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SACCHAROMETER A laboratory device used for
measuring the sugar content of grape juice, based
on specific gravity.
SAIGNÉE (Fr.) The process of drawing off surplus
liquid from the fermenting vat in order to produce
a rosé wine from the free-run juice. In cooler wine
regions, this process may be used to produce a
darker wine than would normally be possible from
the remaining mass of grape pulp because the
greater ratio of solids to liquid provides more
coloring pigment.
SASSY Should be a less cringing version of the
cheeky, audacious character found in a wine with
bold, brash but not necessarily big flavor.
SEC (Fr.) Dry. When applied to wine, this means
without any sweetness, but it does not mean there
is no fruit. Dry wines with plenty of very ripe fruit
can sometimes seem so rich they may appear to
have some sweetness.
SECOND or SECONDARY FERMENTATION The
fermentation that occurs in bottle during the Méthode
Champenoise. The term is sometimes also used,
mistakenly, to refer to malolactic fermentation.
SEKT (Ger.) Sparkling wine.
SELECTION DE GRAINS NOBLES (Fr.) In Alsace, a
rare, intensely sweet, botrytized wine.
SEMICARBONIC MACERATION An adaption of
the traditional macération carbonique method of
fermentation, in which whole bunches of grapes
are placed in a vat that is then sealed while its air
is displaced with CO2.
SHARP This term applies to acidity, whereas
bitterness applies to tannin and, sometimes, other
natural solids. Immature wines may be sharp.
However, if used by professional tasters, the term
is usually a derogatory one. The opposite to sharp
acidity is usually described as ripe acidity, which
can make the fruit refreshingly tangy.
SHEET FILTRATION Synonymous with pad filtration.
SHERRYLIKE This term refers to the odor of a
wine in an advanced state of oxidation, which is
undesirable in low-strength or unfortified wines.
It is caused by excessive acetaldehyde.
SHORT Refers to a wine that may have a good
nose and initial flavor, but falls short on the finish,
its taste quickly disappearing after the wine has
been swallowed.
SKIN-CONTACT The maceration of grape skins
in must or fermenting wine can extract varying
amounts of coloring pigments, tannin, and
aromatic compounds.
SMOKINESS, SMOKY, SMOKY COMPLEXITY,
SMOKY-OAK Some grapes have an inherent smoky
character (particularly Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc).
This charcter can also come from well-toasted oak
casks, but may also indicate an unfiltered wine.
Some talented winemakers do not rack their wines
and sometimes do not filter them in a passionate
bid to retain maximum character and create an
individual and expressive wine.
SMOOTH The opposite of aggressive and more
extreme than round.
SO2 A commonly used chemical formula for sulfur
dioxide, an antioxidant with aseptic (antibacterial)
qualities that is used in the production of wine. It
should not be noticeable in the finished product,
but sometimes a whiff may be detected on
recently bottled wine. A good swirl in the glass or
a vigorous decanting should remove this trace and
after a few months in bottle it ought to disappear
altogether of its own accord. The acrid odor of
sulfur in a wine should, if detected, be akin to the
smell of a recently extinguished match. If it has a
rotten egg aroma, the sulfur has been reduced to
hydrogen sulfide and the wine may well have
formed mercaptans that you will not be able to
remove. SOFT Interchangeable with smooth, although it
usually refers to the fruit on the palate, whereas
smooth is more often applied to the finish. Softness
is a very desirable quality, but “extremely soft” may
be derogatory, inferring a weak and flabby wine.
SOLERA (Sp.) A system of continually refreshing an
established blend with a small amount of new wine
(equivalent in proportion to the amount of the blend
that has been extracted from the solera) to effect
a wine of consistent quality and character. Some
existing soleras were laid down in the 19th century,
and whereas it would be true to say that every bottle
of that solera sold today contains a little of that first
vintage, it would not even be a teaspoon. You would
have to measure it in molecules, but there would
be infinitesimal amounts of each and every vintage
from the date of its inception to the year before
bottling. SOLID This term is interchangeable with firm.
