| Accessible | Easily drunk without overwhelming perceptions of extract, acidity, or tannin. |
| Acidic | Noticeable acidity |
| Aftertaste | Aka “finish” it’s the taste remaining after swallowing a wine. |
| Aggressive | Harsh, pronounced flavors; contrasts with “smooth” and “soft”. |
| Alcoholic | Too much alcohol so much as to be out of balance with a wine’s other components (fruit, tannins, acidity, sugars). |
| Aroma | Smell of younger wine. “Bouquet” is a term reserved for an aged wine. |
| Astringent | Overly-tannic, having a bite. |
| Austere | Having insufficient fruit necessary for balancing harsh acidity and/or tannin tastes. |
| Autolytic | Acacia-like flowery or “yeasty” smells associated with aged wine. |
| Baked | Evoking thoughts of baked fruit due to high-alcohol content or post-harvest, sun-exposed grapes. |
| Balanced | A well-incorporated balance of all the main components in wine: acidity, tannins, alcohol, sugar, and fruit. |
| Barnyard | Perception of off -flavors in wine, often due to brettanomyces bacteria; more negative than “farmyard”. |
| Big | Intense and flavorful or having high-alcohol |
| Biscuit-y | Evoking perceptions of bread-dough or yeast |
| Bite | A strong perception of acidity or tannins. Can be negative or positive, dependent on whether there is an overall balance to the wine. |
| Bitter | Unpleasant tannin taste |
| Blowzy | Exaggerated fruity aromas often linked to fruity, low-quality wine |
| Body | “Texture”, “structure”, and “mouth-feel”. |
| Bouquet | Multi-layered aromas of aged wine |
| Bright | Visual appearance relating to good clarity and low level or no solids present. In fruity wines it denotes obviously high-acidity and vividness. |
| Buttery | Fermented wine that has a creamy, rich “mouth-feel” and a flavor that hints of butter. |
| Cassis | A French word for flavors of the black currant. Use of the cassis descriptor instead of black currant generally is indicative of a richer, more concentrated flavor. |
| Cedarwood | The woodsy aroma of a wine treated with wood or aged in oak. |
| Charming | Describes having various pleasing properties but none that obviously stand out. |
| Cheesy | Aromas of nutty aged cheese, like Gouda, which are caused by small amounts of an acid called butyric, which is created in fermentation and then is later developed into the ester ethyl butyrate. Characteristic of extended-aged Champagne. |
| Chewy | Perception of tannins but not overwhelming; not a negative characteristic, necessarily. |
| Chocolaty | Mouth-feel and flavors akin to chocolate, most typically dark. Often used to describe red wines like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. |
| Cigar box | Tobacco aromas stemming from an oak influence. |
| Citrus | Evoking perceptions of the citrus fruit family |
| Classic | Displaying exceptional qualities of varietal “typicity” but well-balanced with multi-layered complexity. |
| Clean | No “faults” or undesirable flavors or aromas. |
| Clear | Having no visible particle matter, like sediment. |
| Closed | Having little aromatic quality. |
| Cloves | Perception of aromatic cloves caused by toasting in oak barrels. |
| Cloying | Sticky and/or over-sweet characteristics not balanced by acidity. |
| Coarse | Rough mouth-feel or texture; generally also implies a presence of tannins. |
| Coconut | Hints of a coconut aroma – typically derived from American oak treatment. |
| Compact | A perception of dense fruit balanced by acidity and tannins; the opposite of “open knit”. |
| Complete | Like “balanced” but even better/more than the sum of all its main components, with a pleasant mouth-feel and a long finish. |
| Complex | Multi-layered flavors, aromas, or bouquet |
| Concentrated | Denotes intensity of flavors |
| Concoction | Typically a negative term indicating a wine having components that appear tossed together instead of being integrated into one balanced profile. |
| Connected | Relays a wine’s terroir or land of origination. |
