Know Your Wines:

Acid	Acids of various types are present in wine, and are essential for your enjoyment and the wine's longevity. Too much can spoil the wine. Too little also affects wine quality. Acid needs to be present in balance with other components of the wine.
Aftertaste	The flavour that lingers in your mouth after tasting or swallowing. It can be either pleasant or unpleasant- or non-existent, which would indicate a neutral-flavoured wine. Harsh or unpleasant aftertaste might indicate the presence of excessive acidity or tannin in the wine.
Alcohol	The substance that makes the difference between grape juice and wine! Alcohol is produced by fermentation, and in this context means ethyl alcohol (C2H50H) produced by the action of yeasts on grape sugars during the fermentation.
Aroma	The smell of wine, largely from the grapes from which the wine is made. Oak often accompanies the aroma of young reds.
Astringent	Tannins produce astringent tastes in wine. You can detect astringency by the involuntary 'puckering' of your mouth as the tannins hit your tastebuds. Tannins come from grape-skins, seeds and oak.
Austere	Means different things to different palates, though generally meant to indicate a wine that has vinous characters without strong recognisable varietal fruit or oak influence.
Balance	The assessment that a wine has flavour components in complete harmony, no single one being too dominant.
Beerenauslese	A German term, one level up the sweetness (sugar) scale from Auslese. This term (Pron. 'beer-en-ows-laser') indicates that the wine is made from grapes that achieved high natural sugar levels.
Bitterness	A characteristic of red wines, usually detected in the aftertaste and unpleasant in excess. Not to be confused with acidity.
Bland	Wine-tasting term denoting a wine without character, though not necessarily having any wine faults.
Blend	Mixing of two or more grape varieties, vintages or locations to increase quality or maintain consistency.
Body	'Full-bodied' describes a wine with fullness of flavour in the mouth; conversely, 'light-bodied' means the opposite.
Bottle age	Time spent in the bottle after making and oak aging. 'Will mature with bottle age' means the maker suggests the wine will reward several years with proper cellaring.
Bouquet	The complex smell a wine develops after time spent in the bottle. (Pron. 'boo-kay')
Bright	Perfectly clear wine with no suspended particles. Bright colour is an important pointer to wine quality, except in premium red wine where some crust can be expected to form after bottle maturation.
Brut	Dry, usually applied to sparkling wines. Commercial brut styles now have a small amount of 'liqueuring' added to sweeten the wine somewhat, hence the growth of the term brut-de-brut, suggesting that the wine is fully dry. (Pron. 'broot')
Cabernet Sauvignon	Variety of red (or black) grape, considered by many to produce the finest red wines in the world. The classic centrepiece of the clarets of the Médoc in Bordeaux. Widely grown in most areas of Australia. (Pron. 'cab-er-nay so-vin-yon')
Colour	In wine, an extremely important indicator of quality and condition. Darker colours in whites usually indicate older wines, while red wines tend to lighten and tawny with age.
Coonawarra	Australian wine region in the southeast of South Australia, not far from the Victorian border. Cool, and produces some of the best red wines in Australia, especially cabernet sauvignon.
Corked	A wine whose quality is affected by an off-flavour from the cork. It is perceived as a mouldy, 'rotten wood' smell and sometimes bitter taste. About 3% of wines world-wide are affected.
Dry	Absence of sweetness in a wine.
Finish	End taste of a wine after it has been swallowed or spat out. High tannin content might produce a 'firm finish', or lack of flavour might yield a 'short finish'.
Firm	Term referring to taste experience at the back of the palate, caused by tannins.
Flavour	The taste of wine.
Flinty	Term usually applied to dry whites, especially of the chablis type.
Flowery	An attractive scent reminiscent of flowers. 'Floral' and 'fragrant' are similar words of approval often applied to pleasing young white wines, especially rieslings.
Free run	The juice released from the grape berries when first crushed at the winery, before being pressed further. Usually the highest-quality juice, because it contains less material extracted from the skins, stalks or seeds.
Herbaceous	An aroma related to vegetative or grassy characters. Some reds, notably under-ripe cabernet sauvignon, and some whites (sauvignon blanc, for example), are sometimes described as being 'herbaceous'.
Hermitage	Synonym used frequently for the red-grape variety shiraz.
Legs	Columns of wine, especially fortified wine, which trickle down the inside of a glass. Supposed to indicate high alcohol content in wine.
Luscious	A full-flavoured, rich, ripe, fruity and sweet-flavoured wine.
Malbec	A grape variety once important in Bordeaux. A small amount is grown in Australia.
Medals	Awards from Australian wine shows for well-made wines. The capital-city wine shows are the most reliable indicators of quality. Gold medals are awarded to wines attaining 18.5 points or more out of twenty points; silver medals, 17.0 to 18.4; and bronze, 15.5 to 16.9.