SOLUMOLOGICAL The science of soil and, in the
context of wine, the relationship between specific
soil types and vine varieties.
SORBIC ACID A yeast-inhibiting compound found
in the berries of mountain ash, sorbic acid is
sometimes added to sweet wines to prevent
refermentation, but it can give a powerful geranium
odor if the wine subsequently undergoes
malolactic fermentation.
SOUPED-UP, SOUPY Implies a wine has been
blended with something richer or more robust. A
wine may well be legitimately souped-up, or use
of the term could mean that the wine has been
played around with. The wine might not be
correct, but it could still be very enjoyable.
SOUS MARQUE (Fr.) A marque under which
wines, usually second-rate wines, are offloaded.
SOUTHERN-STYLE This term describes the obvious
characteristics of a wine from the sunny south
of France. For reds, it may be complimentary at an
honest basic level, indicating a full-bodied, fullflavored
wine with a peppery character. For
whites, it will probably be derogatory, implying a
flabby wine with too much alcohol and too little
acidity and freshness.
SOUTIRAGE (Fr.) Synonymous with racking.
SPARGING A process in which carbonic gas is
introduced into a wine before bottling, often simply
achieved through a valve in the pipe between the
vat and the bottling line.
SPÄTLESE (Ger.) A QmP wine that is one step
above Kabinett, but one below Auslese. It is
fairly sweet and made from late-picked grapes.
SPICY 1. A varietal characteristic of some grapes,
such as Gewürztraminer. 2. An aspect of a complex
bouquet or palate, probably derived from bottle-age
after time spent in wood.
SPICY-OAK A subjective term describing complex
aromas derived from fermentation or maturation in
oak that can give the impression of various
spices—usually “creamy” ones such as cinnamon or
nutmeg—and that are enhanced by bottle-age.
SPRITZ, SPRITZIG (Ger.) Synonymous with pétillant.
SPUMANTE (It.) Fully sparkling.
STABILIZATION The process by which a heaving
broth of biochemical activity becomes firmly fixed
and not easily changed. Most wines are stablized
by tartrate precipitation, filtration, fining, and the
addition of SO2 (sulfur dioxide).
TERPENE Any one of a class of unsaturated
hydrocarbons that are found in the essential oils
of many plants. Terpenes and terpene alcohols
are responsible for some of the most aromatic
characteristics in wine; these range from the
floral aromas of Muscat to the gasoline or kerosene
character of a wonderfully mature Riesling. In
sparkling wine, a terpene character may indicate
Riesling in the blend, but is more likely to be due
to part or all of the base wine being kept unduly
long in tank prior to the second fermentation.
TERROIR (Fr.) This literally means “soil,” but in a
viticultural sense terroir refers in a more general way
to a vineyard’s whole growing environment, which
also includes altitude, aspect, climate, and any other
significant factors that may affect the life of a vine,
and thereby the quality of the grapes it produces.
TÉTE DE CUVÉE (Fr.) The first flow of juice during
the pressing of the grapes, and the cream of the
cuvée. It is the easiest juice to extract and the
highest in quality, with the best balance of acids,
sugars, and minerals.
THIN A term used to describe a wine that is
lacking in body, fruit, and other properties.
TIGHT A firm wine of good extract and possibly
significant tannin that seems to be under tension,
like a wound spring waiting to be released. Its
potential is far more obvious than that of reticent
or closed wines.
TOAST 1. A slow-developing, bottle-induced
aroma commonly associated with Chardonnay, but
that can develop in wines made from other grapes
(including red wines). Toasty bottle aromas are
initially noticeable on the aftertaste, often with no
indication on the nose. 2. A fast-developing oakinduced
aroma. 3. Barrels are toasted during their
construction to one of three grades: light or low,
medium, and heavy or high.
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STAGE A period of practical experience. It has
long been traditional for vineyard owners to
send their sons on a stage to a great château in
Bordeaux. Now the Bordelais send their sons on
similar stages to California and Australia.
