Glossary

Milk and wine terms in plain words — short, with links to the full pages.

2

🍷 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole: A compound that causes cork taint even in tiny amounts.

A

🍷 Acetic acid: The acid of vinegar; wine has a lot of it only when spoiled.
🍷 Acetic acid bacteria: Bacteria that turn alcohol into vinegar when air is present.
🍷 Acidification: Adding tartaric acid to must in a hot year to keep the wine fresh.
🍷 Acidity: The fresh tartness of wine that makes your mouth water.
🏷️ Aging of wine: The time wine matures in casks, tanks or bottles before sale.
🪨 Albariza: A white chalky soil of southern Spain that holds moisture under the hot sun.
🍷 Alcohol in wine: Ethyl alcohol made from sugar, usually 11–15 % of the wine's volume.
🍷 Alcoholic fermentation: Yeast eats the sugar in the must and releases alcohol and carbon dioxide.
🍷 Allergen labelling (contains sulphites): The law requires labels to say "contains sulphites", and in the EU also egg and milk.
🪨 Alluvium: Soil laid down by a river: sand, silt and pebbles.
🏷️ Alsace Grand Cru: Alsace's 51 best vineyards for its four main grape varieties.
🍷 Amarone: A dry, strong red wine from partly dried grapes from Valpolicella.
🏷️ American Viticultural Area: The US system of wine zones defined by place, with no rules on grape varieties.
🍷 Ampelography: The science of identifying grape varieties by leaves, bunches and DNA.
🍷 Amphora trade: In ancient times wine in amphorae was shipped all over the Mediterranean.
🍷 Ancestral method: The oldest method: wine is bottled before fermentation ends, so the gas builds up in the bottle.
🌿 Annual growth cycle of grapevines: A vine's year: dormancy, buds, flowering, berries, harvest, leaf fall.
🍷 Anthocyanins: Pigments in the skin that give red and purple colour.
🦠 Anthracnose (grape): A fungus that leaves dark spots with pale centres on the berries.
🍷 Appassimento: A method in which grapes are partly dried for months before pressing.
🏷️ Appellation d'origine contrôlée: The top French category, with place, varieties, yield and method strictly set.
🍷 Assemblage: Blending wines from different grapes, plots or years before bottling.
🍷 Asti method: A method in which sweet Muscat must ferments once in a tank and the fermentation is stopped.
🏷️ Ausbruch: An Austrian sweet wine from Rust made from berries with noble rot.
🏷️ Auslese: A level made from selected very ripe bunches, often sweet.
🏷️ Austrian Prädikatswein: Austrian ripeness levels from Spätlese to TBA, with their own Ausbruch and Strohwein levels.

B

🍷 Balance (wine): When acidity, sweetness, alcohol and tannins do not clash with each other.
🍷 Barrels on ships: Since Roman and medieval times wine was carried in barrels on ships and barges.
🏷️ Barrique: A small 225-litre oak barrel, as used in Bordeaux.
🪨 Basalt: Dark cooled lava that breaks down into warm, stony soil.
🍷 Basket press: An old-style press: a wooden basket with a heavy plate pressing down from above.
🏷️ Beaujolais cru: The 10 best villages of Beaujolais, each with its own appellation.
🏷️ Beerenauslese: Sweet wine from overripe berries picked one by one, often with noble rot.
🍷 Bentonite: A special clay that collects excess protein and prevents haze.
🌿 Biodynamic viticulture: Organic farming plus special preparations and work timed by the lunar calendar.
🏷️ Biological ageing: Ageing under a film of flor yeast that keeps air away from the wine.
🦠 Black rot (grape): A fungus that turns berries into black, shrivelled "raisins".
🍷 Blind tasting: Tasting without seeing the label in order to judge fairly.
🍷 Body (wine): The sense of a wine's weight in the mouth, from light as water to thick as cream.
♨️ Boiling: Home treatment of raw milk.
🌿 Bordeaux mixture: A blue mix of copper sulphate and lime used against downy mildew.
🏷️ Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855: A list of the best Bordeaux châteaux drawn up for the 1855 World's Fair in Paris.
🍷 Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855: A list of the best Bordeaux châteaux drawn up for the World's Fair in Paris.
🦠 Botrytis bunch rot (grey rot): Bunch rot in damp weather: the berries get a grey dusty coating and spoil.
🦠 Botrytis cinerea: A fungus that, depending on the weather, causes either grey rot or noble rot.
🍷 Botrytised wine: Sweet wine from grapes with noble rot, with a honeyed taste.
🏷️ Bottle ageing: Wine quietly matures in the sealed bottle.
🍷 Bouquet (wine): The complex aromas of aged wine: nuts, mushrooms, leather.
🍷 Brettanomyces: Yeasts that give a "stable" smell; a little is tolerated, a lot is a fault.
🍷 Brix: A scale showing how much sugar is in grape juice.
🌿 Budbreak: The vine's spring awakening, when the first leaves emerge from the buds.
🍷 Bulk wine: Wine shipped not in bottles but in large batches in tanks.
🏷️ Burgundy Grand Cru: Burgundy's best vineyards; the label shows only the vineyard name.
🍷 Bâtonnage: Stirring the lees in the barrel with a stick to make the wine softer.

