Wine Taster Terms

Tasting wines can be more fun if you know some of the wine taster terms. It will be easier to pair wine with food when you understand a little more about the wine. Wine tasting is a fun thing to do with friends. Try throwing your own wine tasting party. Have each of your wine taster friends bring a bottle and discover some new wines.

Here are some wine taster terms you will hear from wine enthusiasts:

Acetic: vinegar-like taste or smell from exposure to air. Vinegar is acetic acid.

Acidity: wines contain acids, which vary in concentration.

Astringent: high tannin content produces dry, puckering effect.

Balance: relative degree of fruity quality, acidity, tannins, alcohol and other characteristics.

Bouquet: complex of aromas, usually from aging.

Cooked: prunish flavor, usually from excessive heat.

Corked: a kind of spoilage, smelling of cork, usually from cracked or seeping cork allowing introduction of air or fungi.

Dry: wine taster term for the opposite of sweet.

Fruity: aroma or flavor of apples, grapes, currants, pears, etc.

Green: wine made from unripe grapes, producing tart flavor.

Honeyed: smell or taste reminiscent of honey, characteristic of wines affected by 'noble rot' (Botrytis cinerea).

Length: a lingering aftertaste.

Nose: aroma. 'Off-nose' refers to odors indicating defect.

Nutty: nutlike aroma, such as found in sherry or aged whites.

Oakey: aroma from aging in oaken casks.

Oxidized: spoiled from over-exposure to air.

Sparkling: wine containing carbonation, such as champagne.

Sulphur: an anti-oxidant introduced in some wines in small amounts. Fermentation creates minute amounts naturally.

Sweet: having residual sugar from fermentation, from grape sugar incompletely converted to alcohol.

Woody: having the aroma or taste of aging barrels.

Yeasty: smelling similar to bread. Yeasts are introduced to carry out fermentation and can be incompletely removed.

Proper Wine and Food Pairing

But the old rule of reds with beef, whites with fish and poultry still has merit. For either situation, choose the best wine you can afford as a starting point; more expensive wines often are higher quality, with more subtle flavors and aromas.

When serving a dish with a rich tomato or meat sauce, consider the relative strengths of flavor and aroma of your dish. A full-bodied red wine can complement a powerful dish. For lighter sauces, choose a less powerful wine which doesn't overpower the meal.

There's truth in the tradition that whites go well with fish and poultry. Color and aroma influence taste and these lighter wines complement the lighter meal, but sauces used in creating such dishes also influence the decision.

For something heavier, like duck, consider a more acidic wine, such as those from the Sangiovese spectrum of Tuscany. Grilled chicken or lighter pasta dishes, by contrast, benefit from a Soave.

Return from wine taster terms to Italian wines.