production of zinfandels.

Sp�tlese - meaning "late harvest" (spat is German for late) - term from the German Pradikats (QmP) system referring to typically semi-sweet, often (but not always) sweeter and fruitier than Kabinett. Sp�tlese can be a relatively full-bodied dry wine if designated so. While Sp�tlese means late harvest the wine is not as sweet as a dessert wine.

Characteristic of a hearty wine often found in red zinfandels and other more complex wines, also pinot noirs, revealing a full and sometimes peppery or cinnamon other full forward taste. These wines are typically good wines with hearty foods - bar-b-que, pasta, etc.

Tannin:

A substance imparted into red wine from grape skins, seeds and stems, as well as through wood contact. Tannins create a drying or textural sensation in the mouth, and can add structure to wine. Also a key factor in enabling a wine to sustain prolonged aging in bottle.

Terroir:

A French term that encompasses the soil, climate and site in which a vineyard is located. Experts believe terroir has a strong influence on the character of the finished wine.

 A French wine Appellation d'Origine Contr�l�e (AOC) in the southern Rh�ne wine region of France. A neighbor to and considered a poor man's version (more economical version) of Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape Vacqueryas produces primarily red wines that are syrah, mouvedre or grenache... spicy peppery wines that are generally of good value. See my Rhone Wine Experience.

Valpolicella:

(Val-po-lee-chel-la): Famous red wine region of Veneto, northern Italy. Valpolicella wine is made primarily from three grape varietals - Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara.

Veneto:

(Vain-nay-toe): Region in northeastern Italy, including the major cities of Venice, Verona, Vicenza and Pauda (Padova).

Vermentino:

(Vair-men-teen-o): White wine grape planted exclusively in Sardinia.

Vino Santo:

A special type of wine produced in many parts of Italy, especially Tuscany. Often not put in the bottle until its fifth year, it improves with more aging. The wine is lusciously sweet and is produced in limited quantities.

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