This week’s Wine Word of the Week is varietal. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Varietal is a descriptive term for a wine named after the dominant grape variety from which it is made. The word is increasingly misused in place of vine variety. A varietal wine is distinct from a […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is variety. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Vine varieties are distinct types of vine within one species of the vine genus vitis. Different vine varieties produce different varieties of grapes, so that the terms vine variety and grape variety are used almost interchangeably. […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is punt. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Punt is the optional indentation in the bottom of wine bottles, particularly common in bottles of sparkling wine. Layman’s terms from Kori: If you are a sports fan, I’m sure you think of punt in terms […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is dosage. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Dosage is the final addition to a sparkling wine which may top up a bottle in the case of traditional method wines, and also determines sweetness, or residual sugar, of the finished wine. …. Champagne is […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Bible. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: The vine, including its chief product, wine, is mentioned more often in the Bible than any other plant. The Book of Genesis presents the invention of viticulture as a step in the development of civilization. …. […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is sediment. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Sediment is the solid material which settles to the bottom of any wine container, whether it be a bottle or a vat, tank, cask, or barrel. This sediment is a very heterogeneous mixture which at the […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is phylloxera. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Phylloxera. This small yellow root-feeding aphid has probably had a more damaging impact on wine production than any other vine pest, or any vine disease. It attacks only grapevines, and kills vines by attacking their roots. […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is faults. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Faults in wines vary, of course, according to the taste of the consumer. …. To winemakers, however, wine faults are specific departures from an acceptable norm, the least quantifiable of which may be a lack of […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Turkey. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Turkey is an eastern Mediterranean country that is the world’s fourth most important grower of grapes, only a very small proportion of which is made into wine. …. It is regularly one of the world’s biggest […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is bottling. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Bottling is a vital wine-making operation for all wines other than those packaged in containers other than bottles and those few served straight from a cask or tank as bulk wine. Bottling techniques vary greatly according […]