Welcome to the WineGuide101 glossary—your shortcut through the vineyard maze. Whether you’re swotting up for WSET, casually swirling at dinner, or decoding “coulure” without sounding like a twit, this guide’s for you.
Forget fussy—we’ve uncorked centuries of wine wisdom into plain English (with a twist of wit). It’s the full journey: soil to swirl, berry to bottle, rootstock to rooftop terrace.
Index
- I. Grape Expectations: The Vineyard Bits
- II. In the Winery: The Magic of Winemaking
- III. Style Guide: Wine Types & Regions
- IV. Swirl, Sniff, Sip: Language of Taste
- V. Popping Bottles: Serving, Storing & Enjoying Wine
- VI. Wine & Money: Business Side of the Bottle
- VII. When Good Wine Goes Bad: Faults & Flaws
- VIII. Wine’s Odds & Ends: Miscellany & Abbreviations
I. Grape Expectations: The Vineyard Bits
Agronomy: Basically the science of making soil and vines play nicely. Think vineyard feng shui with a lab coat.
Alluvial: Soils dumped by rivers—gravelly, sandy, silt-rich—great for drainage and even better for your Cabernet.
Ampelography: The nerdy art of grapevine ID. Leaf shapes, berry sizes, CSI: Vine Edition.
Aspect: Which way your vines face. South = sun-kissed. North = moody.
Ban de Vendange: France’s historic version of shouting “Ready, steady, pick!”
Berry: A fancy way of saying ‘grape’. Don’t overthink it.
Biodynamic Viticulture: Wine meets astrology. Cow horns, moon phases, and surprisingly good Pinot.
Block: A vineyard’s version of postcodes. Helps keep vines (and winemakers) organised.
Botrytis Cinerea (Noble Rot): The fungus that turns grapes into liquid gold. Ideal for dessert wines; not great on your shower tiles.
Brix: Sugar levels in grape juice. High Brix = boozier bottle.
Bud Burst: Springtime vine awakening. Cute leaves, future wine.
Bush Vine: Old-school, free-range vine growing. Think bonsai, but buzzed.
Calcareous: Chalky soils = happy Chardonnays. Acid balance, minerality, and a decent leg workout if you’re walking it.
Cane: Last season’s vine shoot, this season’s grape hanger.
Cane Pruning: Garden shears meet vine surgery. Pick the best canes and snip the rest.
Canopy & Canopy Management: Leafy green bits above ground. Like giving the vine a haircut for health and sun exposure.
Cépage: French for grape variety. Also makes you sound très sophisticated.
Chalk: Found under Champagne. Soft, white, and no good for blackboards.
Clay: Holds water like a sponge. Great for Merlot, bad for digging holes.
Climate Types:
- Continental: Big mood swings.
- Maritime: Mild and misty.
- Mediterranean: Sunshine with a side of siesta.
- Desert: Where vines pray for rain.
Climat: Burgundy’s way of saying “this patch makes really posh Pinot.”
Clone: Grapevine copy-paste. One mum, many babies.
Cluster: A grape bunch. You know this one. (We hope.)
Cordon Training: Horizontal vine arms. Like grape-laden goalposts.
Coulure (Shatter): When grapes ghost the vine. No fruit, no fun.
Cover Crop: The vineyard’s green carpet. Keeps weeds down and soil happy.
Cru: Fancy French term for “top-notch wine origin”. Often abused on menus.
Crush: Harvest hustle when everyone’s purple and tipsy by noon.
Debudding: Pruning for focus. Goodbye freeloading buds.
Degree-Days: How hot it got over the season. Grapevine GCSE weather stats.
Diurnal Range: Hot days, cool nights. Like a spa for grapes.
Dormancy: The vine’s winter nap. Zzzz.
Dry Farming: No irrigation. Just rain, roots, and resilience.
Eiswein: Grapes frozen solid, wines sweet and syrupy. Nature’s slushy.
Estate Bottled: Grown, made, bottled on-site. Full control, less blame-shifting.
Field Blend: Mixed grapes, picked and fermented together. Chaos or genius? You decide.
Flowering & Fruit Set: Vine romance followed by tiny grape babies. Weather’s the matchmaker.
Galets: Giant pebbles in Rhône that warm vines like hot water bottles.
Garrigue: Wild herby smells. Think Provençal aftershave.
Grafting: Marrying one vine to another. Common in vineyards, frowned upon elsewhere.
