Which one do you favour?
Whether red, white, sparkling, or ice wine is your preference, there are always situations where another variety might be a better fit for the meal or occasion.
However, how can you choose the ones you would like?
A wine tour is the best way to discover new wine varieties and broaden your wine horizons.
In addition to learning about pairings, you may talk to a sommelier directly about your preferences, so they can recommend wines you’ll appreciate.
Continue reading to pick up wine terminology that will make you appear knowledgeable on your first (or subsequent) wine-tasting trip.
wine terminology
Anyone listening to a sommelier describes a wine is probably feeling intimidated. This is due to many wine descriptors used to describe every element of the wine-tasting experience.
Thankfully, we can be experts on some aspects of wine to appreciate a nice glass.
However, finding wines, you might like can be made simpler and faster by being knowledgeable about wines and how they are described.
We may describe a wine in much more depth by connecting terminology to how we experience wine using all five of our senses.
Here is a primer on these words, including when and how to use them.
Aroma
Utilizing your olfactory senses is a crucial step in the wine-tasting process. Our nostrils may offer us suggestions about the flavour of the wine based on past experiences, just like when we eat.
The first thing you should do after taking a look at the wine in your glass is to smell it. The scent of a wine is what your nose informs you about how it smells.
At a wine tasting, you’ll hear a lot of fragrance descriptions that mean what they say they smell like. Cedary, buttery, earthy, flowery, fruity, oaky (smoky), meaty, and scented are a few examples of these adjectives.
Some words are more obscure than others.
A complex, fully developed wine’s aroma is called its bouquet. Because the aromatics have not yet fully matured, a young wine may have a closed or thick scent.
An alcoholic fragrance is typically seen negatively since it indicates that the wine has too much alcohol relative to its body and weight, which suggests that the wine will likely have an unpleasant aftertaste.
Legs
Have you ever questioned someone’s behaviour when you watch them swirl their wine in their glass, then take a look at it before taking a sip?
You may see how a wine settles back into the glass after being swirled. There will be “legs” along the glass’s edge. The legs may also be referred to as “tears” by some.
We can determine a wine’s alcohol concentration by watching how quickly it settles and how thick its legs are. The slower and heavier legs indicate higher alcohol concentration.
Aeration is the primary goal of swirling wine (to bring oxygen into it). This process, known as opening up the wine, aids in enhancing its aromas.
Therefore, give it another sniff after spinning your wine to catch any new aromas that may have emerged.
Body
The body describes the wine’s weight and fullness. The amount of alcohol in the wine will affect its viscosity. The heavier and fuller the wine feels in your mouth, the more alcohol it contains.
Over 13.5% alcohol content in wine will make it seem weighty or full. For this reason, some people describe full-bodied wines with heavy tannins as chewy.
Some wines are light-bodied (with an alcohol content under 12.5%) or medium-bodied (12.5% to 13.5%). Wines with a lighter body are frequently referred to be lightweight, crisp, and refreshing.
Texture
Another method to characterize wine is its texture, which is trickier to pin down than others.
The mouthfeel of the wine is referred to as texture as well. Consistency has been described using various words, including rough, coarse, meaty, grasp, round, supple, velvety, and aggressive.
Positive adjectives like velvety, round, meaty, grip and supple suggest that the wine is flavorful, well-balanced, and smooth.
When a wine tastes harsh, abrasive, or aggressive, it has too much tannin, oak, or alcohol in it.
Tannins
Many foods and beverages we like, including chocolate, grapes, tea, cranberries, and wine, contain tannins.
Compounds with a bitter and astringent flavour make up tannins. While astringency describes how we feel, bitterness is what we taste. Tannins contribute to the mouthfeel and texture of the wine.
Wines get smoother and softer in flavour as they age because the tannins start to lose their astringency.
Sweet
The sugar from the grapes is often turned into alcohol during fermentation. What is regarded described as sweet-tasting wine, however, defies this.
This is because sweet wines still contain part of the grape’s sugar after fermentation.
Each glass of sweet wine has 21–72 calories of sugar. So up to 130 sugar calories might be found in one glass of lovely wine.
It makes sense that some of the most well-known wines in the world are sweet wines, sometimes known as dessert wines.
Dry
Dry wine has no detectable sugar flavour. But don’t be deceived by it. A dry wine may smell fruity, leading you to believe it will be sweeter than it is.
Wine will start to seem semi-sweet when you taste some sweetness (at approximately 3% sweetness). Off-dry is the name for wines of this category.
Complete
The finish is what you experience after the wine has left your lips, whether you sip, drink, or taste it. The term “finish” can also refer to the aftertaste.
The finish is either lengthy or short, depending on how long the flavours stay on your tongue.
The flavours of finishes might be fruity, smooth, tart, smoky, spicy, or sweet.
Wines with a lengthy finish typically receive higher ratings than those with a short finish.
Horizontal or Vertical Tasting
Wineries and vineyards provide a variety of options for tasting and comparing their wines.
However, keep these two approaches in mind for your upcoming trip.
You would sample several vintages of the same kind of varietal produced by the same producer over several years if you were to do a vertical tasting. By doing this, you may understand how the variety has altered over time due to the weather or other circumstances.
You can prepare ahead of time to drink the same variety and year produced at each stop on your vineyard tour for a horizontal tasting. By partaking in this tasting, you can see how various vineyards bring out distinct flavours in the same varietal of wine.
You may taste the wine to determine how, for instance, the fermentation process differs when steel or oak barrels are used.
Terroir
Despite not being a description of a “wine tasting,” you will probably hear the phrase spoken at a wine tasting. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend what it entails.
Terroir describes various elements and circumstances that might impact wine flavour. These three factors—climate, soil, and landscape—determine how the wine’s grapes turn out.
Grapes having a more excellent sugar content typically grow in hotter climates.
Depending on where a vineyard is located, the soil varies greatly. There are several types of soil, and in some, water travels through layers of rock and minerals.
This is why Chardonnays from Ontario, Canada, California, or France may all be referred to as Chardonnays, even if they all have distinctive flavours.
Today, reserve a wine-tasting tour.
A fantastic lifelong experience is being knowledgeable about wines and all the nuances in their flavour and types.
Use these wine words at parties with your friends and on your upcoming wine-tasting trip.
Both are fantastic chances to discover which wines go well with certain foods and allow you to share your passion for wine with others.
Get in touch with us right away so we can assist you in planning your first-class wine-tasting trip and allow you to sample the top-notch wines made in the Niagara, Canada, region.