The Easy-Peasy Wine Dictionary__ In Tasting

If there were only two terms to describe what a wine should be, we at LE LASE would have no doubts and would choose:

AUTHENTIC: a wine must be a pure and sincere expression of a territory, a grape variety, and a vintage.

POPULAR: a wine that rebels against pretentious settings and returns to its natural essence, bringing us back to the scent of the harvest and the joy of being together.

Too often, the language of wine uses sugar-coated technical jargon that risks confusing people instead of helping them understand what is in their glass. The "wine-speak" used by some sommeliers, industry experts, and/or insiders risks alienating the consumer and the wine enthusiast.

Wine, according to our philosophy, must UNITE, not divide.

Here, then, is an essential guide, without too much beating around the bush, to finally understand what some seemingly difficult terms used in the world of wine actually mean. They will be divided into three macro areas: IN THE VINEYARD, IN THE CELLAR, and IN TASTING. We will start with the latter.

IN TASTING

A - ACIDITY

is the backbone of all wines. Without acidity, a wine dies. At the first sip of wine, when you immediately feel a tingling on the sides of your tongue, a pleasant sensation of cleanliness and sharpness throughout the oral cavity... it is the acidity speaking to you!! It is more noticeable in white wines because the absence of tannins allows the tart and fresh components to emerge clearly on the palate.

B - DRINKABILITY

simply indicates the ease (understood as pleasantness and smoothness in the mouth) with which the wine is drunk. For this reason, young wines without long aging in wood or bottle are often described as "ready to drink," "easy-drinking," or "quaffable."

C - BODY

(or STRUCTURE) the concept of a wine's body is linked to its consistency and its persistence in the mouth. In practice, the body of a wine is its "weight" on the palate, determined by the sum of all the solid substances dissolved within it and by the alcohol. A light wine (like many young whites) slides away in a fresh and delicate manner. A full-bodied or robust wine (like an important red) fills the mouth, is enveloping, and leaves a persistent flavor long after swallowing. Learn more about the structure of a wine here.

D - DOSAGE

we are talking about bubbles, or sparkling wines. The dosage is a syrup usually composed of wine and sugars that is inserted into the bottle before the final corking. It therefore serves to "regulate" the sweetness of the wine. If you are facing a DOSAGE 0, it means that the wine is completely dry and that no amount of sugar has been added. If you want to know more about Pas Dosé, we invite you to read this article ZERO DOSAGE.

E - DRY EXTRACT

is everything that would remain in the glass if the water and alcohol evaporated. It includes various substances such as sugars, acids, mineral salts, glycerin, and polyphenols. The higher the dry extract, the denser and more structured the wine.

F - NOBLE/FINE LEES

"this wine ages on the lees, this wine matures sur lie, this white rests on fine lees." In practice, they are telling you that the wine has remained in contact for a more or less prolonged time with the sediments that settle at the bottom of the container at the end of alcoholic fermentation. These are mainly exhausted (inactive, dead) yeasts that can release greater softness and greater aromatic complexity to the wine. Resting on the lees is of fundamental importance in the production of CLASSIC METHOD sparkling wines. Read here to learn more.

G - LIGHT STRIKE

primarily, it might sound like something positive when talking about tasting. In reality, it is one of the most widespread and serious wine faults. Caused by a transparent bottle and/or one poorly stored and exposed to ultraviolet rays. Light, the enemy of wine, causes unpleasant chemical reactions that alter its color, aromas, and in the worst cases, even its taste.

H - DRESSING (HABILLAGE)

is a somewhat fancy French term that indicates nothing more than the final labeling of the bottle.

I - TASTE-OLFACTORY IMPACT

• Olfactory impact: the very first sensation you receive by bringing your nose to the glass, which defines the strength with which the scents are released.
• Gustatory impact: is the set of flavor sensations (acidity, sweetness/softness, bitterness, and savoriness) and tactile sensations (astringency, alcohol, and body/structure) that are perceived when the wine comes into contact with the mouth and tongue.
• Taste-olfactory impact: is the overall sensory experience born from the simultaneous combination of taste and smell through a precise physiological mechanism called retronasal olfaction (or mouth aroma). In practice, the wine warms up in the mouth (to about 36°C) and releases new scents. It is here that fruity, floral, or spicy notes become three-dimensional. These aromas rise up the pharynx (the back of the throat) and reach the olfactory receptors in the nose. You evaluate the correspondence: if I smelled cherry on the nose, do I find cherry in the mouth? Finally, you evaluate the persistence (also called the finish). For how many seconds do the wine's aromas remain in the back of the mouth after swallowing? Obviously, the longer the duration, the more the wine is considered to be of high quality.