C

🦴 Calcium: ~120 mg per 100 mL.
🧪 Calories: ~60 kcal per 100 mL of 3.2% milk.
🌿 Canopy (grape): The leaves and shoots of the vine that catch the sun and shade the bunches.
🏷️ Canteiro: Slow ageing of Madeira in casks under the roof in natural warmth.
🍷 Carbon dioxide: A gas released during fermentation; in sparkling wine it stays as bubbles.
🍷 Carbonation: A simple method: carbon dioxide is pumped into finished wine, like a soft drink.
🧪 Casein: ~80% of milk protein; it curdles into cheese.
🍷 Casein (fining agent): A milk protein that removes brown colour and bitterness from white wine.
🏷️ Cava (Greece): A Greek term for aged table wine; it has nothing to do with Spanish Cava.
🍷 Centrifuge: A fast-spinning drum that throws the haze out of wine.
🪨 Chalk: Soft white limestone that holds water and coolness well.
🍷 Chaptalisation: Adding sugar to the must so the wine is stronger in a cold year.
🍷 Charmat method: A method in which the second fermentation takes place in a large sealed tank rather than in the bottle.
🧪 Cholesterol: Found in milk fat.
🔄 Churning: Cream is churned, the fat gathers into butter and buttermilk is left.
🍷 Citric acid: Grapes contain a little citric acid, and it is sometimes added.
🍷 Clarification of wine: Removing haze so the wine becomes clear.
🏷️ Classic and Selection: German labels for dry wines of balanced or outstanding quality, introduced in 2000.
🏷️ Classico: Wine from the old, most historic heart of a district, such as Chianti Classico.
🪨 Clay: A dense sticky soil that holds moisture and cold for a long time.
🌿 Climate and wine: A place's usual weather: warmth, rain, sun and winds.
🌿 Climate change and wine: Warming moves the harvest earlier and pushes vineyards north and up into the mountains.
🌿 Clone (grapevine): The offspring of one best vine, propagated from cuttings without seeds.
❄️ Cold chain: Unbroken cold from the farm to the home fridge. A break means spoilage.
🍷 Cold maceration: Steeping chilled must with the skins before fermentation starts.
🍷 Cold stabilisation: Wine is kept near freezing so tartrate crystals drop out before bottling.
🏷️ Collection wine: The best vintage wine, given extra ageing in bottle.
🔄 Condensing: Evaporating part of the water from milk: with sugar it becomes condensed milk, without sugar evaporated milk.
🌿 Continental climate: Climate far from the sea: hot summers and cold winters.
🍷 Continuous method: A method where wine with yeast flows non-stop through a chain of tanks and absorbs gas.
🌿 Cool climate: Places with short summers: wines are fresh, tart and lower in alcohol.
❄️ Cooling: To +4 °C to stop bacterial growth.
🍷 Cooperage: A workshop where barrels are made.
🌿 Cordon training: Vine training with a permanent horizontal "arm" along a wire.
🍷 Cork taint: A smell of wet cardboard from a spoiled cork.
🏷️ Criadera: The upper rows of barrels in a solera, where younger wine matures.
🏷️ Crianza: Spanish red aged for at least 2 years, half a year of it in oak.
🏷️ Cru Artisan: A title for small family estates in the Médoc.
🏷️ Cru Bourgeois: A title for good Médoc châteaux left out of the 1855 classification.
🍷 Crushing: Gently crushing the berries to release the juice.
🍷 Cryoextraction: Artificial freezing of grapes in a cold chamber to make the juice sweeter.
🍷 Cultured yeast: Selected, dried yeast added for a reliable fermentation.
🔄 Curdling: Rennet coagulates casein into a curd (the basis of cheese).
🌿 Cutting: A piece of vine shoot from which a new plant grows.
🍷 Cuvée: The best first-pressed juice, or the blend of wines used to make sparkling wine.
🏷️ Czech and Slovak predicate wines: Czech and Slovak grape ripeness levels from kabinet to ice wine and straw wine.

D

🏷️ DAC: Austrian category for wine with the typical taste and variety of its area.
🍷 Deacidification: Reducing excess acidity in wine from a cold year.
🍷 Dealcoholisation: Removing alcohol from finished wine.
🚚 Delivery: From the store or straight to the shopper's home.
🍷 Dessert wine: A sweet wine served with dessert; it can be still or fortified.
🍷 Destemming: Separating the berries from the stems so the wine is not bitter.
🏷️ Deutscher Wein: The simplest German category, formerly Tafelwein.
🍷 Diacetyl: A buttery-smelling compound formed during malolactic fermentation.
🍷 Disgorgement: Removing the sediment from the bottle neck: it is frozen and the pressure pushes it out.
🚚 Distribution: Plant → warehouse → distribution center → store.
🏷️ DO (Spain): A Spanish category for wine from a set area made by fixed rules.
🏷️ DOC (Italy): Italian category for wine from a defined area made to set rules.
🏷️ DOC (Portugal): Portugal's highest category for wine from a defined area.
🏷️ DOCa / DOQ: Spain's highest area category; there are only two: Rioja and Priorat.
🏷️ DOCG: The top Italian wine category, with the strictest rules and checks.
🍷 Dosage: An addition to sparkling wine after disgorging that sets its sweetness.
🦠 Downy mildew: A disease of damp weather: yellow spots on leaves with white down underneath.
🌿 Drip irrigation: Watering through tubes that drip water right to the roots of each vine.
🌿 Drought: A long spell without rain; a little dryness helps, but a severe one kills the vine.

