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Sheldon Cooper’s guide to becoming a Wine Geek with these 33 very common Wine terms, jargon and lingos

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To describe tasting, taste and feel of wine

  1. Body & Structure -how wine feel in the mouth, its texture.
  2. Bouquet -how wine smells on the nose
  3. Nose -to nose is to smell the wine
  4. Blind Tasting -taste wine without seeing its label and to guess where it is from
  5. Let it Breathe (air) -let wine sit after opening to allow airing for flavors to develop
  6. Corked -corked wine means bad wine, undrinkable due to damaged cork, storage issue
  7. Decant -let wine breathe
  8. Dry -wines that are more tannic, less sweet, less fruit-forward and juicy.
  9. Finish -after swallowing wine, how it the taste lingers
  10. Legs & tears -swirling the wine in glass and see how it runs down the side of glass
  11. Oaky -Oak or wood flavor in wine
  12. Oxidize -wine left out for too long, or due to damaged cork, it is spoiled
  13. Tannin -the sandy effect in the mouth, similar feeling as if drinking very harsh tea
  14. Vertical Tasting -tasting of the same wines but from multiple years
  15. Vintage -the year grapes were harvested

To talk about Region & Wine Making

  1. Appellation -official region where grapes are grown
  2. Aged -time wine spend in the barrel or in bottle
  3. Burgundy -region in France known for its Pinot Noir Grape
  4. Blend vs Single Varietal -wine made from many kinds of grapes or just 1 kind of grape
  5. Bordeaux Blend -region in France known for 5 grapes: Cab Sau. Cab. Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot
  6. Cava -means cave in Spanish, or Spanish Sparkling wines
  7. Claret -British term = Bordeaux blend
  8. Chablis -Region in France, known for great lighter body Chardonnay
  9. French and American Oak -2 popular kinds of Oak that are used in wine making, aging wines
  10. Grand Cru -official term for French Wine, signifies quality wines
  11. GSM -Granache, Syrah, Mourveder, a popular blend in Rhone Valley, France
  12. Meritage -American term for Bordeaux Blend
  13. ML fermentation -2nd fermentation that produces silkier texture in wine
  14. New World vs Old World -European wine making countries are considered Old World, the rest are new World.
  15. Rhone Blend -GSM
  16. Sparkling wine VS Champagne -only Sparkling wines that are made in Champagne region of France can be called Champagne
  17. Terroir -French term referring to the condition that wines are grown in: soil, weather, temperature and everything about the surrounding
  18. Varietals -the grape specie

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