STALKY 1. The herbaceous-tannic varietal
characteristic of Cabernet grapes. 2. Applies literally
to wines made from grapes which were pressed with
their stalks. 3. Could be indicative of a corked wine.
STERILIZATION The ultimate sterilization of a very
cheap, commercial wine may be pasteurization or
flash pasteurization.
STICKIES Common parlance for very sweet wines,
usually fortified or botrytized.
STRETCHED This term describes a wine that has
been diluted or cut with water (or a significantly
inferior wine), which is usually illegal in an official
appellation. It can also refer to wine that has been
produced from vines that have been “stretched”
to yield a high volume of attenuated fruit.
STRUCTURE The structure of a wine is literally
composed of its solids (tannin, acidity, sugar, and
extract or density of fruit flavor) in balance with
the alcohol, and how positively they form and feel
in the mouth.
STÜCK (Ger.) A large oval cask with a capacity of
1,200 liters (317 gallons).
STUCK FERMENTATION A stuck, literally halted,
fermentation is always difficult to rekindle and,
even when done successfully, the resultant wine
can taste strangely bitter. The most common causes
for a stuck fermentation are: 1. temperatures of 95°F
(35°C) or above; 2. nutrient deficiency, which can
cause yeast cells to die; 3. high sugar content,
which results in high osmotic pressure, which
can cause yeast cells to die.
STYLISH Describes wines possessing all the
subjective qualities of charm, elegance, and finesse.
A wine might have the “style” of a certain region
or type, but this does not mean it is stylish. A wine
is either stylish or it is not—it defies definition.
SUBTLE Although this description should mean a
significant yet understated characteristic, it is often
employed by wine snobs and frauds who taste a
wine with a famous label and know that it should
be special, but cannot detect anything exceptional.
They need an ambiguous word to get out of the
hole they have dug for themselves.
SUMMER PRUNING Synonymous with green pruning.
SUPERPREMIUM A marketing term for a quality
category;
SUPER-SECOND A term that evolved when Second-
Growth (Deuxième Cru) châteaux, such as Palmer
and Cos d’Estournel, started making wines that
came close to First-Growth (Premier Cru) quality
at a time when certain First Growths were not
always performing well. The first super-second
was Palmer 1961, although the term did not evolve
until some time during the early 1980s.
SUPER-TUSCAN This term was coined in Italy in the
1980s for the Cabernet-boosted vini da tavola
blends that were infinitely better and far more
expensive than Tuscany’s traditional Sangiovesebased
wines.
SUPPLE Describes a wine that is easy to drink, not
necessarily soft, but the term suggests more ease
than round does. With age, the tannin in wine is
said to become supple.
SUPPLE TANNIN Tannins are generally perceived
to be harsh and mouth-puckering, but the tannins
in a ripe grape are supple, whereas those in an
unripe grape are not.
SUR LIE (Fr.) Describes wines, usually Muscadet,
that have been kept on their lees and have not
been racked or filtered prior to bottling. Although
this practice increases the possibility of bacterial
infection, the risk is worth taking for those wines
made from neutral grape varieties. In the wines of
Muscadet, for example, this practice enhances the
fruit of the normally bland Melon de Bourgogne
grape and adds a yeasty dimension of depth that
can give the flavor of a modest white Burgundy. It
also avoids aeration and retains more of the
carbonic gas created during fermentation, thereby
imparting a certain liveliness and freshness.
SÜSSRESERVE (Ger.) Unfermented, fresh grape
juice commonly used to sweeten German wines
up to and including Spätlese level. It is also added
to cheaper Auslesen. Use of Süssreserve is far
superior to the traditional French method of
sweetening wines, which utilizes grape
concentrate instead of grape juice. Süssreserve
provides a fresh and grapey character that is
desirable in inexpensive medium-sweet wines.
TABLE WINE A term that often implies a wine is
modest, even poor-quality, because it is the literal
translation of vin de table, the lowest level of
French wine. Yet it is not necessarily a derogatory
term as it may also be used to distinguish between
a light (unfortified) and a fortified wine.