E

🍷 Egg white fining: Whipped egg white softens the tannins of red wine in the cask.
🏷️ Eiswein: A Prädikatswein level: wine from grapes frozen on the vine.
🍷 En primeur: Buying wine while it is still in the barrel, a year or two before bottling.
🏷️ Erstes Gewächs: The name for dry wines from the best vineyards in the Rheingau.
🦠 Erysiphe necator: The fungus behind grape powdery mildew, brought to Europe from America.
🦠 Esca: A wood disease: fungi rot the trunk and the vine can wither in a single day.
🏷️ Estufagem: Heating Madeira in tanks to quickly give it the taste of an old wine.
🍷 Ethanol: The alcohol formed during fermentation that makes you drunk.
🏷️ EU wine categories: The EU list of 17 types of wine and must, from ordinary wine to wine vinegar.
🦠 European grapevine moth: A moth whose caterpillars eat the berries and open the way to rot.
🍷 Excise on wine: A tax on the sale of alcohol, including wine.

F

🔄 Feeding: A ration of hay, silage and compound feed in the cowshed.
🔄 Fermentation: Lactic acid bacteria turn lactose into acid and the milk thickens.
🍷 Fermentation: The work of yeasts or bacteria that turn sugar into alcohol or acid.
🍷 Fermentation temperature: White wines ferment cool and reds warmer, which changes the taste.
🔄 Filling: Packing into containers.
🔄 Filtration: Removing debris right after milking.
🍷 Filtration of wine: Passing wine through a filter that holds back haze and yeast.
🍷 Fining: Adding a substance that binds the haze and settles with it to the bottom.
🍷 Finish (wine): How long the taste stays in the mouth after a sip.
🦠 Flavescence dorée: A dangerous vine disease spread by a leafhopper; leaves turn yellow or red.
🍷 Flexitank: A huge soft bag inside a shipping container that holds 24,000 litres of wine.
🪨 Flint (silex): A hard stone in the chalky soils of the Loire, sometimes linked to a flinty taste.
🍷 Flor: A film of yeast on the surface of wine in a barrel that shields it from air.
🍷 Fortification: Adding grape spirit to stop fermentation and make the wine stronger.
🍷 Free-run juice: Juice that runs off on its own before pressing, the most delicate.
❄️ Freezing: Freezing a milk mixture: with stirring it becomes ice cream; in moulds without stirring, kulfi.
🌿 Frost: A cold night below zero that kills young buds in spring.
🌿 Frost candles: Pots of burning paraffin set in the rows to warm the vines at night.
🔄 Frothing: With steam or a frother: foam for coffee.
🍷 Fructose: The second main sugar in grapes, sweeter than glucose.
🌿 Fungicide: A product against fungal plant diseases.

G

🏷️ Garrafeira: Portugal's finest aged wine from a single harvest.
🍷 Gelatin fining: Animal gelatin removes excess harsh tannins.
🏷️ Geographical indication (Australia): The Australian system of wine zones, regions and subregions.
🏷️ Georgian PDO wines: More than 20 protected wine names in Georgia, such as Tsinandali and Kindzmarauli.
🍷 Glucose: One of the two main sugars in grapes.
🍷 Glycerol: A slightly sweet substance from fermentation that gives wine an oily texture.
🌿 Gobelet (bush vine): A vine without support, shaped like a low bush or cup, an old Mediterranean method.
🌿 Grafting: Joining two plant parts so they grow together as one.
🏷️ Gran Reserva: A Spanish red wine from the best years, aged at least 5 years.
🏷️ Grand cru: The top rank of the best vineyard sites, especially in Burgundy, Alsace and Champagne.
🏷️ Grand cru classé: The title of a château included in one of the Bordeaux classifications.
🪨 Granite: A hard granular rock that breaks down into poor sandy soil.
🌿 Grape: The berries of the grapevine, whose juice becomes wine, juice and raisins.
🌿 Grape berry: A single grape: skin, juicy pulp and seeds.
🦠 Grape berry moth (Eupoecilia): Another moth whose caterpillars damage flowers and berries.
🌿 Grape cluster: A bunch of berries on a shared stalk.
🌿 Grape harvest: The autumn picking of ripe grapes for wine.
🌿 Grape harvester: A tall machine that drives over the vine rows and shakes off the berries.
🌿 Grape leaf: The vine's leaf; it helps identify the variety and is used to make dolma.
🦠 Grape mite: A tiny mite that leaves felt-like blisters on the leaves.
🌿 Grape pulp: The juicy middle of the berry, holding sugar and acids.
🌿 Grape ripeness: The state of the berries when sugar, acidity and flavour are ready for wine.
🌿 Grape seed: The hard seed inside a grape, which gives bitterness when crushed.
🍷 Grape seed oil: A vegetable oil pressed from grape seeds left after winemaking.
🌿 Grape skin: The thin outer layer of the berry, holding colour, tannin and aroma.
🌿 Grape stem: The small branch that holds the berries of a bunch.
🍷 Grape sugar: Glucose and fructose in the berries; yeast turns them into alcohol.
🍷 Grape treading: An old method: grapes are crushed with bare feet in a vat or stone trough.
🌿 Grape variety: A type of vine with its own berries, taste and growth habits.
🌿 Grapevine: A perennial climbing plant on which grapes grow.
🦠 Grapevine diseases: Fungi, bacteria and viruses that harm the vine and the crop.
🌿 Grapevine flowering: A brief spell in early summer when small fragrant flowers bloom on the vine.
🦠 Grapevine leafroll: A virus that makes leaves curl and redden while berries ripen poorly.
🌿 Grapevine nursery: A farm where young vines are grown and grafted for planting.
🦠 Grapevine pests: Insects, mites and animals that eat the vine or its berries.
🌿 Grapevine roots: Vine roots go deep into the ground, seeking water between the stones.
🌿 Grapevine seedling: A young rooted vine ready to be planted in a vineyard.
🪨 Gravel: A layer of small stones that is warm and drains water well.
🏷️ Graves classification: The 1953 and 1959 list of the best châteaux of the Graves district in Bordeaux.
🔄 Grazing: The herd grazes on pasture.
🌿 Green harvest: Cutting off some unripe bunches in summer so the rest ripen better.
🏷️ Grosses Gewächs: A dry wine from a Grosse Lage site, marked GG on the bottle.
🌿 Guyot training: A pruning method that keeps one or two long fruiting canes.
🍷 Gyropalette: A machine that turns hundreds of bottles at once instead of riddling by hand.