Gravel: Great drainage, toasty roots, and happy Cabs.
Green Harvest: Cutting grapes to help the rest shine. Ruthless but effective.
Guyot: Cane-pruning method. Not a Harry Potter spell.
Hangtime: The grape’s gap year. More time = more flavour (sometimes).
Harvest: Wine Christmas. Pick fast, ferment faster.
Old Vines: Vines with wrinkles, wisdom, and better wine.
II. In the Winery: The Magic of Winemaking
So, the grapes are picked—what now? Welcome to the mad scientist’s lab (also known as the winery), where sugar becomes booze and grape juice gets its grown-up makeover.
Acetic Acid: The sharp-scented culprit behind vinegar vibes in wine. A little = character. A lot = down the drain.
Acidification: When winemakers add a squeeze of acid to perk up flabby wines. Think of it as a citrusy wake-up call.
Aeration: Giving wine some air. Great for helping tight young reds loosen up—sort of like a spa day with swirling.
Aging / Maturation: Letting wine chill out (often in barrels) to become smoother, deeper, and more complex. Worth the wait—most of the time.
Aging Vessel: The container wine lounges in post-ferment. Barrels add spice. Steel tanks stay neutral. Amphorae? Very hipster.
Alcohol: The buzz bit. Comes from yeast eating sugar. Too much and your wine feels hot. Too little and it feels like grape juice.
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): The number on the label that says how much of your wine is booze. Usually between 11–15%, unless it’s fortified or cheeky.
Alcoholic Fermentation: Where the magic happens. Yeast + sugar = alcohol + CO₂ + party.
Alliers: A French forest known for prime oak barrels. Elegant wood, subtle spice.
American Oak: Adds punchy coconut and vanilla notes. Loud, proud, and a bit bourbon-y.
Amphora: Clay pots, old-school cool. Makes wine feel earthy and artsy.
Appassimento: Drying grapes before fermenting. Less water, more wow. Used for Amarone and other Italian delights.
Assemblage: The art of blending wines. A splash of this, a touch of that—like wine alchemy.
Autolysis: Yeast cells self-destructing in the name of flavour. Think Champagne’s brioche-y, bready goodness.
Backbone: Structure in wine—tannins, acid, and alcohol. Keeps things from being flabby.
Barrel / Barrique / Cask: Wooden wine beds that add flavour and soften rough edges. Smaller barrel = more oomph.
Barrel Fermentation: Yeast at work inside a barrel. Adds complexity and creaminess—especially in Chardy.
Barrel Sample: A sneak peek at wine before it’s bottled. Often young, rowdy, and full of promise.
Bâtonnage: Stirring the lees (dead yeast) to add body and flavour. A winemaking whisk.
Bentonite: A clay fining agent. Clarifies wine and removes haze. Not vegan-friendly.
Blend / Blending: Mixing different wines to make a better whole. Also known as winemaker wizardry.
Bottle Age: The quiet time in glass where wine mellows and gains complexity. Sometimes magic, sometimes meh.
Bottle Shock: Wine’s temporary identity crisis after bottling or travel. Give it a nap.
Bottling: The finish line. Get the corks/screwcaps ready.
Bung & Bunghole: The plug and its hole on a barrel. Go ahead, giggle.
Cap: The grape skin hat that forms on fermenting red wine. Needs regular dunking.
Cap Management: Techniques like punching down or pumping over to extract colour and tannin. Grape wrestling.
Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): A byproduct of fermentation—and what gives bubbles to your fizz.
Carbonic Maceration: Whole grapes fermenting in CO₂. Makes fruity, juicy reds—Beaujolais Nouveau style.
Casein: Milk protein used to clarify wine. Dairy in your drink (not suitable for vegans).
Centrifugation: Spinning wine fast to separate solids. Like the winery version of a washing machine.
Chaptalization: Adding sugar to must to boost alcohol. Legal in some places, scandalous in others.
Charmat Method: Sparkling wine made in tanks. Fast, fruity, fresh. Perfect for Prosecco.
Clarification: Making wine clear. Includes fining, filtering, and gravity’s helping hand.
Cold Fermentation: Low temp = fresh aromas. Think zesty whites and vibrant rosés.
Cold Soak: Letting crushed grapes sit cold before fermenting. Colour and aroma booster.
Cold Stabilization: Chill the wine so crystals drop out. Goodbye wine diamonds.