| Cooked | Similar to “baked”; fruit flavors seem like they’ve been baked, cooked, or stewed. May indicate that a grape concentrate had been added to “must” while undergoing fermentation. |
| Corked | Indicates “cork taint” or that the cork is tainted. |
| Creamy | Indicates a creamy, warm mouth-feel. Perceptions of which are typically discovered in the back part of the mouth and thru the wine’s finish. |
| Crisp | A pleasant perception of acidity. |
| Crust | Sediment, typically potassium bitartrate, present on the inside of a bottle of wine. |
| Definition | Well-balanced with a good expression of “typicity”. |
| Delicate | Relates to a wine’s more subtle notes; sometimes interchanged with “charming”. |
| Depth | Indicates multiple layers of flavor. One of the elements of “complexity”. |
| Dirty | Unpleasant flavors and off aromas most likely developed from unsanitary bottling or fermentation conditions. |
| Dried up | Indicates a loss of freshness and/or fruitiness from protracted aging. |
| Dry | Used to describe the mouth-feel of tannins or a puckering sensation on the palate; lacking in sweetness. |
| Earthy | Aromas and flavors that have hints of earthiness, like mushrooms or a forest floor. Also refers to dryness on the palate due to a higher level of geosmin naturally occurring in a grape. |
| Easy | “Approachable” or simple with little complexity, yet enjoyable. |
| Edgy | Noticeable acidity that intensifies flavor; aka “nervy”. |
| Elegant | Denotes delicacy with subtle well-balanced flavors. |
| Expansive | “Big” but easy to drink (accessible) |
| Expressive | Clearly projecting flavors and aromas |
| Extract | Refers to wine’s solid compounds, like tannins. Increasing extract levels results in deeper color and body, which can be done by leaving wine in contact with skins for a longer time during fermentation. However, too long a time results in unbalanced wine referred to as over-extracted. |
| Extracted | Concentrated flavors often associated with extensive skin contact, having traded a rougher youth for enhanced age-ability. |
| Fallen over | Denotes a young wine that has already passed its peak for optimal drinking and is quickly decreasing in quality. |
| Farmyard | Vegetal and earthy undertones developed by some Pinot noirs and Chardonnays after maturing. Generally more positive than “barnyard”. |
| Fat | Full-bodied with a perception of viscosity. Excessive fat not balanced with acidity is referred to as “blowzy” or “flabby”. |
| Faulty (Fault) | Ruined or tainted wine that can occur from cork taint, oxidation resulting from poor aging techniques, overexposure to oxygen, and yeast contamination. |
| Feminine | Refers to subtle aromas, delicate flavors and silky textures vs. the weight, strength or intensity of fruits. |
| Finesse | High-quality, well-balanced; a subjective term. |
| Finish | Perceptions of a wine when swallowing it. |
| Firm | A very strong perception of tannin levels. |
| Flabby | Lacking acidity |
| Flat | For sparkling wines, it refers to having lost effervescence; otherwise it is the same as “flabby” or lacking acidity, primarily in a finish. |
| Fleshy | Noticeable fruit and/or extract. |
| Foxy | Negative perceptions of mustiness from grapes of the Vitis labrusca indigenous to North America. |
| Fresh | Positive acidity |
| Fruit | Having grape attributes with a body unique to a varietal. |
| Full | Heavy body or weight due to alcohol content. Also refers to full flavors and/or extract. |
| Grapey | Grape flavoring—like grape jelly. Wines from the Muscat grape family are often referred to as being “grapey”. |
| Grassy | Herbaceous and/or vegetal perceptions ranging from newly mown grass to lemony flavors. |
| Green | Made with under-ripe fruit. Typically a negative perception, it may be found in white wine having vegetal notes, or red wine having herbal or bell pepper notes. |
| Gutsy | Pronounced body, fruit and extract. |
| Hard | Excessively tannic |
