Glossary of Wine Terms
You can browse our topics using the letters below, or search for a term.
Word |
Description |
|---|---|
| Pinot Gris | Also called Pinot Grigio, this is a grayish-purple grape that yields a white wine with a refreshing character. |
| Pinot Noir | The prime red grape of Burgundy, Champagne, and Oregon. |
| Pinotage | A hybrid between Pinot Noir and Cinsault thatis grown almost exclusively in South Africa. |
| Plonk | A derogatory name for cheap, poor-tasting wine. |
| Pomace | The mass of skins, pits, and stems left over after fermentation; used to make grappa in Italy and marc in France. |
| Port | A sweet, fortified wine made in the Douro Valley of Portugal and aged in the coastal town of Vila Nova de Gaia; variations include Vintage, Tawny, Late Bottled Vintage, Ruby, White, and others. |
| Premier Cru | French for 'first growth;' a high-quality vineyard but one not as good as grand cru. |
| Press | The process by which grape juice is extracted prior to fermentation; a machine that extracts juice from grapes. |
| Primeur (en) | A French term for wine sold while it is sill in the barrels; known as 'futures' in English-speaking countries. |
| Pruning | The annual vineyard chore of trimming back plants from the previous harvest. |
| Racking | The process of moving wine from barrel to barrel, while leaving sediment behind. |
| Reserva | A Spanish term for a red wine that has spent at least three years in barrels and bottles before release. |
| Reserve | A largely American term indicating a wine of higher quality; it has no legal meaning. |
| Rhone | A river in southwest France surrounded by villages producing wines mostly from Syrah; the name of the wine-producing valley in France. |
| Riddling | The process of rotating Champagne bottles in order to shift sediment toward the cork. |
| Riesling | Along with Chardonnay, one of the top white grapes in the world; most popular in Germany, Alsace, and Austria. |
| Rioja | A well-known region in Spain known for traditional red wines made from the Tempranillo grape. |
| Rose | French for ipink,i and used to describe a category of refreshing wines that are pink in color but are made from red grapes. |
| Sancerre | An area in the Loire Valley known mostly for wines made from Sauvignon Blanc. |
| Sangiovese | A red grape native to Tuscany; the base grape for Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, Morellino di Scansano, and others. |
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