One of the most frustrating encounters I’ve experienced in my years of selling wine in restaurants is selling a table a bottle of wine they don’t enjoy because of a series of miscommunications between me and my customer. Often, it is because people misuse wine terms or simply aren’t familiar with the meaning of the wine terms being used. If I could get the world to read just one of these columns, this would be the one. This basic reference guide will make wine so much more comprehensible, you’ll soon be ordering wine like a pro!
As wine professionals, we are trained to look at a wine first, then to smell the wine, and finally, to taste. Most wine consumers are only truly concerned with the way a wine tastes, so let’s begin with those elements of a wine. We will describe wine in terms of fruit, tannin, acid, residual sugar, oak and body. If sommeliers and wine professionals are detectives, and we are trying to solve the mystery that is “which wine will this customer love?”, then these six elements are our best clues.
Term #1-- Acid
Bite into a lemon; that sharp, mouth puckering, jaw stinging sensation is attributed to acid. All wines contain some varying degree of that element. How much or how little varies with each grape varietal. Begin paying attention to how severely this sensation occurs when drinking wines you love. In addition, many of the cooler wine producing regions will have more acid in their wines because the cold weather allows for more difficult ripening, and therefore, a maintained level of acid. This is useful when comparing the same grape from different regions. A Chardonnay from the French region of Chablis tends to be far more acidic than one from California, in some part due to Chablis’ northerly location.
Higher acid grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Barbera, Cinsault, Chablis (Chardonnay)
Medium acid wines: Chardonnay (California), Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Red Zinfandel
Lower acid grapes: Gewürztraminer (Alsace), Dolcetto
Term #2-- Tannin
Drink a cup of hot black tea, or eat a handful of walnuts. That dry mouth feeling that you are suddenly experiencing is due to a chemical called “tannin” and wines with a lot of it are described as “tannic”. Many consumers cringe at the term, but most of the wines that consumers seem to love the most are wines with medium, medium plus, or high tannin structures. Tannins are derived mostly from the skins of the grapes and give the wine its color, which is why you will not hear a white wine described as tannic. Also, tannin is responsible for allowing a wine to get better with age, because they act as a preservative, which is why wines like Cabernet Sauvignon are so age-worthy. Tannin is also derived from aging a wine in oak barrels. Tannin from grape skins is more often felt across your teeth and on the back of your lips.
Higher tannin wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Malbec
Medium tannin wines: Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Merlot
Low tannin wines: Barbera, Pinot Noir
Term #3: Fruit
Fruit, surprisingly, seems to confuse people more than any other descriptor. Many associate fruit with sweetness. Remember, limes are fruit too, and no one accuses them of being sweet. Fruit is simply another way for a salesperson to make certain deductions about the wine you will like the most. If you tell your server or your sommelier that you like a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, they are now likely assuming that you like a wine with higher acid and more tartness, because the fruit character of a wine like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is grapefruit and other citrus-like fruits. If a salesman is describing a “jammy” wine to you, you can feel confident that if you often enjoy wines like Red Zinfandel, with its cooked blueberry, blackberry or cranberry jam flavors, you may also enjoy the wine that he is suggesting. “Cooked”, “fresh”, “baked”, “ripe” and “candied” are all terms you may see or hear when describing the fruit in the wine because this is an indication of ripeness, or a lack thereof, without necessarily implying that the wine itself will be sweet. A wine may have very sweet fruit characteristics and not be a sweet wine. While many people have retorted that the only fruit that they taste in their wine is grapes, fruit characteristics are evident in every wine we drink, some are just more easily discernible than others. If identifying fruit in wine is difficult for you, read a bit about the wines you do love and see what fruit other people find in the wine. Many labels list the fruit characteristics on the wine itself, and you may also find other consumers’ descriptions on the Internet. It may help you identify those flavors yourself, or find alternative wines that you’ll love. In addition, eating more fruit, or simply tasting more fruit, will also help you to identify these flavors in your wine.
Citrus fruits: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange (either flesh or rind)
Stone fruits: cherry, peach, plum, apricot
Tree fruits/orchard fruits: apples, pears
Sub-tropical/tropical fruits: pineapple, lychee, banana, guava, dates, fig, raisin
Melons: cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon
Berries: strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, gooseberry, currant
Term #4: Residual sugar
This is the term we are looking for when we are actually talking about sweetness in a wine. If a wine professional refers to a wine’s residual sugar, this is when we can start thinking about sweetness in a wine. In addition, the term “dry” in a wine simply means the absence of residual sugar, or the absence of sweetness, regardless of acid or tannin. Imagine sweetening iced tea… some people like only a tiny bit of sweetness. They may order an unsweetened iced tea and add a packet of sugar. This tea only has a bit of “residual sugar”. A tea that is made with several cups of sugar diluted with water and added to the tea would be very sweet, and therefore has a high amount of residual sugar. Varietals like Italian Moscatos, or some German Rieslings, can have a higher amount of residual sugar. Other Rieslings, like Pfalz Rieslings, also German, tend to trade sugar for higher alcohol, and therefore have lower residual sugar than their Mosel counterparts. It is important if you enjoy a sweeter or drier wine to refer to these levels of sweetness as high, medium or low residual sugar when describing it to a wine salesperson. In addition, wines with residual sugar can also be referred to by their level of dryness. Brut Champagnes, for instance, have less than 15 grams of sugar per liter (definitely a dry wine), while a dessert wine, like Sauternes from France, have at least 45 grams of sugar per liter (and definitely considered to be as sweet southern sweet tea!). A term like “brut” implies that the wine will have little to no residual sugar. Terms like “demi-sec” or “off-dry” imply that the wine is less dry and has a higher degree of sugar remaining in the wine. Being aware of what “residual sugar” and “dry” mean will ensure that you do not receive a Mosel Riesling (high residual sugar, high acid) when you really wanted a French style Chardonnay from Chablis (no residual sugar, also high acid).
