Wine Terminology

What is 'blanc de noirs'? - Ask Decanter

White wine made from black grapes...

Tannins - What are they and what do they do?

Tasting term used to describe the quality and intensity of tannin in red wines...

How long does wine last after opening? - Ask Decanter

Some pointers on how long your opened bottle will last...

What does ‘frizzante’ mean? Ask Decanter

And is it any different from spumante?...

How is sweetness of Tokaji measured?

What does Aszú mean, and is there any aging requirements for Tokaji sweet wines?

How many calories are there in wine? Ask Decanter

With advice on how to keep count from Beverley Blanning MW...

What is grafting, and why is it important in the vineyard?

Why do most wine growers in the world need to graft their vines, and how do they do it?

Wine yeasts: How do they impact wine flavour? - Ask Decanter

Living substance responsible for the production of the enzymes that permit fermentation, the conversion of sugar into alcohol, with heat and carbon dioxide as by products.

What is phylloxera in the vineyard?

What is phylloxera?

What is residual sugar in wine? – Ask Decanter

And how does it influence the taste of wine...?

What is Kosher wine? - Ask Decanter

What does kosher mean and how is a kosher wine made?

How to spot a corked wine

Fault in wine caused by a contaminated cork.

Rotundone: the science behind 'pepper' in wine

What is volatile acidity? Ask Decanter

Why is it in your wine, and is it a bad thing?

What is carbonic maceration? Ask Decanter

What kind of flavours does it produce in a wine?

What is Icewine? Ask Decanter

And how it is made...

What are tannins? - ask Decanter

What are tasters referring to when the assess tannins? And why are they important?

Does bottling New World wines in Europe affect the wine? - Ask Decanter

New World wines bottled in Europe? Does it have an impact on the wine? Barry Dick MW tells Decanter a bit more about the process.

Determining a wine's weight - ask Decanter

A wine's 'weight' is a tricky tasting term that can be hard to define and assess. Expert wine taster, Michael Schuster, gives us an explanation...

Why is there no red Champagne? - ask Decanter

Mystery wine fault - ask Decanter

Faults in wines are not always easy to define. We asked Rob MacCulloch MW to explain us a little more about faulty wines.