H

🌿 Hail: Balls of ice from the sky that batter leaves and bunches within minutes.
🌿 Hail net: A net over or along the rows that protects against hail and birds.
🌿 Hand harvesting: Picking bunches by hand with secateurs, gently on the berries.
🌿 Harvest crate: A small crate or back basket for picked bunches.
🍷 Health warning label: A sign or warning about the harm of alcohol for pregnant women and drivers.
🌿 High-altitude vineyards: Vineyards high in the mountains, warm by day and cool at night.
🔄 Homogenization: Breaking up fat globules so the cream doesn't separate.
🍷 Hospices de Beaune: An old hospital in Burgundy that sells its wine at auction every November.
🌿 Hybrid grape: Varieties bred by crossing European grapes with American or Asian ones.

I

🍷 Ice wine: Sweet wine from grapes frozen on the vine; the ice stays behind and the sweet juice is pressed out.
🏷️ IGT: An Italian regional wine category with flexible rules.
🏭 Industrial dairy products: Products of the industrial age (from the 19th century): condensing, spray drying, infant formula, factory ice cream and cheeses.
🍷 International Organisation of Vine and Wine: An international body that sets common rules for vine growing and winemaking.
🧪 Iron: Milk from any animal is low in iron; camel milk, according to several studies, has slightly more than cow's milk.
🌿 Irrigation: Supplying water to vines in dry places.
🌿 Isabella (grape): An old American variety with a strawberry scent, popular in gardens.
🍷 Isinglass: Glue from fish swim bladders used to clear white wine.

J

🏷️ Joven: A young Spanish wine with little or no ageing.
🍷 Jurançon: A sweet white wine from south-west France made from grapes shrivelled on the vine.

K

🏷️ Kabinett: The lightest Prädikatswein level, made from ripe grapes.
🪨 Kimmeridgian marl: Ancient marl full of tiny oyster shells that lies beneath Chablis.
🏷️ Klosterneuburger Mostwaage: The Austrian scale for the sweetness of grape juice.

L

🏷️ Labelling: Date, expiry date, ingredients, batch code.
🧪 Lactic acid: A product of lactose fermentation that gives a sour taste.
🧫 Lactic acid bacteria: Lactobacilli and streptococci that ferment lactose.
🧪 Lactoferrin: A protein that binds iron and protects against bacteria. Most abundant in breast milk and colostrum.
🧪 Lactose: Milk sugar, ~4.8%.
🏷️ Landwein: German and Austrian regional wine, usually dry or off-dry.
🍷 Late harvest wine: Wine from grapes left on the vine longer than usual to build up sugar.
🌿 Leaf removal: Removing some leaves around the bunches so they get air and sunlight.
🦠 Leafhopper: A small jumping insect that sucks sap and spreads diseases.
🍷 Lees: Dead yeast at the bottom after fermentation, which gives wine roundness.
🍷 Lees ageing: Wine rests for a long time on dead yeast and picks up flavours of bread and brioche.
🍷 Legal drinking age: The minimum age for buying wine, from 16 to 21 depending on the country.
🪨 Limestone: A rock formed from ancient shells; it gives wines freshness and finesse.
🍷 Liqueur d'expédition: A mix of wine and sugar used to top up the bottle after disgorging.
🍷 Liqueur de tirage: A mix of wine, sugar and yeast added for the second fermentation.
🪨 Loess: Fine yellow dust laid down by the wind; soft and fertile.

