The Wine Blokes

A glossary of wine related terms.

Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner

Species:
Vitis vinifera

Also called:
Grüner Muskateller, Veltliner

Origin:
Austria

Notable regions:
Lower Austria, Burgenland, Moravia, Czech Republic

Notable wines:
Smaragds from Wachau

Grüner Veltliner is a variety of white wine grape widely grown primarily in Austria and widely also in the Czech Republic, but almost nowhere else. It has a reputation of being a particularly food-friendly wine.
It is made into wines of [...]

Terroir was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon them. It can be very loosely translated as “a sense of place” which is embodied in certain qualities, and the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the manufacture of [...]

Cabernet Franc grapes undergoing veraison.
Veraison is a French term, but has been adopted into the English literature on viticulture. The official definition of veraison is “change of color of the grape berries.” Veraison signifies the change from berry growth to berry ripening in grapevines.
Process
Many changes occur at veraison. Grape berries follow a double sigmoid growth [...]

A
Acid
There are four major acids found in wine: tartaric, malic, lactic and citric. Acid is identifiable by the crisp, fresh character it imparts to a wine’s palate. Too much can lead to a sharp, sour taste; too little can leave a wine ‘flabby’ and out of balance.
Acidity
The quality of tartness, sourness and sharpness.
Aftertaste
Describes the [...]