As I am “all about wine,” it’s easy to get carried away here at The Global Wine Club®. How fortunate I am to have my wine-loving daughter-in-law Niecee diplomatically point out to me that sometimes I assume too much .
She was referring to the fact that just because at your favorite wine of the month club we regularly talk “Wine Speak,” not all of our members are familiar with our language. I so apologize! She gave a few examples of words and abbreviations I have used in past articles that challenged her. I’ll humbly attempt to clear up some grey areas . . .
ABV = Alcohol By Volume: References percent of alcohol compared to total liquid
AVA = American Viticultural Area
AOC = Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée: or “name of controlled origin;” as a French wine coming from an area of unique soil conditions and climate in only France
DO = Denominación de Origen: See AOC above, but think Spanish wine and Spain.
DOC = Denominazione di Origine Controllata: See French AOC above, but this is all about Italy; In Portugal, it’s spelled Denominação de Origem Controlada
DOCa = A Spanish term indicating a wine superior to a wine classified as DO
DOCG = An Italian term pointing out a wine superior to a plain ol’ DOC (This is hard if you’re not multi-lingual, or if you have a migraine!)
Adega = a Portuguese winery or cellar
Bodega = a Spanish winery or cellar
Cantina = an Italian winery
Barrique = A small oak cask that holds 238 quarts of wine
Cask = Wooden barrel for storing liquids
Claret = British noun for a red Bordeaux
Crianza = Spanish for wines that are aged for a minimum of six months in oak casks
Lees = Sediment on the bottom of a cask
Maceration = Soaking of grapes in water
Must = Grape juice before fermentation
Tannin = Textural component of red wines, compliments of red grape skins
Terroir = Combined climate, soil conditions and traditions that create basic wine flavors
Varietal = any wine made from just one grape variety, not a blend