M

🍷 Maceration: Steeping the juice with the skins to extract colour, tannins and aroma.
🌿 Machine harvesting: Harvesting with a machine that shakes the vine so the berries fall into a hopper.
🍷 Madeira and the sea voyage: Madeira got its character by travelling in casks through the hot tropics.
🍷 Malic acid: A sharp acid, like the one in a green apple.
🍷 Malolactic fermentation: Bacteria turn sharp malic acid into soft lactic acid.
🔬 Mammal: The class of animals that feed their young with milk.
🪨 Marl: A mix of clay and lime, a dense and cool soil.
🌿 Mediterranean climate: Dry hot summers and mild rainy winters, as around the Mediterranean Sea.
🍷 Membrane filtration: A very fine filter that holds back even bacteria.
🏷️ Menzione geografica aggiuntiva: An Italian mark for a named plot within a district, like a French cru.
🍷 Methuen Treaty: A 1703 treaty cut duties on Portuguese wine in England, boosting Port.
🍷 Micro-oxygenation: Feeding tiny bubbles of oxygen into a vat, as if through barrel staves.
🌿 Microclimate: The particular weather of a small spot: a slope, a valley, a riverbank.
🧪 Milk fat: ~3.5% in cow's milk.
🔄 Milk reception: The plant receives the milk and takes samples.
🔄 Milking: 2–3 times a day, by hand or by machine.
🍷 Minerality: A disputed word for stony, slightly salty sensations in wine.
🏷️ Moldovan IGP regions: Moldova's four protected wine indications, three of which are wine areas.
🍷 Must: Fresh grape juice with skins and seeds that has not yet become wine.

N

🍷 Noble rot: A helpful mould on grapes that dries them and makes the juice very sweet.
🏷️ Noble, Añejo, Viejo: Spanish ageing terms: noble from 18 months, añejo from 2 years, viejo from 3 years.

O

🏷️ Oak ageing: Wine matures in oak barrels and gains aromas of vanilla, toast and spice.
🍷 Oak chips: Pieces of oak in a tank instead of a barrel, a cheap way to get an oaky taste.
🌿 Oceanic climate: A seaside climate: mild and damp, without great heat or frost.
🏷️ Oechsle scale: A German measure of grape juice sweetness based on its density.
🏷️ OEM (Hungary): A Hungarian wine category with a protected place of origin.
🍷 Oenococcus oeni: The main lactic acid bacterium of wine, tolerant of alcohol and acid.
🍷 Oenology: The science of wine and how it is made.
🏷️ OFJ (Hungary): Hungarian category for wine of a locality with loose rules.
🍷 OIV International Code of Oenological Practices: A set of approved winemaking methods, from fining to sulphites.
🏷️ Old vines: A label term: wine from long-established vines that give fewer but more concentrated berries.
🏷️ Ordinary wine: A Ukrainian and Moldovan category of simple unaged wine, sold in the year of harvest.
🌿 Organic viticulture: Growing grapes without synthetic poisons or fertilisers.
🍷 Oxidation of wine: Spoiling or change of wine from air: the colour browns and the taste turns nutty and apple-like.
🏷️ Oxidative ageing: Ageing with air contact: the wine darkens and takes on flavours of nuts and dried fruit.
🍷 Oxygen: A gas in the air: in small doses it helps wine mature, in large ones it spoils it.

P

🍷 Passerillage: Drying grapes right on the vine to make them sweeter.
🍷 Passito: Italian wine from partly dried grapes, usually sweet.
🍷 Pasteurisation of wine: Brief heating of wine to stop spoilage, first devised by Pasteur.
🌡️ Pasteurization: 72–76 °C for 15–20 seconds: kills pathogens; keeps ~5–10 days chilled.
🏷️ PDO (Greece): The Greek protected-origin wine category, covering about 33 areas.
🍷 Pea protein fining: A plant protein used instead of egg and milk for fining.
🌿 Pergola: A tall overhead trellis on which the vine grows above your head.
🏷️ PGI (Greece): A Greek regional wine category, formerly "topikos oinos".
🍷 PH of wine: A number showing how acidic a wine is, usually between 3 and 4.
🌿 Pheromone mating disruption: Capsules with a female scent confuse moths so they cannot find a mate.
🧪 Phosphorus: Works with calcium for the bones.
🍷 Photosynthesis: The work of leaves turning sunlight and air into sugar.
🦠 Phylloxera: A tiny aphid from America that destroys the roots of European vines.
🦠 Pierce's disease: A bacterium that blocks the vine's vessels; it is spread by leafhoppers.
🌿 PIWI grape varieties: New varieties resistant to fungal diseases that need fewer sprayings.
🌿 Planting density: How many vines grow on one hectare.
🦠 Plasmopara viticola: A fungus-like organism from America that causes downy mildew.
🍷 Pneumatic press: A drum with a soft bladder inside that gently squeezes the berries with air.
🍷 Polyphenols: A large family of substances in skins and seeds: colour, tannins, resveratrol.
🍷 Pomace: Skins, seeds and stems left after crushing or pressing.
🍷 Pomace cap: The layer of skins that floats to the top as red wine ferments.
🍷 Potassium metabisulfite: A white powder that releases sulphur dioxide in wine.
🦠 Powdery mildew (oidium): A fungus that coats leaves and berries with a white, flour-like dust.
🏷️ Premier cru: The second rank of good vineyard sites after grand cru.
🍷 Press juice: Juice or wine squeezed out by the press; coarser and more tannic.
🔄 Pressing: Squeezing whey out of the cheese curd.
🍷 Pressing (wine): Squeezing juice from the berries or from the pulp after fermentation.
🍷 Primary aromas: Aromas from the grape itself: fruit, flowers, herbs.
🍷 Protected designation of origin: A protected name for wine from one place made under special rules.
🏷️ Protected designation of origin (wine): An EU label: the wine is made only in its own area and only from local grapes.
🍷 Protected geographical indication: A protected name for wine from an area with looser rules.
🏷️ Protected geographical indication (wine): An EU label: wine from a defined area with looser rules than a PDO.
🍷 Prošek: A Croatian sweet wine from dried grapes from Dalmatia.
🌿 Pruning shears: Garden shears for pruning vines and cutting bunches.
🏷️ Prädikatswein: The top German category: wine graded by grape ripeness, with no added sugar.
🪨 Pudding stones (galets roulés): Large smooth river stones that warm up by day and warm the vines at night.
🍷 Pump-over (remontage): Pumping must from the bottom of the vat and pouring it over the cap on top.
🍷 Punch-down (pigeage): Pushing the cap of skins down into the must with a paddle or feet.
🍷 Pupitre: A wooden rack with slanted holes where bottles are placed for riddling.
🍷 Puttonyos: The old measure of Tokaji sweetness: how many baskets of sweet berries were added to the cask.
🍷 PVPP: A synthetic powder that removes bitter substances and brown colour.

