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Tannic: High levels of tannin.
Tannins: The group of astringent and bitter compounds found in the seeds and skins of grapes which slow oxidation and promote aging. Found more in red wines than white. The proper level of tannin is essential to aged, high-quality red wines, excess is detrimental.
Tart: The sharp, astringent taste of fruit acid, like the taste of an apple. When present in a moderate degree, lends a pleasant freshness to the wine.
Tartrate Crystals: Tartaric acid, the primary acid in grapes, forms tiny crystals when chilled. These crystals adhere to the cork or form sediment in the bottle. Cold stabilization removes the crystals.
Tasting: The mouth can taste acid, sugar, bitter and salt. Most of the taste is sensed by the tongue, though the palate is sensitive to some tastes as well. Taste is less developed than the sense of smell. Smell accounts for more than 75% of all taste sensations. In tasting wine, the sensations of taste and smell must be analyzed and identified.
Tawny: Applied to wines which have turned from a red to a brownish colour with maturation.
Terroir: Describes all the influences on the flavours in the wine that come from where the vines grow, especially soil, climate, slope, the aspect of the slope.
Thin: Light, watery.
Toasted: Sometimes from storage in charred oak also flavour of many champagnes.
Toasting: Heating the inside of a barrel during its construction to caramelize the flavours. This impact the flavour and aromatic characteristics of the wine during barrel aging.
Total Acidity: Acids in wine are principally tartaric, malic and citric. Their total level is given in grams per litre. Can also refer to the term titratable acidity, again a measure of the acidity in grape juice.
Unfiltered: Wine that has not gone through a filtering process to clarify it.
Varietal: The grape variety used to make the wine.
Velvety: Silky, smooth texture.
Veraison: The stage when grapes on the vine begin to soften and gain colour. The grapes start to gain sugar at this point.
Vinifera: The botanical name for the European grape species. The most prominent of the 32 species making up the genus Vitis in the botanical classification Vitis Vinifera have been successfully introduced into British Columbia.
Vinifera hybrid: A cross between species of Vitis Vinifera grapes. Used in Canadian premium table wines.
Vinification: Broad term that covers the entire process of turning grapes into wine, except for vineyard operations. Includes fermentation, clarification, and aging.
Vintage Wine: Wine labelled with the year the grapes were harvested and made into wine. Applied to the crop of grapes or the wines of one season.
Vintner: Wholesale wine merchants, wine growers, wine makers, wine blenders.
Viticulture: The science or practice of growing grapevines, especially for wine making.
Volatile Acidity: The acid of vinegar (acetic acid). Not found in the grape, but develops after fermentation. It is considered a fault in wine.
Voluptuous: Full bodied.
Weight: A term applied to the feel of the wine in the mouth.
Wine Press: A machine which squeezes juice from grapes.
Woody: A character that varies with the length of maturation in cask and degree of seasoning - age. Usually a red wine term but can also apply to wood-aged whites.
Yeast: A small single-celled fungus that ferments sugars and other carbohydrates, and reproduces by budding. Yeast is found naturally in the "bloom" on grape skins and other fruit.
Yeasty: The smell of fermenting yeasts. A faint aroma of freshly baked bread. Wines bottled off the lees often taste yeasty, some champagnes will have a toasted yeast flavour.
Yeast Autolysis: The breakdown of yeast during aging on the lees, in which compounds are released that heighten the sensory qualities of the wine and increase its complexity.
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