Wine Glossary
Tertiary aromas reminiscent of the delicate aromas of dairy products. They are found in aged quality wines.
Spanish expression used to describe wines and liquors of low quality and unknown origin, usually sold in bulk quantities.
See Desfangado.
Act of pouring an old wine from its bottle into another container in order to eliminate any sediment that may have settled at the bottom of the bottle. It is only used for old wines that may have deposited some of their colouring matter with the passage of time. Also used to air certain wines that must be opened to express all their qualities and aromas. See Desfangado.
Poorly preserved wine that is cloudy, has lost colour and acquired a bad taste. Degraded.
Wine that has become unbalanced due to excessive age.
Wine with qualities which have evolved negatively due to the degeneration of the wine's components.
In wine tasting, describes wine that is soft, delicate and tasty to the palate.
A term describing a wine whose aromas and flavours are of high quality but not very intense.
Globular glass container with a protective sheath and a capacity of 2-16 litres. It is used in the sale of wine.
A thick, full-bodied, well-structured wine.
Instrument used to measure the density of liquids, which is used a great deal in enology. A densimeter which directly measures Beaumé degrees is an aerometer.
Physical magnitude which relates the mass of a body to the volume it occupies. Synonym: peso específico.
Elimination of the grape stalks or stems before crushing the grapes. This process is essential to obtain quality red wine.
Process -also known as “drawing”- consisting of the separation of the wine from the grape skins during or after fermentation.
Wine with aromas that are alien to those of the grape, fermentation or ageing.
Process applied to natural sparkling wines created using the traditional system or champagne method (second fermentation in the bottle), whereby the lees produced by the second fermentation, which accumulate near the cork, are eliminated.
Name given to the surface of the wine in the wineglass.
Technical term used in Spanish for wine made with two batches of black grape skins for each batch of must. Wine made in this way is characteristically full of colour and body.
Wine with only a small proportion of sugars (less than 5 grams per litre).
Combination of wine's non-volatile substances. In wine-tasting it is synonymous with body.