Q

✅ Quality control: Fat, protein, bacteria, antibiotics, acidity.
🏷️ Qualitätswein: German quality wine from one of 13 regions; adding sugar is allowed.

R

🍷 Racking: Moving clear wine into another vessel and leaving the sediment behind.
🍷 Racking cane (siphon): A tube for moving wine by gravity without stirring up the sediment.
🚛 Raw milk transport: Farm → dairy plant by milk tanker, usually within a day.
🍷 Recioto: A sweet Italian wine from semi-dried grapes, from Valpolicella or Soave.
🍷 Reduction (wine): Smells of rotten egg or struck match when the wine lacked air.
🍷 Refractometer: A handheld device: a drop of juice on the glass shows how sweet it is.
🏷️ Regional appellation: The broadest appellation, for wine from a whole region, such as Bourgogne.
🧫 Rennet: An enzyme (chymosin) that curdles milk for cheese.
🏷️ Reserva (Portugal): A Portuguese label for aged wine of higher quality.
🏷️ Reserva (Spain): Spanish red wine aged at least 3 years, one of them in oak.
🏷️ Reserve and Grande Reserve (Greece): Greek ageing terms for PDO wines.
🍷 Reserve wine: Wine from past years kept to blend into new sparkling wine.
🍷 Riddling: Bottles are gradually turned neck-down so the sediment collects by the cork.
🍷 Ripasso: Valpolicella refermented on the grape skins left over from Amarone.
🔄 Ripening: Aging cheese for weeks to years.
🏷️ Riserva: An Italian label for wine aged longer than the region's usual rules require.
🏷️ Roble: Spanish wine that spent a short time, a few months, in oak.
🏷️ Romanian DOC: A Romanian category with ripeness levels: ripe, late harvest and noble rot.
🌿 Rootstock: The root part of a grafted vine, usually from American grapes resistant to phylloxera.

S

🍷 Saccharomyces cerevisiae: The main yeast of wine, bread and beer.
🏷️ Saint-Émilion classification: A list of the best Saint-Émilion châteaux, revised roughly every 10 years.
🧂 Salt: Added to cheese and butter.
🪨 Sand: Loose soil made of grains of sand, where phylloxera can barely survive.
🍷 Sauternes: The famous sweet white wine of Bordeaux made from grapes with noble rot.
🪨 Schist: A layered rock that splits easily, letting roots grow between the layers.
🌿 Scion: The upper part of a vine of the desired variety, grafted onto a rootstock.
🍷 Secondary aromas: Aromas from fermentation: bread, yeast, cream, butter.
🍷 Secondary fermentation: Fermentation of finished wine with sugar and yeast, which creates the bubbles.
🔄 Separation: Splitting into cream and skimmed milk.
🍷 Sforzato: A dry red wine from partly dried Nebbiolo in Alpine Valtellina.
🍷 Skin contact: The time juice or wine spends together with the grape skins.
🪨 Slate: A dark flat stone that warms up by day and gives the heat back to the vine at night.
🌿 Slope (vineyard): A vineyard's tilt toward the sun; in Europe south-facing slopes are warmer.
🔄 Slow baking: Long simmering at ~90 °C: baked milk, ghee.
🪨 Soil: The top layer of earth that holds vine roots, water and tiny creatures.
🪨 Soil drainage: The soil's ability to let excess water drain down without forming puddles.
🏷️ Solera: Rows of casks where wine is drawn from the bottom row and topped up from the younger upper rows.
🍷 Sorting table: A table or belt where rotten berries and leaves are removed by hand.
🦠 Sour rot: Spoilage of split berries with a vinegary smell, spread by fruit flies.
🏷️ Spanish ageing categories: Spanish labels by ageing time: Joven, Roble, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.
🦠 Spotted-wing drosophila: A small fly that lays its eggs in ripe berries.
🔄 Spray drying: Spray drying into powder.
🏷️ Spätlese: A Prädikatswein level from late-harvested grapes; it can be dry or sweet.
🔄 Standardization: Fat content is adjusted to 1.5 / 2.5 / 3.2%.
🧫 Starter culture: A bacterial culture for fermented dairy products.
🌡️ Sterilization: Prolonged heating above 100 °C; keeps a long time but tastes "cooked".
🍷 Straw wine: Sweet wine from grapes dried on straw, reeds or in the wind.
🍷 Strohwein: Austrian wine from grapes dried on straw or reeds.
🏷️ Strong fortified wine category: A Ukrainian and Moldovan category of low-sugar fortified wines, such as port and sherry.
🍷 Stuck fermentation: When the yeast stops working too early and sugar is left behind.
🍬 Sugar: Added to condensed milk, ice cream and yogurts.
🍷 Sulphites (SO2): Sulphur dioxide and its salts protect wine from spoilage and oxidation.
🍷 Sulphur candle (barrel): Burning a sulphur strip in an empty barrel to keep it from going mouldy.
🌿 Sulphur dusting: Sulphur powder against powdery mildew, an old remedy.
🏷️ Superiore: An Italian label for wine slightly stronger or aged longer than the standard one from the same area.
🌿 Sustainable viticulture: An approach that takes care of the soil, water, people and nature around.
🍷 Sélection de grains nobles: A sweet Alsace wine from berries touched by noble rot.