TAFELWEIN (Ger.) Table wine or vin de table.
TALENTO (It.) Since March 1996, producers of
Italian Méthode Champenoise wines may use the
new term “Talento,” which has been registered as a
trademark by the Instituto Talento Metodo
Classico—established in 1975 and formerly called
the Instituto Spumante Classico Italiano. Talento is
almost synonymous with the Spanish term Cava,
although to be fully compatible it would have to
assume the mantle of a DOC and to achieve that
would require the mapping of all the areas of
production. However, it will take all the talento
they can muster to turn most Italian Spumante
brut into an international class of sparkling wine.
TANNIC,TANNIN Tannins are various phenolic
substances found naturally in wine that come from
the skin, seeds, and stalks of grapes. They can also
be picked up from oak casks, particularly new
ones. Grape tannins can be divided into “ripe” and
“unripe,” the former being most desirable. In a
proper balance, however, both types are essential
to the structure of red wines, in order to knit the
many flavors together. Unripe tannins are not
water-soluble and will remain harsh no matter
how old the wine is, whereas ripe tannins are
water-soluble, have a suppleness or, at most, a
grippy feel from an early age, and will drop out as
the wine matures. Ripe grape tannin softens with
age, is vital to the structure of a serious red wine,
and is useful in wines chosen to accompany food.
TART Refers to a noticeable acidity somewhere
between sharp and piquant.
TARTARIC ACID The ripe acid of grapes that
increases slightly when the grapes increase in
sugar during the véraison.
TARTRATES,TARTRATE CRYSTALS Deposits of
tartaric acid look very much like sugar crystals at
the bottom of a bottle and may be precipitated
when a wine experiences low temperatures.
Tartrates are also deposited simply through the
process of time, although seldom in a still or
sparkling wine that has spent several months in
contact with its lees, as this produces a
mannoprotein called MP32, which prevents the
precipitation of tartrates. A fine deposit of glittering
crystals can also be deposited on the base of a
cork if it has been soaked in a sterilizing solution
of metabisulphite prior to bottling. All are
harmless.
TASTEVIN (Fr.) A shallow, dimpled, silver cup
used for tasting, primarily in Burgundy.
TbA (Ger.) A commonly used abbreviation of
Trockenbeerenauslese, this
category is for wines
produced from individually picked, botrytized grapes
that have been left on the vine to shrivel. The wine
is golden-amber to amber in color, intensely
sweet, viscous, very complex and as different from
Beerenauslese as that wine is from Kabinett.
TCA Short for trichloroanisole, the prime (but by no
means only) culprit responsible for corked wines.
TCA is found in oak staves as well as in cork.
TEINTURIER A grape variety with colored (red), as
opposed to clear, juice.
TOBACCO A subjective bouquet/tasting term often
applied to oak-matured wines, usually Bordeaux.
TOTAL ACIDITY The total amount of acidity in
a wine is usually measured in grams per liter
and, because each acid is of a different strength,
expressed either in terms of sulfuric or tartaric acid.
TRANSFER METHOD Synonym of transvasage.
TRANSVASAGE (Fr.) In what is also known as
the transfer method, non-Méthode Champenoise
sparkling wines undergo a second fermentation
in bottle, and are then decanted, filtered, and
rebottled under pressure to maintain the mousse.
TRIE (Fr.) This term usually refers to the harvesting
of selected overripe or botrytized grapes by
numerous sweeps (tries) through the vineyard.
TYPICAL Overused, less-than-honest form of honest.
TYPICITY A wine that shows good typicity is one
that accurately reflects its grape variety and soil
type.
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Sunday, September 20, 2015
WINE GLOSSARIES (P-Q-R)
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PAD FILTRATION A filtration system utilizing a Plate
and Frame filter with a series of cellulose, asbestos,
or paper sheets through which wine is passed.
PALATE The flavor or taste of a wine.
PASSERILLAGE (Fr.) Grapes without noble rot that
are left on the vine become cut off from the plant’s
metabolic system as its sap withdraws into its roots.
