Every industry has its own specific terminology. Today we will talk about the internal language of wine. 

Original Bottle

It means that the entire process of a wine from grape planting, picking, pressing, fermentation, aging to wine bottling is completed in the country of origin. 

Original Barrel

This term means that wine merchants import barrels of imported wine into the country and then fill it. The bottles used are produced domestically and the wine labels are affixed domestically. 

Terroir

It can be simply understood as the sum of the growing environment of grapevines, including soil type, terrain, geographical location, light conditions, precipitation, day and night temperature differences, microbial environment and other natural factors that affect wine style. In the wine industry, it refers to the production area reflecting these natural factors into the wine through the grapes, so that the wine has local terroir characteristics. 

Years

Vintage wine means that the wine grapes used in the wine are all picked from the same year, while wine without a vintage means that the wine grapes are not picked from the same year. 

Tannin

Tannin is a natural phenolic substance widely found in various seeds, tree barks and fruit peels. It gives the wine a bitter taste and acts as a natural protectant to help the wine age. 

Aromatic

On the palate, it is a grape variety with strong floral aromas, aromas resulting from oak ageing and changes in the bottle. 

Wine Body

Wine body is a perception of concentration, texture, fullness and viscosity, which can be expressed as full-bodied wine, even-bodied or light-bodied wine. 

Aftertaste

It refers to how long the taste of wine lasts in the mouth after drinking or spitting it out, the longer the better. 

Precipitate

After bottling, red wine is a natural component formed from tannins and other solid substances during the aging process. These substances can give wine a certain complexity, but they are usually filtered out when drinking. 

Decant

It means that after the bottle is opened, air will enter into the wine so that it can "breathe". This means opening up the aroma of the wine, usually using a decanter to complete the decanting process. 

Horizontal/Vertical Tasting

Horizontal tasting refers to tasting wines from different wines from the same production area in the same vintage. Vertical tasting refers to tasting the same wine from the same winery in different years. 

These terms may seem complicated, but they are not that difficult to master. Of course, you don’t need to appreciate wine as a wine expert. Only after understanding these wine languages, you will be able to better understand the unique charm of wine when you taste wine.

Lydia Zhao

POINT PLUME