T

🍷 Tannins: Substances from skins, seeds and oak that make the mouth feel dry and puckery.
🍷 Tartaric acid: The main acid in grapes, rare in other fruits.
🍷 Tears of wine: Drops running down the side of the glass; they come from alcohol, not quality.
🪨 Terra rossa: Red clay over limestone, coloured by iron oxides.
🌿 Terroir: Everything that makes a place special for wine: soil, climate, slope and people.
🍷 Tirage: Bottling wine with sugar and yeast for a second fermentation.
🍷 Tokaji: Wines of Hungary's Tokaj region, the most famous being sweet ones from noble-rot berries.
🍷 Tokaji Aszú: Sweet Tokaji made by steeping nobly rotten berries in young wine.
🍷 Tokaji Eszencia: Juice that seeps out on its own from noble-rot berries; almost a syrup.
🍷 Tokaji Fordítás: Tokaji made by pouring wine over the pomace left after aszú.
🍷 Tokaji late harvest: A lighter sweet Tokaji made from late-picked grapes.
🍷 Tokaji Máslás: Tokaji made on the yeast lees left over from Aszú.
🍷 Tokaji Szamorodni: Tokaji from whole bunches including the rotted berries; it can be dry or sweet.
🏺 Traditional dairy products: Products made for centuries to folk recipes: fermenting, cheesemaking, slow baking, drying. Tied to regions and peoples.
🍷 Traditional method: A method where wine ferments a second time right in the bottle and gains its bubbles.
🍷 Transfer method: The wine ferments in the bottle, then is emptied into a tank, filtered and rebottled.
🌿 Trellis: Posts with wire that the vine grows along and leans on.
🏷️ Trockenbeerenauslese: The sweetest and rarest German wine, made from raisined berries with noble rot.
🪨 Tuff: A soft rock made of compacted volcanic ash.

U

🌡️ UHT processing: 135–150 °C for a few seconds (usually 2–10 s): keeps for months without refrigeration.
🏷️ Ukrainian dessert wine category: A Ukrainian and Moldovan category of sweet fortified wines: semi-sweet, sweet and liqueur.
🏷️ Ukrainian PDO wine: A Ukrainian wine category with protected place of origin modelled on the EU.