The warmth of the day, followed by the cold of
the night, causes the grapes to dehydrate and
concentrate in a process known as passerillage. The
sweet wine produced from these grapes is prized in
certain areas. A passerillage wine from a hot fall will
be totally different to one from a cold fall.
PASSITO (It.) The Italian equivalent of passerillage.
Passito grapes are semidried, either outside—on
the vine or on mats—or inside a warm building.
This concentrates the pulp and produces strong,
often sweet wines.
PASTEURIZATION A generic term for various
methods of stabilization and sterilization.
PEAK The ideal maturity of a wine. Those liking
fresher, crisper wines will perceive an earlier peak
in the same wine than drinkers who prefer mature
wines. As a rule of thumb that applies to all
extremes of taste, a wine will remain at its peak
for as long as it took to reach it.
PEPPERY A term applied to young wines whose
components are raw and not yet in harmony,
sometimes quite fierce and prickly on the nose. It
also describes the characteristic odor and flavor of
southern French wines, particularly Grenachebased
ones. Syrah can smell of freshly crushed
black pepper, while white pepper is the character
of great Grüner Veltliner. Young ports and light
red Riojas can also be very peppery.
PERFUME An agreeable scented quality of a
wine’s bouquet.
PERLANT (Fr.) Very slightly sparkling, less so than
crémant and pétillant.
PERLITE A fine, powdery, light, lustrous substance
of volcanic origin with diatomaceous earth-like
properties When perlite is used for filtration, it is
sometimes referred to as ceramic filtration.
PESTICIDE Literally a pest-killer, but more
accurately a parasite-killer, the term pesticide infers
a highly toxic concoction of chemicals capable of
eradicating parasitic insects that attack the vine,
including larvae, flies, moths, and spiders.
PÉTILLANCE, PÉTILLANT (Fr.) This term describes
a wine with sufficient carbonic gas to create a
light sparkle.
PETIT CHÂTEAU (Fr.) Literally “small château,” this
term is applied to any wine château that is neither
a Cru Classé nor a Cru Bourgeois.
pH A commonly used chemical abbreviation of
“potential hydrogen-ion concentration,” a measure
of the active acidity or alkalinity of a liquid. It does
not give any indication of the total acidity in a wine,
but neither does the human palate. When we
perceive the acidity in wine through taste, it is
more closely associated with the pH than with the
total acidity.
PHENOLS, PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS Compounds
found in the skin, seeds, and stalks of grapes, the
most common being tannin and anthocyanins.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS The process by which light
energy is trapped by chorophyll, a green chemical
in the leaves, and is converted into chemical
energy in the form of glucose. This is then carried
around the plant in special tubes called phloem to
grow shoots, leaves, flowers, and fruit.
PHYLLOXERA A vine louse that spread from
America to virtually every viticultural region in the
world during the late 19th century, destroying many
vines. New vines had (and still have) to be grafted
on to phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks.
PIPE (Port.) The most famous Portuguese barrel, a
Douro pipe has a 550-liter (145-gallon) capacity.
PIQUANT (Fr.) Usually applied to a pleasing white
wine with positive underlying fruit and acidity.
PLAFOND LIMITÉ DE CLASSEMENT. PLC Plafond Limité de Classement, a
legalized
form of cheating whereby producers of AOC wines
are allowed to exceed the official maximum limit
by as much as 20 percent.
PLUMMY An elegant, juicy flavor and texture that
resembles the fleshiness of plums.
PLUM-PUDDING A subjective term for a rich
and spicy red wine; a more intense term than
Christmas cake.
POLISHED Describes a wine that has been
skillfully crafted, leaving no rough edges. It is
smooth and refined to drink.
POLISHING The very last, ultrafine filtration of
a wine, usually with kieselguhr or perlite. It is so called because it
leaves the wine bright. Many high-quality wines are not polished because the
process can wash out natural flavors.
POST-DISGORGEMENT AGING The period between
disgorgement and when the wine is consumed.
With the sudden exposure to air after an extended
period of aging under anaerobic conditions, the
development of a sparkling wine after disgorgement
is very different from its development before.