Concrete Egg: Trendy fermentation vessel. Natural convection, no oak flavour, and looks like a sculpture.
Cooper: The craftsman behind the barrels. Part artist, part engineer.
Cork: The traditional wine stopper. Natural, renewable, and occasionally annoying.
Crémant: France’s other sparkling wines. Traditional method, Champagne vibes, better price.
Crushed: Breaking grape skins to release juice. Step one in red wine’s makeover.
Cultured Yeast: Lab-grown yeast added to ensure a clean, controlled ferment. Reliable, if a bit vanilla.
Cuvaison: The soak of juice and skins during fermentation. Time = more colour, tannin, flavour.
Cuvée: A fancy word for batch or blend. Often found on labels with lofty promises.
Decanting: Pouring wine into another vessel to remove sediment or give it air. Classy move.
Délestage: French for “rack and return”. Separates juice and skins, then reunites them. Extraction with flair.
Destemming: Removing grape stems before fermenting. Reduces bitterness.
Diacetyl: Byproduct of malolactic fermentation. Gives that buttery, popcorn note.
Direct Press: Grapes straight to press. Result? Pale rosé perfection.
Disgorgement: Removing sediment from sparkling bottles. Quick, cold, and under pressure.
Dosage: The sugar splash added to fizz before corking. Balances acidity and styles (Brut, Demi-Sec, etc).
Dry: Means no sweetness. Doesn’t mean your mouth is dry—that’s tannin.
Élevage: The whole winemaking process after fermentation and before bottling. French for wine’s upbringing.
En Primeur: Buying wine futures. Pay now, drink much later. Bordeaux’s version of wine stocks.
III. Style Guide: Wine Types & Regions
Time to leave the winery and explore the wide world of what’s in your glass. From sparkling to fortified, and from Bordeaux to Barossa, here’s how to make sense of what style you’re sipping.
Appellation: A fancy name for where the wine comes from. Often comes with rules, pride, and a price bump.
Blanc de Blancs: Sparkling wine made entirely from white grapes—usually Chardonnay. Crisp, elegant, and sounds posh.
Blanc de Noirs: Sparkling wine made from red grapes (like Pinot Noir) but still white in the glass. Sneaky!
Brut: Dry sparkling wine. Not angry, just not sweet.
Champagne: Sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France using the traditional method. Often copied, never equalled.
Claret: Old British term for Bordeaux reds. Still used when pretending to know more than you do.
Cuvée: A blend or special batch. Can mean anything from supermarket plonk to top-shelf magic.
Demi-Sec: Medium-sweet sparkling wine. Great with desserts—or for dessert.
DOC / DOCG / AOC / AVA: Legal codes that say “this wine follows the rules of its region.” Like passports for bottles.
Dry: No noticeable sugar. Don’t confuse it with tannins that dry your mouth.
Fortified Wine: Wine with extra booze added. Think Port, Sherry, Madeira—a warming hug in a glass.
Ice Wine (Eiswein): Made from grapes frozen on the vine. Super sweet, super rare, super delicious.
Late Harvest: Grapes left hanging longer = riper, sweeter wine. Think dessert in a bottle.
Nouveau: Young, just-bottled wine meant for early drinking. Most famous example: Beaujolais Nouveau.
Orange Wine: White grapes made like red wine—with skins. Bold, tannic, and very Instagrammable.
Pet-Nat: Pétillant-Naturel—natural sparkling wine, bottled before fermentation finishes. Funky, fizzy fun.
Red Wine: Made from red grapes with skin contact. You know this one.
Rosé: Pink wine. Made from red grapes with brief skin contact. Summer in a bottle.
Sec: French for dry. Except when it’s not. (Looking at you, Champagne.)
Sparkling Wine: Fizzy stuff. Made with bubbles from fermentation. Includes Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Prosecco.
Still Wine: No bubbles. Most of what you drink.
Sweet Wine: Sugar left in. Ranges from a kiss of sweetness to full-on syrupy goodness.
Table Wine: Legal term for ordinary wine. Doesn’t mean it’s dull—it just isn’t sparkling or fortified.
Tannic: Describes the drying, puckery sensation from tannins (mostly in reds). Like strong tea.
Varietal: Wine named after the grape it’s made from (e.g., Merlot, Chardonnay). Very New World.
Vintage: The year the grapes were picked. Some years are better than others. Like wine drinkers.
White Wine: Made from white grapes or red grapes without skin contact. Zesty, creamy, or crisp.
