Acidity: natural quality present in grapes. It contributes to defining the wine's structure and therefore a wine that lacks enough of it are described as 'flabby'.

Aftertaste: basically, the taste that remains in the mouth after swallowing the wine.

American Oak: one of the types of wood most used to age wine. Barrels made out of it are used specially to store red wines, contributing to its flavour. Newer wood has more impact on the wine.

Aroma: refers to the scent or "bouquet" of a wine. In general "bouquet" is used to refer to the more complex scents of a wine.

Bitter: refers to a wine that has a strong tannin element in it.

Body: refers to the feeling of the particular weight of a wine in the mouth. It ranges from full to light bodied.

Clean: refers to a wine that has no off smells and flavours.

Complexity: refers to a wine that has a rich and deep feel, which has at the same time balance and finesse.

Decanting: refers to the slow process of pouring the wine from a bottle into another container in order to reduce the wine's sediments.

Depth: refers to the characteristics of a strong and complex wine, with intense flavour.

Enology: the science of winemaking.

Filtering: the process of clearing the wine after its fermentation. It is argued that it also takes away part of the flavour and character of the wine, and this is why there extent to which it is carried out varies from winery to winery. Yeasts, solids and any other impurities are removed in this process.

Finish: or aftertaste of the wine.

Flabby: related to a lack of structure in the wine. A flabby wine lacks acidity and has a soft feel.

French Oak: one of the types of wood most used to age wine. It brings flavours of vanilla, tannin and other spices to the wines stored in barrels made from this wood. Newer wood has more impact on the wine. This wood is preferred for aging fine wine, since American oak can bring strong vanilla overtones.

Maceration: during the fermentation of the wine, the grape skins and even their stems are added to extract more color, tannin and aroma.

Malolactic fermentation: this is a secondary process of fermentation which converts sharp malic acid into mild lactic acid and carbon dioxide, therefore reducing the acidity of the wine.

Mature: the state of a wine that comes after its beneficial aging.

Phylloxera: vine aphid which devastated viniculture in the late 1800s. Due to this, the European rootstock has been growingly replaced by the American variety which is more resistant.

Racking: part of the traditional maturation process of wines, in which the wine is gradually clarified by transferring it from barrel to barrel, reducing the amount of sediment it has. This process also helps to aerate the wine, softening tannins and helping to develop further flavors.

Round: usually used to refer to a smooth wine.

Soft: refers to a wine that has a low level of acidity, and therefore has a soft texture in the mouth.

Spicy: complimentary description that refers to many fine wines.

Stemmy: refers to a wine that has been fermented for too long with the grape's stems, bringing an astringent character to the wine.

Tannin: is a harsh, bitter and natural component of red wines. This is derived from grape skins, pips stems and from aging in oak barrels, producing an astringent, mouth puckering sensation (similar to that produced by a strong black tea). Tannin is softened with time and is essential for a wine's long-term aging.

Varietal Character: refers to the particular aroma and taste of a specific grape variety.

Viniculture: refers to vine-growing and vineyard management.

Yeast: is an essential organism that during the wine process causes grape fermentation, converting sugar to alcohol.