POURRITURE NOBLE (Fr.) Noble rot, which is
caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea under
certain conditions.
PRD Partial rootzone drying, a clever way of fooling
the vine into thinking that it is not being irrigated,
when in fact it is. This is achieved by alternating
irrigation between two separate parts of the root
system. Part of the vine receives a carefully metered
out drip irrigation, but the rest of the plant system
is unaware of this and, not sensing the irrigation,
believes that it is in fact experiencing a mild water
stress. The vine thus diverts its metabolism (energy)
from the leaves to the grape clusters, improving
the quality of the fruit. When the water is drawn
into the part of the vine that has shut down the
metabolism of its leaves, this part of the vine
reverses the metabolic process. This is the very
time that the drip irrigation is switched to that side
of the vine, as it has already accepted the water’s
presence. However, by turning off the irrigation to
the other side of the vine, that side now believes it
is experiencing a mild water stress, and it is its turn
to divert the vine’s metabolism from the leaves to
the grape clusters. And so it goes on, drip feeding
either side of a vine that perpetually experiences
a mild state of water stress. This conserves water,
and while it does not increase yields per se, it
does produce better quality at normal yields.
ROOTSTOCK The lower rooting part of a grafted
vine, often phylloxera-resistant.
ROSÉ This French term has become as anglicized
for pink wine as rendezvous has for appointment.
In most cases, a rosé is made by crushing black
grapes and keeping the juice in contact with the
grapeskins for a short while prior to pressing or by
running off colored juice (saignée). It will have no
discernible tannin content. Champagne rosé is a
rare case where the wine may be made by
blending a little red wine into a white wine.
ROUND A wine that has rounded off all its edges
of tannin, acidity, extract, and so on through
maturity in bottle.
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PREFERMENTATION MACERATION The practice
of maceration of juice in grape skins prior to
fermentation, to enhance the varietal character of
the wine. This maceration is usually carried out
cold and is normally employed for aromatic white
varieties, but can be undertaken warm—or even
quite hot for red wines.
PREMIER CRU (Fr.) Literally “First Growth,” this
term is of relevance only in those areas where it is
controlled, such as in Burgundy and Champagne.
PREMIUM A marketing term for a quality category.
So-called premium or premium-quality wine is not as
expensive as you might think, and certainly not the
top category of wine. Because of the differential in
tax, duty, and shipping costs, it is actually possible
to categorize wines by exactly the same unit price
in dollars (US), pounds (UK), and Euros (rest of
Eurozone): Basic: less than $3/£3/ 3; Premium:
$/£/ 5–7; Superpremium: $/£/ 7–14; Ultrapremium:
$/£/ 14–150; and Icon: in excess of $/£/ 150.
PRICKLE, PRICKLY This term describes a wine
with residual carbonic gas, but with less than the
light sparkle of a pétillant wine. This characteristic
can be desirable in some fresh white and rosé
wines, but it is usually taken as a sign of an
undesirable secondary fermentation in red wines,
although it is deliberately created in certain South
African examples.
PRODUCER VINE Vines are usually grafted on
to phylloxera-resistant rootstock, but the grapes
produced are characteristic of the above-ground
producer vine or scion, which is normally a variety
of Vitis vinifera.
PROTEIN HAZE Protein is present in all wines.
Too much protein can react with tannin to cause a
haze, in which case bentonite is usually used as
a fining agent to remove it.
PUNCHEON A type of barrel that is commonly
found in Australia and New Zealand and has a
capacity of 450 liters (119 gallons).
PVPP Abbreviation for polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, a
fining agent used to remove compounds sensitive
to browning from white wines.
PYRAZINES One of the most important groups of
aromatic compounds found in grapes (especially
methoxypyrazines), pyrazines typically have green,
leafy, grassy characteristics through to bell-pepper,
green-pea, and asparagus. The more herbaceous
pyrazine aromas are symptomatic of an excessively
vigorous vine canopy, particularly in red wines.