Wine Regions to Know:
- Bordeaux: Blends rule here. Left Bank = Cabernet, Right Bank = Merlot.
- Burgundy: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Terroir talk starts here.
- Champagne: Sparkling royalty.
- Napa Valley: Big, bold, often expensive. Home of cult Cabs.
- Tuscany: Chianti and beyond. Sangiovese central.
- Rhone Valley: Syrah in the north, Grenache blends in the south.
- Barossa: Aussie Shiraz stronghold.
- Mosel: German Riesling magic. Sweet or dry, always racy.
IV. Swirl, Sniff, Sip: Language of Taste
Time to talk about what’s in the glass—and how to sound like you know what you’re doing without becoming thatperson.
Acidity: Gives wine its zing, zip, and freshness. Like citrus in a salad. Too much and it’s sour; too little and it’s flabby.
Alcohol: Warms you up and gives wine body. Balanced = smooth. Overdone = face flush and fuzzy teeth.
Aroma: What the wine smells like. If it’s pleasant, it’s aroma. If it’s not, it’s probably a fault.
Balance: When nothing sticks out. Acidity, alcohol, tannin, and fruit all in harmony. Like a good string quartet.
Body: How heavy the wine feels in your mouth. Think skimmed milk (light), whole milk (medium), and cream (full).
Bouquet: The fancy term for complex aromas developed during ageing. If it smells like a cigar box, it’s probably a bouquet.
Complexity: More than one thing going on. A wine that keeps evolving as you sip. Like an interesting dinner guest.
Crisp: A wine with fresh acidity that makes your mouth water. Often used for whites and dry rosés.
Dry: Not sweet. Also, how your mouth might feel after a very tannic red.
Earthy: Smells or tastes like soil, mushrooms, or wet leaves. Great in reds like Pinot Noir—not so great in your bathroom.
Finish: How long the flavours stick around after you swallow. Longer = better (usually).
Fruit-forward: When fruit flavours lead the charge. Great for beginners. Like a fruit salad with a buzz.
Herbaceous: Green, leafy, or herbal notes. Common in Sauvignon Blanc or underripe Cabernets.
Jammy: Overripe, sweet-fruited wines. Like your favourite fruit spread—if it came with 14% ABV.
Legs: The streaks on the glass when you swirl. They say more about alcohol and sugar than quality. Pretty but pointless.
Length: How long flavours last. Like finish, but for wine nerds.
Minerality: Tastes like rocks, flint, chalk, or wet stone. No, minerals don’t actually pass into wine, but we like to pretend.
Nose: Wine’s smell. Stick your snout in and have a whiff.
Oxidised: When a wine’s had too much air and tastes like Sherry (when it’s not supposed to). Brownish, flat, lifeless.
Palate: Everything you taste and feel in your mouth. Fancy term for your taste buds’ playground.
Rounded: Smooth, soft, and balanced. Like a well-worn leather chair.
Savory: Not sweet. Could be meaty, brothy, or umami-packed. Often found in serious reds.
Structure: The frame of a wine—acid, tannin, alcohol. Holds the flavours up like a good pair of braces.
Tannins: Those mouth-drying, puckery compounds from skins, seeds, and oak. Needed for structure, but too much = sandpaper.
Texture: How the wine feels—silky, grainy, oily, or chewy. More important than it sounds.
Tight: A young wine that hasn’t opened up yet. Like trying to have a deep chat with someone at 7am.
Typicity: How much a wine tastes like what it’s supposed to. A textbook Pinot tastes like… well, Pinot.
Vanilla: Often a tell-tale sign of oak ageing, especially American oak. Delicious, but too much can feel like you’re drinking cake mix.
Velvety: Tannins that feel smooth, silky, and expensive. A sensory cashmere jumper.
V. Popping Bottles: Serving, Storing & Enjoying Wine
Now that you’ve got the wine, here’s how not to mess it up when opening, pouring, or stashing it for later.
Aging Potential: Not all wines get better with age—some go downhill faster than an opened bottle at a wedding. If it’s got structure (acid, tannin, alcohol), it might be a keeper.
Bottle Sizes: Bigger isn’t always better—but it often is. From splits to Nebuchadnezzars, wine comes in all sizes. Magnum = double the fun.
Corkscrew: The humble tool that opens joy. Waiter’s friend = classic. Winged = easy. Electric = lazy (no shame).