| Harsh | An imbalance of acidity and tannins; more negative than “coarse”. |
| Heavy | High alcoholic content with excessive body. |
| Herbaceous | Herbal or vegetal flavors and aromas; could be a negative if found in a red wine as it could be the result of harvesting under-ripe grapes or the use of aggressive extraction or fermentation methods. |
| Hollow | Lacking fruit (grape flavors) |
| Hot | Perceived as overly-alcoholic |
| Inky | Dark in color or opacity |
| Integration | Describes how well the key components of wine (acidity, fruit, residual sugar, alcohol, and tannins) come together in flavor; similar to balance. |
| Jammy | Rich with fruit but perhaps lacking tannins |
| Lean | Lacking fruit but higher in acidity |
| Leathery | Red wine with high tannins, a thick, soft flavor |
| Legs | Liquid tracks or streaks found on the inside of a wine glass after swirling the wine. Perhaps related to glycerol or alcohol content. Also known as tears. |
| Lemony | Flavors hinting of lemons; may be acidic also. |
| Lightstruck | Having aromas and flavors like “wet cardboard” due to lengthy ultraviolet light exposure. |
| Linalool | A flower-peach aroma linked to Riesling and Muscat wines; resulting from the linalool chemical compound. |
| Liquorice | A sweet, concentrated flavor; may be derived from grapes that are botrytized. |
| Liveliness | Slightly carbonated, bright, fresh acidity |
| Luscious | Denotes a concentrated, rich mouth-feel of sweet wines; akin to “voluptuous”. |
| Mature | Aged to peak quality |
| Mean | Lacking fruit to help balance acidity and/or tannins; unpleasant and unbalanced in taste. |
| Meaty | Rich and full-body with a perception of an ability to “chew” the wine. |
| Mellow | Soft in texture and nearing its peak of maturity |
| Mid-palate | The taste and feel of wine when holding it in mouth. |
| Minerality | A sense of minerally-ness as in flavors like silex, slate, etc. |
| Musky | Earthy musk aroma; can be a positive or negative, but is commonly a positive in wines made from the Muscat family of grapes. |
| Nervy | Noticeable acidity but still in balance with the other wine components |
| Nose | Wine’s aroma or bouquet |
| Oaky | Noticeable effects of oak; could include hints of sweeter spices such as nutmeg, vanilla, toasted or smoky, or a creamy textured body. |
| Oily | Full-bodied with viscous mouth-feel; if lacking acidity, oily may be used in combination with flabby. |
| Old | Over-aged; fruit tastes are gone, leaving overly-thin, “oxidized” wine. |
| Open-knit | A perception of dense fruit that is not balanced by the weight of tannins and acidity; opposite of “compact”. |
| Opulent | Rich-tasting with a pleasant, well-balanced mouth-feel and texture. |
| Oxidized | Overly-exposed to oxidation; a “faulty” wine than can emanate a sherry-like smell. |
| Oxidative | Generally a positive term denoting a wine’s regulated oxidation exposure throughout the aging process. An oxidative wine can have flavors and aromas that range anywhere from nutty, biscuit-y and buttery to spicy. |
| Palate | The taste and feel of wine when it is in mouth. |
| Peak | At an ideal drinking condition; a subjective judgment as some deem a wine’s peak to be when fruit is young and fresh and others deem it to be when the wine has aged and matured. |
| Peppery | Hints of black peppercorn as is associated with a Grenache or Syrah wine or of white pepper as is associated with a Gruner Veltliner wine. |
| Perfume | A description of aroma or bouquet; generally positive. |
| Plummy | Juicy, flavor of fresh plums |
| Polished | Smooth in taste, no texture or mouth-feel “roughness”; well-balanced flavor. |
| Powerful | Denotes high-level alcohol but not overly-alcoholic. |
| Prickly | Denotes slight carbonic gas, but not to the extent of sparkling wine. Young white wines (like Vinho Verde) or dry rosés are sometime “prickly”. |
| Racy | Noticeable acidity but well-balanced when considering all wine components. |
