This week’s Wine Word of the Week is topping up. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Topping up, ouillage in French is the operation of refilling any sort of wooden container to replace wine lost through evaporation. The container should be kept full or nearly full lest the ubiquitous acetobacter use […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is bung. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: A bung, made of glass, plastic, rubber, earthenware, silicone, or wood, is a barrel’s stopper, analogous to the cork of a bottle. It is inserted in a bung-hole. …. Since oxygen tends to enter a barrel […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is blanc de noirs. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Blanc de noirs, French for ‘white of blacks’, describes a white wine made from dark-skinned grapes by pressing them very gently and running the pale juice off the skins as early as possible. Many […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is blanc de blancs. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Blanc de blancs, French for ‘white of whites’, may justifiably be used to describe white wines made from pale-skinned grapes, as the great majority of them are. The term has real significance, however, only […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is brut. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Brut is a French word meaning ‘crude’ or ‘raw’, adapted by the champagne industry for wines made without (much) added sweetening or dosage. It has come to be used widely for any sparkling wine to indicate […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is right bank. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Right bank is an expression much used of that part of the Bordeaux wine region that is on the right bank, or north, of the river Dordogne. It includes, travelling down river, Cotes de Castillon, […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is left bank. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Left bank is an expression for that part of the Bordeaux wine region that is on the left bank of the river Garonne. It includes, travelling down river, Graves, Sauternes, Barsac, Pessac-Leognan, Medoc, and all […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is umami. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Umami is a Japanese term derived from two words meaning ‘delicious’ and ‘essence’ and used to refer to what some consider to be the fifth primary taste. More a quality than a specific flavor, it is […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Sturm. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Sturm is the cloudy, part-fermented, very slightly sparkling sweet grape juice that is a local specialty at harvest time in Austria. It is generally white but red versions are also produced. The German equivalent is Federweisser, […]

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is en primeur. Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine: En primeur is a wine trade term, French in origin, for wine sold as futures before being bottled. …. En primeur sales are a relatively recent specialty, but not exclusivity, of classed growths by the […]