Decanter: A vessel for airing out young reds or rescuing old ones from sediment. Plus, it looks fancy.
Drinking Window: When a wine’s at its peak. Before = tight. After = tired. During = magic.
Glassware: Yes, the glass shape matters. Big bowls for bold reds, flutes for fizz, tulips for whites. But really, anything not plastic will do in a pinch.
Ideal Serving Temperatures:
- Sparkling: 6–8°C (fridge cold, but not arctic)
- Whites & Rosés: 8–12°C (cool but not chilly)
- Light Reds: 12–14°C (slightly cool)
- Full Reds: 16–18°C (room temp if you live in a chateau)
Sabrage: The unnecessarily dramatic art of opening Champagne with a sword. Risky, ridiculous—and incredibly satisfying.
Screw Cap: Not a downgrade. Just a different (more convenient) way to seal the deal.
Serving Order: Bubbles before still, whites before reds, light before heavy, young before old. Dessert wine last. Or just serve what makes you smile.
Storage: Keep it cool (10–15°C), dark, and sideways (if corked). No vibrations, no heat, no light. Wine hates chaos.
Wine Fridge: If you’ve got the space, this gadget keeps your bottles at the perfect sipping temp. Less braggy than a cellar but just as useful.
Wine Preservation Tools:
- Vacuum Pump: Sucks out air. Budget-friendly.
- Coravin: Extracts wine without popping the cork. James Bond meets sommelier.
- Inert Gas Spray: Adds a layer of argon to stop oxygen. Nerdy but effective.
Wine Stain Removal: Salt + soda water if caught fast. White wine on red wine is a myth. Just blot and pray.
Wine Rituals:
- Cheers / Santé / Sláinte: Toast with gusto.
- Spin the bottle: Not for grown-ups. Unless it’s a game of who brings the best Bordeaux.
VI. Wine & Money: Business Side of the Bottle
Wine isn’t just a pleasure—it’s a serious business (with a splash of passion and a hint of chaos). Here’s the lingo behind the price tags and supply chains.
Allocation: When a winery rations its limited stock to top customers, clubs, or restaurants. Like a VIP list—but for bottles.
Appellation: Already met this one, but here’s the commercial twist—it’s also a legal identity, protecting brand and pricing power.
Barrel Program: A winery’s plan for ageing wines in oak. Includes type, toast, time, and how much it’ll cost you.
Broker: The wine middleperson—links wineries and buyers. Not quite as slick as a sommelier, but often better dressed.
Case: Usually 12 bottles of wine. Also, what you’ll need to justify buying “just one more” bottle.
Distributor: The logistical juggernaut that gets wine from wineries to your local shop or restaurant. Often invisible but vital.
Ex-cellars: A pricing term meaning the wine is sold straight from the winery’s cellar. Not to be confused with ex-boyfriends.
FOB (Free on Board): The cost of the wine when it’s loaded for shipping—buyer pays for transport, insurance, tears.
Import Duty: The tax you pay to bring foreign wine into a country. Aka the reason your Rioja costs more in London than in Logroño.
Labeling Laws: Each country has rules about what can appear on a wine label—vintage, variety, alcohol level, health warnings, and occasionally the truth.
Margin: The difference between what a wine costs and what it’s sold for. Big in fine wine, tiny in supermarket plonk.
Market Price: The average going rate for a wine, often tracked in the fine wine world like stocks.
On-Trade vs Off-Trade: On-trade = wine sold where you drink it (restaurants, bars). Off-trade = buy it, drink it later (shops, supermarkets).
Premiumisation: The trend of trading up. Making wine fancier and more expensive, with prettier labels and better storytelling.
Private Label: Wine made specifically for a retailer or restaurant under their brand. May be good, may be bulk juice in disguise.
Provenance: The wine’s backstory—where it’s been, who’s owned it, and how it was stored. Especially important for collectors.
Retail Price: The final shelf price for us mere mortals.
Route to Market: The path a wine takes from producer to drinker. Can include brokers, importers, distributors, unicorns.
Scalping: Reselling hot-ticket wines at inflated prices. Legal? Often. Dodgy? Absolutely.
Secondary Market: Where previously sold wines change hands—auctions, brokers, your mate Dave’s wine fridge.
Tariffs: Government-imposed taxes on imported wines. Often political, never helpful.
Tied House: A pub or restaurant contractually bound to buy wine from a specific supplier. May restrict choice but often boosts consistency.