| Reticent | Having little aroma but with a sense that the wine was “holding back”, perhaps due to youth. |
| Rich | Sweetness without being overly-sweet. |
| Robust | Similar to “aggressive”, however, robust is typically associated with mature or older wines while the term aggressive is typically associated with young wines. |
| Round | Having a good body without being overly tannic. |
| Sassy | Bold, brash, audacious flavor |
| Sharp | Generally denotes acidity but can also refer to a sense of bitterness produced from tannin. |
| Sherry-like | Denotes non-Sherry types of wine having “oxidized” aromas; perhaps the result of excessive acetaldehyde in the wine. |
| Short | Well-developed aromas and mouth-feel but with little to no finish, due to fruit flavors quickly vanishing after swallowing a wine. |
| Smokey | Flavor and aroma reminiscent of smoke, like that from roasting fire, tobacco, and toasty-ness stemming from an oak influence. |
| Smooth | Pleasing texture as with having soft tannins. |
| Soft | Not excessively tannic |
| Sour | Unbalanced, puckering acidity; a vinegar-like bite found in wines mistreated with excessive amounts of acetic acid. |
| Soy Sauce | Denotes an aroma like that of an older Soy Sauce like that sensed in aged Bordeaux. |
| Spicy | Having hints of spices like black peppercorns or cinnamon. Could be a natural characteristic of a grape varietal or can be derived from fermentation in oak. |
| Stalky | Green, woody, herbaceous notes |
| Structure | Denotes the components of wine: alcohol, acidity, sugar, fruit and tannins in the overall quality of body and balance. |
| Supple | Not excessively tannic |
| Sweet | Noticeable impressions of sugar |
| Tannin | Derived from a grape’s skin, it is a biting, bitter compound, and if it’s present in large quantities in a wine they produce a puckering, dry sensation in the mouth. Tannins are increased in prolonged extractions during fermentation. They may also be derived from oak barrels. A tannic wine is typically a candidate for extended ageing, where the harsh bite will mellow over time. |
| Tannic | Aggressive tannin perception |
| Tar | Aroma and flavor evoking thoughts of tar as is found in some Barolo wines. |
| Tart | High acidity |
| Texture | The “mouth-feel” of wine |
| Thin | Lacking fruit or body |
| Tight | A sense of tannins restraining other wine components, like extract and fruit, from being perceptible. Can be used to describe a young wine that will age and soften tannins, allowing these other qualities to reveal themselves. |
| Toasty | Smoky or charred taste due to oak influences. |
| Transparency | Revealing all aspects of a wine’s flavor—like individual floral, fruit, or mineral notes. Opposite of this is when flavors are completely integrated. |
| Typicity | Denotes how well a wine delivers the typical attributes of a varietal. |
| Undertone | The subtle nuances of flavor and aroma. |
| Unbaked | Denotes wines aged without influences of wood or oak, like aging barrels; also referred to as “unwooded”. |
| Upfront | Having characteristics that don’t require much effort or thought to identify. |
| Vanilla | Oak-induced aroma evoking thoughts of vanilla extract. |
| Vegetal | Aromas and flavors evoking thoughts of vegetation rather than floral or fruit. |
| Vivid | Very expressive ripened, fruit flavor |
| Voluptuous | Full-bodied and richly textured. |
| Warm | Notable balanced alcohol, but not excessive alcohol as is described with the term “hot”. Refers also to the creamy texture produced from oak treatments. |
| Watery | Overly “thin” in fruit and body |
| Yeasty | Aromas and flavors evoking thoughts of biscuits or bread dough; can be used synonymously with “biscuit-y”. |
| Young | A wine typically sold within the year of bottling. |
| Zesty | Notable acidity with citrus flavors |
| Zippy | Notable acidity but balanced with sufficient fruit so that it is not overly-acidic. |
First as a “beer guy” and now spirits, knowing we’re moving to wines, this will be helpful! Thanks!!