WINE VOCABULARY
WORDS to describe wine
EFFERVESCENT
Effervescence refers to any kind of bubbles in a wine, even if the bubbles are tiny and faint (for example, when the wine is more “spritzy” than it is bubbly). The bubbles themselves can be described as big or small, numerous or few in quantity. Another term for effervescence, usually used in visual contexts (like when you’re looking at the bubbles through a Champagne glass), is “perlage.”
SWEET | DRY
Most wines (including white wines!) are not actually considered sweet. Instead, they are considered “dry,” which simply means that they contain very little residual sugar (from the grapes) after fermentation ends, if any at all. “Sweet” and “dry” are opposites.
SAPID
Sapidity is a term to describe the tactical effect of minerality in a wine. Most often, people use “sapid” to indicate that a wine is “salty,” but the two terms are not perfect synonyms (since sapidity can refer to the tactical effect of other minerals, as well). Sapidity, not itself a “flavor” or “note,” can be easily noticed on the sides of your tongue, toward the back of your mouth when you taste wine.
warm
Calling a wine “warm” simply means that the wine seems to have high alcohol content, which is neither a good thing or a bad thing, necessarily. A wine’s level of alcohol may vary depending on a lot of factors, including the type and condition of the grapes used to make the wine. The warmth of a wine can usually be felt in the back of your throat and sometimes your chest after taking a sip.
TANNIC
Tannins are polyphenols (molecular compounds) that come from the skins, seeds, and stem of a grape, and produce the astringent feeling on your gums when drinking certain wines. Because grape skins aren’t soaked in the juice when making white wine (which is why the wine also doesn’t pick up any color), white wines are not usually tannic. Certain grapes and winemaking practices (like crushing the stems instead of removing them) can increase the tannins in a wine.
SMOOTH
A wine can be described as smooth when the “mouthfeel” is smooth– that is, when it feels sleek and smooth rolling around in your mouth. Typically, wines are smoother because they have more polyalcohols (aka sugar alcohols), which are molecular compounds that can thicken a substance. As such, sweeter wines are usually thick and smooth, while thick, smooth, dry wines tend to have higher alcohol content.
INTENSE
A wine’s intensity is defined by how strong the the wine’s notes and flavors are. A wine is considered intense “on the nose” if its aromas are strong and apparent. A wine is considered intense “on the palate” if its flavors are robust and apparent. Intensity on the nose does not guarantee intensity on the palate, however intensity on the palate does usually come with intensity on the nose (since so much of tasting is smelling!).
persistent
A wine’s persistence only applies to its taste on the palate, and is defined by how long one or more flavors of the wine linger in your mouth after you’ve swallowed it.