Vertical Integration: When a wine company controls everything from vine to retail. A bit like being your own grower, winemaker, importer, and shopkeeper.
Vintage Variation: Each year’s wine is different. Great for connoisseurs, terrible for brand managers.
Wine Futures (En Primeur): Buying wine before it’s bottled—mostly in Bordeaux. It’s a gamble that your taste and patience will pay off.
Wine Investment: Treating wine like stock. Buy low, cellar well, sell high—unless you drink it first.
VII. When Good Wine Goes Bad: Faults & Flaws
Even the finest bottle can turn rogue. Here’s how to spot a bad pour before it hits your palate.
Brettanomyces (Brett): A wild yeast that brings barnyard, bandaid, or sweaty saddle notes. Loved by some, loathed by others. Think funky jazz, not Mozart.
Cork Taint (TCA): Smells like wet cardboard or a soggy basement. Comes from a dodgy cork. A wine tragedy in one sniff.
Heat Damage (Cooked): If your wine’s been left in a hot car or sunny window, it may taste flat, stewed, or pruney. No, it wasn’t aged “naturally.”
Lightstrike: When UV light messes with wine, especially whites and rosés, making them smell like damp wool or wet newspaper. Blame the clear bottle.
Maderised: Wine that’s been oxidised and heat-damaged—smells like nuts or Madeira. Tolerable in Sherry. Not OK in Sauvignon Blanc.
Oxidation: Too much oxygen = tired, brown, sherry-like wine. Fine if it’s deliberate (like Oloroso), a flaw if it’s not.
Reduction: The opposite of oxidation. Can smell like rubber, cabbage, or rotten eggs. Sometimes it “blows off,” sometimes not.
Secondary Fermentation in Bottle: When a still wine decides to go sparkling without asking. Fizzy, cloudy, and not in a good way.
Sourness (Acetic Acid): When a wine starts turning to vinegar. If your glass smells like salad dressing, send it back.
Sulphur Compounds: Not all sulphur is bad—it preserves wine. But too much or the wrong kind can smell like burnt match, struck flint, or cooked eggs.
Tartrate Crystals: Harmless potassium bitartrate deposits that look like broken glass. Crunchy, but not dangerous.
Volatile Acidity (VA): High levels of acetic acid and ethyl acetate. Aromas of nail polish remover or vinegar. If it stings your nostrils, it’s probably VA.
Wine Fault vs Flaw: A fault ruins a wine. A flaw just makes it quirky. Think of it like a wine with a face only a mother could love.
VIII. Wine’s Odds & Ends: Miscellany & Abbreviations
The bits and bobs that didn’t fit anywhere else—but still pop up in labels, lessons, and late-night wine debates.
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): How boozy it is. Higher = warmer, fuller. Too high and you’ll feel it after one glass.
AVA (American Viticultural Area): US version of a wine region. Some are big (like Napa), some are one street with a clever name.
AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée): French wine law. Basically means “we’ve done this forever and we’re quite proud of it.”
BIB (Bag-in-Box): Wine in a bladder, in a box. Brilliant for parties, camping, or when glass feels too fancy.
BIN Number: A code or name given by a winery or store. Sounds official. Sometimes is. Sometimes isn’t.
DOC / DOCG: Italy’s wine classification system. DOC = Denominazione di Origine Controllata. DOCG = throw in “e Garantita” for extra red tape.
DO / DOP: Spain and Portugal’s stamp of authenticity. Also found on olive oil and cheese.
IGP / IGT: Wines that play it a little looser with the rules. Not less quality—just more freedom.
NV (Non-Vintage): A blend of different years, common in sparkling wine. Consistency over vintage drama.
MW (Master of Wine): A wine pro who’s passed a famously tough exam. Has probably tasted more wines this year than you will in your life.
MS (Master Sommelier): The hospitality version of an MW. Can pair food with wine in their sleep.
RS (Residual Sugar): What’s left after fermentation. Low RS = dry. High RS = dessert in a glass.
TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau): US wine label police. Less scary than it sounds.
VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance): Canadian wine watchdog. Makes sure the wine inside lives up to what’s on the label.
WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust): Where many wine nerds go to become certified nerds. Offers levels 1–4 and a lifelong taste for flashcards.
And there you have it—from anthocyanins to Zinfandel, sip smarter, swirl sassier, and next time someone mentions terroir, nod with confidence—and maybe correct their pronunciation.
