Acronym for Appellation Contrôlée, a shortened version of Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. Often used to distinguish high-quality wines like the great crus of Burgundy and the simple vins deÂ…
Acetic acid is the main acid of vinegar, which is found in small amounts in any wine. In wine acetic acid becomes perceptible only when, during fermentation or aging, it is over–exposed to…
When you squee a slice of lemon in your tea to improve its taste, in fact you increase the acid content of the drink. The same happens for wine. All wines contain a variety of basic natural acids,Â…
Character given to must and to wines by free acids. It is the important element in the balance of wine, in the right measure it brightens the colour, gives freshness to the flavour and promotesÂ…
An aggressive wine is disharmonious, unpleasant, due to the presence of too much tannin or acidity.
Aging is the process by which to try to bring the wine to the maximum of its organoleptic qualities. Aging can take place in contact or shielded from the air. It can last from a few weeks, for jugÂ…
Aged in bottle means that the wine has been left for a certain period of time in the bottle in order to mature and develop. Many wineries age their wine in bottles (from a few weeks to severalÂ…
1.Alcohol is the natural byproduct of the alcoholic fermentation of sugary liquids by yeasts that convert sugars. In wine the most important is ethyl alcohol. 2. in the common lexicon it is anyÂ…
Many countries require their wineries to specify to the consumer how much alcohol there is in their wine. eg: "Alcohol 13% volume", means that almost 1/8 of the wine is pure alcohol. US lawsÂ…
The alcohol potential of a wine is the alcohol content that would result if all the sugar was converted into alcohol through fermentation. Using a simple equation, oenologists can determine theÂ…
Alcohol is the term used to describe an unbalanced wine so as to give a feeling of pseudo–heat.
A French grape variety with white grape widely grown in Burgundy, used to create a dry white wine meant to be consumed young. Aligoté is still popular in some countries in Eastern Europe such as…
A winery can utilize American oak barrels for the process of aging of wine. Traditionally, the wines are aged in French oak barrels, but the American oak has become increasingly popular both forÂ…
AVA is a system that regulates the American wine industry, created in 1983 with the main purpose of ensuring that at least 85% of the grapes used to make a bottle of wine recorded AVA, come from aÂ…
An angular wine is disharmonious, unpleasant, often immature.
Acronym for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
It is the system used by the French Government to identify the wine regions of the country and set the standards of wine making (alcohol content, grape varieties, cultivation methods, etc.). TheÂ…
The Arneis grape varieties are grown exclusively in the province of Cuneo, in the Roero area. Only since the 70s Arneis, after being on the verge of extinction, came back to life. The wine madeÂ…
It is said that a wine is astringent when, for excessive tannins (found especially in young red wines, particularly those in Tuscany and Piedmont), there is bitterness and harshness. The effectÂ…
Auslese is a German word meaning "selection". The Auslese wines are produced from harvested by hand grapes in late harvest (very mature, then) and pressed separately from other grapes. The AusleseÂ…
Acronym for American Viticultural Area.