Higher residual sugar wines: Dessert wines, such as Sauternes, Moscato d’Asti, Trockenbeerenauslese, or Port; also some Rieslings, especially Spatlese and Auslese Rieslings from Germany
Medium residual sugar wines: Prosecco, some Abbocato from Italy, some Chenin Blanc from Loire Valley, France
Low residual sugar wines: Many if not most red wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Brut Champagne, Cortese from Italy, Pinot Grigio, Viognier
Term #5: Oak
Ah, oak. Used in the aging process of the majority of red wines, which tend to take well to oak, many winemakers are now experimenting with fermenting/aging white wines in oak as well. Some white varietals have become famous due to their sublime adaptation to oak, like Chardonnay. Others have been shown to fare better using stainless steel, which allows a wine to maintain more acid, and often more fruit character as well. In white wines, oak can add a new dimension entirely. When tasting oak in a wine, the most obvious indicators are flavors of vanilla and baking spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. If a white wine evokes memories of your Grandmother’s apple pie, it is likely that the wine has been fermented or aged in newer, likely American, oak barrels (think California Chardonnay). A wine producer may also choose to use French oak, or neutral oak in a wine, which will be more subtle than their American counterparts (think Cote de Beaune white Burgundy, also Chardonnay). If a wine has no tannins to begin with, oak aging will contribute tannin to a wine. In red wines with an abundance of tannin, oak aging will soften a wine’s tannin, making it more approachable. In a wine with very little natural tannin, a winemaker may ferment or age the wine in oak barrels in order to add character or longevity to a wine. When tasting oak tannin (as opposed to tannin derived from grapes), you tend to feel the dryness at the roof of your mouth.
Term #6: Body
Body refers to the weight of the wine in one’s mouth. When trying to determine the body of a wine, think milk. Yes, milk. Light bodied wines, like many low alcohol whites, can be compared to skim milk, or sometimes even to water. They will leave the lightest of coating on one’s glass and they will feel relatively light on the palate. If you are looking for a medium bodied wine, you may prefer something with the weight of 2% milk. Full bodied wines will have the weight of whole milk. They will leave a coating on your glass that may remain long after you have taken a drink and set your glass down. Another thing to keep in mind when determining what fullness of body you expect from your wine is region. Often, the warmer a climate, the fuller bodied your wine will be. When choosing wine on your own, if you know that you are looking for a full bodied red, think of wine growing regions with warmer climates, such as Australia, Chile, California or Argentina. This is not to say that there are not lighter bodied wines from warmer regions, but much of the time, in following this rule, you will find the fullness or lightness of body that you are seeking.
Light bodied wines: Riesling
Medium bodied wines: Gamay (Beaujolais), Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio
Full bodied wines: Cabernet, Grenache, Red Zinfandel, Merlot, Malbec
*A disclaimer to this section: a wine’s body, as well as every other factor discussed here today, can change depending upon region, climate and producer. The varietals listed are generalizations, with exceptions on occasion, of course!
Bonus Term: “Earth”
I find when selling wine that the terms that we use regarding earth can turn people off of a wine faster than any other. When a wine professional refers to a wine tasting like “turned earth”, “grass”, “limestone”, “manure”, “mushrooms” or “floral”, this does not necessarily mean that your wine is going to actually taste like your garden, a stone or a flower. These are subtle taste descriptors that often characterize a certain “je ne sais quoi” in a wine that is often most helpful when trying to convey “terroir”—a term that indicates place, where a wine is grown. Often, they indicate a certain type of dryness (the “earthiness”) or a crisp and refreshing minerality (the “limestone” element). Many sommeliers taste oyster shells in Chardonnays from Chablis, mushrooms in French Pinot Noirs from Burgundy, or violets in French Malbecs from Cahors. The more that one practices tasting, the more these subtle tastes will become evident to you, but rarely are the predominant elements in any wine, and they are certainly nothing of which you need to be afraid!
Always remember—taste is subjective. You are not necessarily wrong about what you taste in a wine, but if you are able to understand the tactile sensations of the terms listed above, you will have a better chance of successfully communicating your desires to those trying to find you the right bottle of wine. As always, good luck and good drinking!
Next week: Demystifying some of the world’s most famous wines called by many names-except the name of the actual grapes that comprise them!
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