This week’s Wine Word of the Week is acidity. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Acidity is a general term for the fresh, tart, or sour taste produced by the natural organic acids present in a liquid. Wines, together with most other refreshing or appetizing drinks, owe their attractive qualities to […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is tannins. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Tannins are a diverse and complex group of chemical compounds that occur in the bark of many trees and in fruits, including the grape. Strictly speaking, a tannin is a compound that is capable of interacting […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is IGT. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, a category of wines created in Italy by law 164 in 1992 as an approximate equivalent of the French vin de pays. EU law compelled Italy to bring its myriad […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is DOCG. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) is a legal category established in Italy in 1963 for its highest-quality wines, at the same time as its DOC was created, by law 930, as an Italian version […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is DOC. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: DOC, initials which stand for Denominacao de Origem Controlada in Portugal and Denominazione di Origine Controllata in Italy, those countries’ counterparts of the French Appellation Controlee system of controlled appellations. In both countries, DOC wines represent […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Amarone. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Amarone is the most famous of Italy’s dry dried grape wines and has recently been revitalized…. Amarone applied for DOCG status in February 2005 to ensure that it is made solely from Corvina and Corvinone, which […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is vineyard designated. Official definition from Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst’s The New Wine Lover’s Companion: Vineyard designated is a term indicating that a wine is made with grapes from the specific vineyard named on a wine’s label. In the United States, a vineyard name on a […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is pupitre. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Pupitre is the French name for a hand riddling rack, traditionally used for riddling sparkling wines by hand. Layman’s terms from Kori: Pupitre is an A-shaped riddling rack for sparkling wines.

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is punching down. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Punching down is the winemaking operation of breaking up and submerging the cap of skins and other solids during red wine fermentation to stop the cap from drying out, to encourage the extraction of color […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is cap. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Cap (chapeau in French) is the layer of grape solids that floats on the liquid surface during red wine fermentation and requiring careful cap management. The cap usefully limits the amount of oxygen available to the […]