Wine Vocabulary
Glossary

Abruzzo	Italian Wine Region
acetic acid	a sour tasting acid ( vinegar ) that occurs during fermentation of some white wines. It is also what is created when a wine is exposed to air for a long time ... wines that have gone bad are often called acetic.
acidification	adding either Citric or tartaric acid to wines. This is done at times to balance out wines that don't have enough natural acid and aids in longevity
Aeration	allowing oxygen to mix with the wine during fermentation ( in a controlled way ), also happens during some of the barrel aging. This tends to "soften" a wine a bit. A good example of of this is swirling a wine in a glass to release the bouquet and flavor components. Also happens as a result of decanting and can often soften and open up a young or less expensive wine.
Aglianico del Vulture	Italian - Appellation of Basilicata
Agter Paarl	South African - Appellation of the Paarl Region
Ahr	German Wine Region
Albana di Romagna	Italian - Appellation of Emilia Romagna
Albarino	grape used in some spanish wines
Alcamo	Italian - Appellation of Sicily
Aldehydes	Ok .. we're not chemists here but ... these are chemical compounds that can contribute to flavors in wines. Their are many types and they contribute to such things as a "wood" flavor, the scents of sherries, the grassy herbaceousness of sauvignon blancs and even some merlots
Aleatico di Gradoli	Italian - Appellation of Latium
Aleatico di Puglia	Italian - Appellation of Puglia
Alejandro Fernandez	Spanish Winery
Alella	Spanish Wine Region
Alentejo	Portugese Wine Region
Alezio	Italian - Appellation of Puglia
Algarve	Portugese Wine Region
Alicante	Spanish Wine Region
Aligote	White Grape .. Used in burgundy
Alion	Winery - Owned by Vega Scillia
Almansa	Spanish Wine Region
Aloxe Corton	French - Appellation of Burgundy
Alsace	French Wine Region
Altenberg de Bergheim	French - Appellation of Alsace
Alto Adige	Italian - Appellation of Trentino Alto Adige
Alvarinho	Portugese Wine Region
Amarone	This Italian wine is made from grapes that have been dried almost to the point of being raisins. It has a high alcoholic content, the heat of which is offset by the sweetness that comes from the noble rot on the grapes. It is generally aged for at least five years.
amelioration	The adding of water or sugar to a wine to reduce the acid level of the wine
Amontillado	an aged fino sherry
Ampurdan Costa Brava	Spanish Wine Region
Andalusia	South African Wine Region
Anejo	Spanish for Aged
Angel's share	a term that describes the wine that escapes through evaporation during the barrel aging process.
Anjou	French - Appellation of Loire Valley
Anjou Coteaux de la Loire	French - Appellation of Loire Valley
Anjou mousseux	French - Appellation of Loire Valley
Anjou petillant	French - Appellation of Loire Valley
Ansonica Costa dell'Argentario	Italian - Appellation of Tuscany
appellation d'orgine controlee ( AOC )	the designation that a wine comes from an area that is controlled and specified by the government. This includes how and where the vines are grown, their yields and how the wine is made. This is the top category of French wines. (Sometimes referred to as AC )
Apremont	One of the top villages of Savoie
Aprilia	Italian - Appellation of Latium
Apulia	Italian Wine Region
Aquileia	Italian - Appellation of Friuli Venezia Giuli
Arbois	French - Appellation of Jura
Arborea	Italian - Appellation of Sardinia
Arien	grape used in some Spanish Wines
Armailhac, Ch. d'	French Wine Producer
Arnad Montiovet	Italian - Appellation of Val D'Aosta
Arrabida	Portugese Wine Region
Arsac Margaux	French - Appellation of Bordeaux
aspect	used to describe the lay ( slope ) of the land in a vineyard .. the amount of slope ( i.e. how steep ) .. the aspect of the land has a large influence on the wines produced on that land.
assemblage	The combining of wines from different vats, ore even different vintages so that a certain "style" can be maintained. This is most often done with fine champagnes
Asti Spumante	Italian - Appellation of Piedmont
Au Bon Climat	U.S.A. Wine Producer
Ausbruch	This rank of quality for Austrian wine requires that grapes hat have been completely affected by noble rot and have started to shrivel. Harvested grapes have a minimum must weight of 27° KMW. Freshly pressed most or late harvest wine from the same vineyard can be added to the grapes before vinification. Ausbruch wine must have a minimum of 5% alcohol.
ausg'steckt is'	An Austrian winery's or Buschenschank's advertisement of a special period of wine tasting.
Auslese	(= Select Picking): Ripeness level with in the QmP* category, a very high ripeness level of grapes, achieved only by careful selection of the grapes harvested or in particularly good years. It means the harvest of selected, very ripe bunches. Noble wines, intense in bouquet and taste are the result. It can already be dessert wine like and sweet, but they can still be dry, medium dry or sweet depending on the decision of the winemaker. Dry Auslese Wines are similar to Alsacian Grand Cru Rieslings since all the natural sugar is fermented into alcohol resulting in a heavier body.
Ausstich	This name is given to the winemakers favorite barrel of wine and is sometimes bottled and labeled separately.
Auxey Duresses	French - Appellation of Burgundy
AVA	American Vinticulture Area ... this is a (very) loose demarcation used the the US Government to define specific wine areas within the United States. It has absolutely no bearing on quality ( unlike the very controlled AOC regions in France), but rather simply insures that if a wine say "Napa Valley" on its label that the grapes did in fact come from that AVA.
Aversa Asprinio	Italian - Appellation of Campania
Aviner	The term which means getting the glass ready to receive the next wine without an influence of the previous one. This is when you are tasting different wines in the same glass. Prior to tasting the next wine, you swish it out a bit with that next wine.

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