Wine Tasting Terms

Aggressive - Young wine that hasn't mellowed yet

Aromatic - Plenty of aromas and flavors

Astringent - Mouth-puckering tannin or acid - acceptable in a young wine, but not in one ready to drink

Austere - Tough and not giving - maybe because the wine is too young

Closed - Young wine needing time to open out and develop its full aromas and flavors

Complex - Lots of interesting aromas, flavors, and textures. A sign of quality.

Concentrated - Plenty of everything

Creamy - Wines of quality can develop a creamy richness, which is half flavor and half texture

Crisp - Fresh and positively refreshing - especially whites.

Dense - Solid color and/ or densely packed with flavor usually positive.

Dilute - Watery and lacking in flavor- the opposite of concentrated

Dried-out - A wine that is over the hill because the fruit flavors have faded away

Earthy - An earthy, gravelly, mineral like smell that seems to come straight from the soil

Extracted - Usually in the sense of over-extracted, meaning too much tannin and possibly acidity

Fat - Full-bodied with high glycerol - maybe sweet

Finesse - High quality

Firm - Good tannin and/or acid

Flabby - Lacking acidity

Flat - Lacking freshness and acid

Fleshy - Generously flavored, round with no edges

Forward - More mature than you would expect

Fragrant - Attractive, usually flowery

Green - Young and raw - may develop or the grapes may simply have been unripe

Grip - A young wine with grip has the tannin and/ or acid potential to develop

Hard - Too much tannin or acid - but can be a question of youth and the need for more time

Heavy - Full-bodied and alcoholic - usually used to indicate imperfect balance, although not in the case of fortified wines

Hollow - Wine that has an initial taste and an end-taste, but a disappointing lack of flavors in between

Hot - High, out-of-balance alcohol- usually in wines from warm climates

Jammy - Jam rather than fresh fruit flavors - from hot climates

Juicy - Lively and fruity

Lean - Lacking breadth of flavors

Long - Wine the taste of which lasts - a very positive feature

Meaty - Richly flavored, full-bodied wine - sometimes literally savory meat flavors

Mouth - Filling wine with a satisfying richness of texture and flavors that fill the whole mouth

Neutral - Short on aroma and flavor-very common among inexpensive dry whites

Oily - Some grapes have an oily

Penetrating - Intense aromas and flavors

Perfumed - Fragrant, scented, often flowery

Rich - Having depth and breadth flavor

Robust - Full-bodied, sturdy wine, usually red

Round - No hard edges- ready to drink

Sharp - A sharp, acid flavor that may simply need time to soften mostly whites

Short - No aftertaste - can't be a high-quality wine

Silky - Smooth texture - high quality

Simple - Sound, drinkable wine of no great distinction and unlikely to improve with keeping

Soft - Sometimes interchangeable with smooth, but often refers to soft, mellow flavors rather than just texture

Solid - Plenty of substance, usually full-bodied

Spritz - Prickle on the tongue of carbon dioxide in young, light-bodied whites

Stalky - Bitter aroma and taste of stalks and stems

Steely - Hard to describe: firm, sinewy character.

Stewed - Coarse, cooked flavors from overripe grapes and/or over-hot fermentation

Stringy - Thin, mean wine

Structure - As in good, firm structure or poor, weak structure-the balance and strength of the basic components

Supple - Round and smooth

Tangy - A lively aftertaste, in white wines, sherry

Thin - Lacking flavor and body

Tough - Too much tannin

Velvety - Similar to silky, but richer

Woody - Smell of old, probably dirty casks instead of clean, young ones

Zesty - Fresh, crisp, and lively- usually young white wine