V

🏷️ VDP classification: A private ranking of top German estates by vineyard site, like Burgundy's crus.
🏷️ VDP Grosse Lage: The top VDP level: Germany's best sites, like a grand cru.
🏷️ VDQS: An old French tier between vin de pays and AOC, abolished in 2011.
🍷 Vendanges tardives: An Alsace late-harvest wine from Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris or Muscat.
🏷️ Village appellation: Burgundy wine from the vineyards of one village, ranked below Premier Cru.
🏷️ Villages: The word Villages in the name means the wine comes from the region's best villages.
🏷️ Vin de France: The simplest French category: wine from anywhere in France.
🏷️ Vin de garde: Wine that gets better after many years in the bottle.
🍷 Vin de paille: French straw wine, especially from the Jura.
🏷️ Vin de pays / IGP: French regional wine with relaxed rules on grape varieties.
🍷 Vin Santo: A sweet amber Italian wine from dried grapes, aged for a long time in small barrels.
🌿 Vine pruning: Cutting back extra shoots in winter so the vine gives fewer but better grapes.
🏷️ Vinea Wachau categories: Three tiers of dry Wachau wines: Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd.
🌿 Vineyard: A plot of land planted with grapevines.
🌿 Vineyard inter-row: The strip of ground between vine rows used by people and machines.
🌿 Vineyard terraces: Steps on a steep slope held up by stone walls.
🏷️ Vinho Regional: Portuguese wine from a large region with flexible rules.
🏷️ Vino (Italy): The simplest Italian wine category, with no region named.
🏷️ Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica: A Spanish tier between Vino de la Tierra and DO.
🏷️ Vino de la Tierra: Spanish regional wine with relaxed rules.
🏷️ Vino de Pago: A Spanish category for wine from a single estate with a special climate and soil.
🍷 Vino dulce natural: Spanish sweet wine whose sweetness comes from overripe grapes alone, with no added spirit.
🍷 Vinsanto of Santorini: A Greek sweet wine from grapes dried in the sun on the island of Santorini.
🏷️ Vintage: The year the grapes for the wine were harvested.
🌿 Vintage: The year the grapes were picked; that year's weather shows in the wine's taste.
🏷️ Vintage-quality wine: A Ukrainian and Moldovan category of aged quality wine from a specific area.
🏷️ Vintners Quality Alliance: Canada's system for wine quality and origin.
🧪 Vitamin A: Found in milk fat.
🧪 Vitamin B12: Found only in animal-source foods.
🍊 Vitamin C: Milk contains little of it, except mare's and especially camel milk.
🧪 Vitamin D: Helps the body absorb calcium; some countries add it to milk.
🌿 Viticulture: The science and craft of growing grapes.
🌿 Vitis amurensis: A wild grape of East Asia, very frost-hardy and a parent of many hybrids.
🌿 Vitis berlandieri: An American wild grape that copes well with limestone soils.
🌿 Vitis labrusca: A North American grape species with a "foxy" and strawberry aroma.
🌿 Vitis riparia: An American wild grape from riverbanks, resistant to frost and phylloxera.
🌿 Vitis rupestris: An American wild grape from rocky slopes, used for rootstocks.
🌿 Vitis vinifera: The European grape species used for almost all the world's wine.
🏷️ Viñedo Singular: A Spanish mark for a single outstanding vineyard.
🏷️ VOC (Czech Republic): A Czech wine category with a taste typical of its district, similar to the Austrian DAC.
🍷 Volatile acidity: The vinegary smell of wine; it is always present in small amounts.
🪨 Volcanic soil: Soils of lava and ash, poor but rich in minerals.
🌿 Véraison: The moment grapes soften and turn from green to their own colour.

W

🌿 Warm climate: Places with hot summers: wines are ripe, soft and stronger.
🧪 Water: ~87% of milk.
🧪 Whey protein: ~20% of milk protein; it stays in the whey.
🌿 Wild grapevine (Vitis sylvestris): The wild ancestor of cultivated grapes, growing in the forests of Europe and the Caucasus.
🍷 Wild yeast: Yeasts living on the grapes and in the cellar that start fermentation on their own.
🍷 Wine aroma: The smells of wine coming from the variety, fermentation and ageing.
🍷 Wine aroma wheel: A circular chart of wine aroma names, created at the University of California, Davis.
🍷 Wine auction: Selling rare wines to whoever bids the most.
🌿 Wine belt: Bands of land between 30 and 50 degrees latitude where vines grow best.
🍷 Wine colour: From pale lemon to deep garnet, changing with age.
🍷 Wine cooperative: A group of small growers who make and sell wine together.
🍷 Wine faults: Unpleasant smells and tastes caused by mistakes, bacteria or poor storage.
🍷 Wine ingredient list (EU 2023): Since December 2023, EU wine labels show ingredients and calories, often via a QR code.
🍷 Wine list: A restaurant's list of wines with prices.
🏷️ Wine of Origin: South Africa's system of wine places of origin.
🍷 Wine press: A machine that squeezes juice from grapes or pomace.
🍷 Wine rating: Scoring a wine with a number, usually on a 100-point scale.
🍷 Wine routes: Tourist routes through wine country with cellars and tastings.
🍷 Wine shop: A shop that sells wine and helps you choose.
🍷 Wine tank truck: A truck with a tank for carrying wine.
🍷 Wine tanker ship: A ship with tanks for carrying wine in bulk by sea.
🍷 Wine tasting: Careful tasting: looking at the colour, smelling, tasting and judging.
🍷 Wine tourism: Trips to wineries and vineyards to look around and taste.
🏷️ Wine without geographical indication: The simplest EU category; the variety and vintage may be shown.
🍷 Winemaking: Turning grapes into wine, from harvest to bottle.
🍷 Winery: A place where grapes are turned into wine.
🍷 Winkler index: A way to compare the warmth of different places by adding up the season's warm days.

Y

🍷 Yeast: Microscopic fungi that turn sugar into alcohol and gas.
🌿 Yield (wine): How much grape or wine a hectare gives; less often means tastier.

É

🏷️ Échelle des crus: A percentage rating of Champagne villages: 17 grand cru and 42 premier cru.

Themes

🥛Types of milkFrom cow to reindeer: composition, benefits, value 🧀Cheeses of the worldParmesan, feta, bryndza, sulguni and more 🥣Fermented milk productsKefir, yogurt, kumis, matsoni, skyr 🌍Dairy traditionsRegions, peoples and their dairy products 🐄Dairy animalsWhich animals are milked and how their milk differs 🚚The journey of milkFrom pasture to shop — step by step ❤️Milk and healthCalcium, lactose, allergy, benefits and risks 👷JobsWho works with milk 🗺️Map of traditionsWorld regions, peoples and their products on a map ⚖️ComparisonsKefir or yogurt, sour cream or cream, and more 🍳RecipesCottage cheese, yogurt, ghee, paneer, butter — at home 📜History of milkFrom domestication to Tetra Pak