Current Issue Articles

Decoding the
colorful language of
wine tasting

If you’ve ever come across an unfamiliar word in a wine review, on a label or even just in conversation at a tasting room, you’re not alone. The fact is, you don’t need to know how the grapes were aged or whether the tannins are in balance to enjoy a glass of wine. But even a little knowledge can increase your enjoyment as you taste your way through the Santa Ynez Valley. Whether you aim to be a connoisseur or just want to learn a bit more about the wine you’re drinking, here’s a list of terms to start you on your way to becoming a true oenophile.

Appellation
  An appellation is a legally defined grape growing area. In Santa Barbara County we have five appellations: 
  *Santa Maria Valley,
  *Santa Ynez Valley,
  *Los Alamos Valley,
  *Santa Rita Hills, and
  *Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara.
  Each appellation has its own microclimates and terrain that affect the types of grapes best suited for the area.

Balance
  We’d all like to have more balance in our lives, and the same is true with wine. Acid, sugar, tannin, alcohol and flavor should be in harmony, with no one component overpowering another.

Breathing 
Allowing the wine to mix with air can release pent-up aromas and flavors.

Young red wines benefit the most from this exposure. Simply removing the cork does not allow the wine to breathe. Pouring it into a glass, a pitcher or a decanter will encourage the flavors to develop through breathing.

Corked
  Nobody wants a bottle of wine to go to waste. But when a cork hasn’t been adequately sterilized, you can wind up with a wine that tastes more like wet cardboard than grapes.

Cuvée
  This French word literally means vat or tank. But when you see it on a label, cuvée typically refers to a specific blend or batch.

Decanting
  By pouring wine into a decanter or a clean pitcher, you’ll allow your wine to breathe as well as reduce some of the sediment.
 
Dry
  Wines that have little or no residual sugar remaining after fermentation are called dry.

Finish
  The feel on your tongue and the flavors that linger all contribute to the finish. Finer wines tend to linger on the palate longer.

Forward
  Almost the opposite of finish, forward flavors are the dominant tastes that leave a first impression in your mouth.

Horizontal Wine Tasting
  When you taste a specific type of wine from the same vintage, for example 1999 Pinot Noir from eight different wineries, this is called a horizontal tasting.

Legs
  The French call them tears. Swirl your wine and you’ll see tiny rivulets running down the inside of your glass.
  These streaks indicate the amount of alcohol in the wine. The more legs, the higher the alcohol content.

Malolactic
Fermentation
This natural, biochemical reaction reduces the total acidity in a wine. Sometimes called secondary fermentation, the process tends to make wine softer and smoother.
 

Meritage
A California original, meritage is a red or white blend of at least two Bordeaux grapes. Reds typically include Cabernet Franc,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Whites include Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Vert and Semillon.

Oxidation
Breathing is good for wine, but too much oxygen will make it turn to vinegar.

Tannin 
Found naturally in grape skins, seeds and stems, tannins are a natural preservative that contribute a bitter flavor when not properly balanced.

Terroir 
In French, the word means soil. When it comes to wine, terroir refers to all the characteristics of the vineyard that influence the wine: geographic, geological, and climatic.

Vertical Tasting
A sampling of different vintages of the same type of wine from the same winery is called a vertical tasting. For example, all the Chardonnays produced between 1975 and 1995.

Just how BIG is that bottle?

Magnum:
1.5 litres, or the equivalent of two regular wine bottles.

Rehoboam:
4.5 litres, or the equivalent of six regular wine bottles.

Methuselah:
6 litres, or the equivalent of eight
regular wine bottles.

Salmanazar:
9 litres, or the equivalent of twelve regular wine bottles.

Nebuchadnezzar:
15 litres, or the equivalent of twenty regular wine bottles.

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