Although pyrazines become less abundant as
grapes ripen, they are considered a vital element
in the varietal character of Sauvignon Blanc
QbA (Ger.) Germany’s Qualitätswein bestimmter
Anbaugebiete is the theoretical
equivalent of the
French AOC.
QmP (Ger.) The abbreviation for Qualitätswein mit
Prädikat. Literally a “quality wine with predication,”
this term is used for any German wine above QbA,
from Kabinett upward. The predication carried by
a QmP wine depends upon the level of ripeness of
the grapes used in the wine.
QUAFFING WINE Describes an unpretentious wine
that is easy and enjoyable to drink.
QUINTA (Port.) A wine estate.
R2 A yeast strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae race
bayanus) discovered by Danish-born winemaker
Peter Vinding-Diers.
RACKING The draining of a wine off its lees into a
fresh cask or vat.
RACY Often applied to wines of the Riesling
grape. The term racy accurately suggests the
liveliness, vitality, and acidity of this grape.
RANCIO Description of a vin doux naturel stored
in oak casks for at least two years, often with the
barrels exposed to direct sunlight. This imparts a
distinctive flavor that is popular in the Roussillon
area of France.
RATAFIA A liqueur made by combining marc
with grape juice, Ratafia de Champagne being
the best-known.
RD A sparkling-wine term that stands for “recently
disgorged,” the initials RD are the trademark of
RECIOTO (It.) A strong, sweet wine made in Italy
from passito grapes.
REDOX The aging process of wine was originally
conceived as purely oxidative, but it was then
discovered that when one substance in wine is
oxidized (gains oxygen), another is reduced (loses
oxygen). This is known as a reductive-oxidative,
or redox reaction. Organoleptically, however,
wines reveal either oxidative or reductive
characters. In the presence of air, wine is prone
to an oxidative character, but shut off from a
supply of oxygen, reductive characteristics begin
to dominate, thus the bouquet of bottle-age is a
reductive one and the aroma of a fresh, young
wine is more oxidative than reductive.
REDUCTIVE The less exposure it has to air, the
more reductive a wine will be. Different as they are
in basic character, Champagne, Muscadet sur lie, and
Beaujolais Nouveau are all examples of reductive,
as opposed to oxidative, wines, from the vividly
autolytic Champagne, through Muscadet sur lie with
its barest hint of autolytic character, to the amylic
aroma of Beaujolais Nouveau. A good contrast is
between sherry and Madeira, the latter of which is
reductive, while the former is oxidative. The term is,
however, abused, as many tasters use it to describe
a fault, when the wine is heavily reduced.
REFRACTOMETER An optical device used to measure
the sugar content of grapes when out in the field.
REMONTAGE (Fr.) The pumping of wine over the
cap (or manta) of skins during the cuvaison of
red wine.
REMUAGE (Fr.) An intrinsic part of the méthode
champenoise; deposits thrown off during secondary
fermentation are eased down to the neck of the
bottle and are then removed at disgorgement.
RESERVE WINES Still wines from previous vintages
that are blended with the wines of one principal
year to produce a balanced nonvintage Champagne.
RETICENT This term suggests that the wine is
holding back on its nose or palate, perhaps
through youth, and may well develop with a little
more maturity.
RICH, RICHNESS A balanced wealth of fruit and
depth on the palate, and a good finish.
RIPASSO (It.) Refermentation of wine on the lees
of a recioto wine.
RIPE Grapes ripen; wines mature. However, the
fruit and even the acidity in wine can be referred
to as ripe. Tasters should be careful not to mistake
a certain residual sweetness for ripeness.
RIPE ACIDITY The main acidic component in ripe
grapes (tartaric acid) tastes refreshing and fruity,
even in large proportions, whereas the main
acidity in unripe grapes (malic acid) tastes hard
and unpleasant.
ROASTED Describes the character of grapes
subjected to the shriveling or roasting of noble rot.
ROBUST A milder form of aggressive, which may
frequently be applied to a mature product.
A wine is robust by nature, rather than aggressive
through youth.
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