L - TEARS (and ARCHES)

swirl the wine gently in the glass. If it slides away as fast as water, the wine is light. If it moves slowly and leaves thick arches or "tears" on the sides of the glass, it means it is rich in dry extract and alcohol, and therefore well-structured.

M - MALOLACTIC

if you hear this term, we are talking about the fermentation of red wines (but it can also happen in white wines). Malolactic fermentation occurs after alcoholic fermentation, transforming malic acid (sharper and more pungent like a green apple) into lactic acid (more delicate and soft like milk). In practice, it serves to give greater softness and body to the wine.

N - NATURAL

Spoiler: natural wine does not exist. Natural wine has no legal definition, nor an official set of rules. It is not even a category recognized by European law. There are only many manifestos and associations, but every producer, every wine shop owner, and every enthusiast interprets it in their own way. Those who do it out of conviction will tell you it is a wine "without chemicals," "without tricks," "made like in the old days." But if you ask yourself what is really inside, the answers blur, overlap, and sometimes contradict each other. End of story!

O - ORANGE

if you are tasting an orange wine, it is a wine obtained from white grapes (or gray, as in the case of Pinot Grigio) that are vinified "in red," i.e., leaving the must in contact (for a more or less prolonged time) with the skins during fermentation. It is therefore the opposite of a rosé wine. An Italian synonym for orange wine is macerated white wine.

P - PERLAGE

said in French, it sounds a bit more chic than in Italian, namely effervescence. It is a characteristic typical of sparkling wines that generates the formation of many small bubbles that travel from the base of the glass upwards. Their size and persistence define the quality and excellence of the sparkling wine.

Q - ORGANOLEPTIC QUALITY

an overused term in tasting that you often find in wine technical sheets. In practice, it can be summarized this way: once you have observed the wine (visual examination), once you have smelled it (olfactory examination), and finally once you have drunk it (gustatory examination), how did that wine seem to you? Did you like it? Well, organoleptic quality expresses the summary judgment on all the physical and chemical characteristics of a wine perceived through the sense organs (eyes, nose, and mouth).

R - ROUNDNESS

"it is a soft and round wine, it presents a nice roundness, it has a nice sensation of roundness." The term itself says a lot: something round is devoid of corners, vertices, and therefore edges. Figuratively, "being devoid of edges" means being not very pungent or harsh, or not sharp, cutting, or rough. And it is precisely in this figurative sense that the adjective round enters wine terminology. A round wine is a gentle wine, not aggressive or pungent, recognizable by its caressing and polite nature on the palate.

S - SAVORINESS (MINERALITY)

forget about table salt. A savory wine is not a "salty" wine. A savory wine is a wine that leaves you with a very pleasant sensation of freshness and minerality in the mouth and makes you salivate even more. Closely related to acidity, savoriness reminds you of the earth or the sea...

T - TANNIN

is a natural substance found in the skin and seeds of grapes (and in the wood of barrels). It is responsible for the sensation of a dry and puckering mouth.

U - BLEND (UVAGGIO)

(vs ASSEMBLAGE) I harvest Canaiolo, Sangiovese, and Violone grapes (therefore from different varieties) and vinify them all together. This is the so-called uvaggio (field blend). If I were to harvest and vinify the Canaiolo, Sangiovese, and Violone grapes separately, I would obtain three distinct wines. Then I combine (assemble) these three wines. I am therefore performing an assemblage (or blend).

V - VARIETAL

(CHARACTER, AROMA, FLAVOR) is the essence of the grape that arrives in the glass and leads you to exclaim during a tasting, without looking at the bottle label, "this is without a shadow of a doubt a Sangiovese, a Moscato, or a Gewürztraminer." The varietal character of a wine is therefore the set of aromas, flavors, and nuances typical of the specific grape variety from which it was born and which is clearly recognized in the glass regardless of the production area and the winemaking techniques used.

Z - ZERO SULFITES

it doesn't seem difficult to understand the meaning of "zero sulfite wine" in a tasting. Too bad that if someone is talking to you about such a wine, they are pulling your leg. A wine completely devoid of sulfites simply does not exist. To learn more, read here.

Cheers!!