Merlot	Premium red-grape variety, usually blended with other reds (such as Cabernet Sauvignon). Widely grown in France and used as a blend in Bordeaux and other areas. Can lend a pleasing 'velvety' texture and agreeably fruity flavours to a red-wine blend. Increasingly popular as a single varietal wine.
Méthode Champenoise	The authentic French method for making bottled-fermented sparkling wines. (Pron. 'meth-od shamp-en-whaz' or 'may-toad sharm-pen-wharz')
Oak	Varieties of the wood genus Quercus. Wines are usually stored in oak containers, to impart extra and more complex flavours. French, American and German oak barrels are widely used in Australia, but are getting quite expensive as quality oak becomes scarcer.
Oenology	The science of winemaking.
Off Odours	Unpleasant or unexpectedly displeasing smells in a wine.
Peppery	A not entirely unpleasant spicy characteristic sometimes found in young red wines (especially shiraz wines) and ports. Rather raw, biting, and reminiscent of black pepper.
Pinot Noir	The classic red grape of Burgundy, and one of the varieties that helps make champagne in France. Generally produces lighter styles of red wine, though can (when well made) have intense and deep flavours. (Pron. 'peen-oh n'wah)
Port	A fortified red wine, the name coming from Oporto on the Douro River in Portugal. An after-dinner drink of quite high alcohol content (17 to 20 per cent). There is considerable confusion about port wines, but the differences can be simply summed up: tawny ports are blended wines that have usually been kept by the maker in wood barrels for some years in order to mature them for drinking when sold: vintage ports (which bear a year of origin on the label) are usually sold early by the maker and you, the consumer, are expected to do the cellaring until the wine is ready for drinking. Australia makes excellent examples of both styles.
Residual sugar	The natural grape sugar left behind (usually by design) after the fermentation has finished. Characteristic of many modern white wines, usually pleasant though cloying if overdone - or done with the wrong type of wine.
Riesling	A grape from the Rhine area of Germany. One of the world's classic grapes, and one which does a different and magnificent job in many of the better Australian white wines. A grossly underestimated and misunderstood variety that still makes, and always will make, some of the finest Australian white wines. Also known as Rhine Riesling.
Rosé	Again, a much misunderstood wine style. It should be the classic summer red of Australia. Light, fresh and fruity wine made from red grapes, either sweet, medium or dry - but best as a dry, yet flavoursome, young wine. (Pron. 'rose-ay')
Sauvignon Blanc	White-grape variety from Bordeaux and the Loire areas of France, where it makes superb sweet and dry whites. Its grassy/steely and sometimes asparagus-like character attracts either love or loathing. Do try a good one or two, because it is different. (Pron. 'so-vin-yon blonk'). Sometimes blended with Semillon.
Semillon	Another great French (especially Bordeaux) white-grape variety. Usually makes dry, sometimes wood-matured, full-bodied whites in Australia, notably in the Hunter Valley. (Pron. 'sem-ill-on' or 'sem-ee-yon')
Sharp	Acid taste on the palate. Not necessarily unpleasant.
Shiraz	Versatile Australian red-grape variety, also widely referred to (especially on labels) as hermitage. Makes some excellent and often reasonably priced red wines in most areas, and is best known for its parentage of Penfolds Grange.
Soft	A mild tannin or acid sensation with no harshness on the palate and after-palate.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2)	Chemical used as an anti-oxidant in winemaking. The smell of sulphur dioxide can be present in a newly opened bottle of wine, but it should dissipate. With today's truth-in-labelling laws, it is referred to on food and wine labels as 'Preservative(220) added'.
Sweet	More than fruity; pertaining to sugar.
Tannin	A vital ingredient in wines, especially red wines. It comes from the stalks, skins and pips of grapes. Tannins in a young wine produce a bitter, puckering taste on the palate.
Tart	Noticeable acidic taste of natural grape acids, less pleasant in excess.
Varietal	Wine made from a particular grape variety (for example, Cabernet Sauvignon); the opposite of a generic wine (for example, Chablis).
Vigneron	Grape-grower.
Vigorous	In wine, a lively taste or feel.
Vin	Wine (French). As in vin ordinaire, or ordinary wine. To vinify is to make grapes into wine. (Pron. 'vann').
Vinegar	Wine spoiled by the vinegar bacteria, not pleasant to drink. A major winemaking fault that is easily detected by a sharp sensation on the nose or palate.
Vinosity	Wine-tasting term pertaining to the alcoholic strength of a wine and its grape character.
Vintage	The period of picking or harvesting grapes each year, as in 'the vintage'; also the year a wine was made or 'vintaged'.
Vintner	Winemaker.
Viscous	Thick appearance in wine; showing the presence of glycerol.
Vitis	The botanical name for the vine. Vitis vinifera, the grape-bearing vine, is responsible for most of the world's quality wines. The North American Vitis Labrusca is a native vine.
Volatile	A wine spoiled by the presence of acetic acid is said to be volatile, or to have volatile acidity (v.a.).
Wine	The fermented juice of grapes.