Palate:
In the world of wine this refers to the taste of a wine, or a person's
winetasting skill.
Pasteurization:
Named for 19th century French scientist Louis Pasteur who discovered
the process, it is a method of using heat to kill bacteria that would
otherwise spoil wine or other foods. Flash pasteurization is a less
severe variation that is widely used in wine production.
Peppery:
Said of a wine with the aroma of black pepper. Common
with wine made from the Syrah grape and some vintage port.
Perfume:
Can refer simply to the smell of a wine, but usually denotes an intense
varietal aroma.
Petillant:
Wines with a very slight sparkle such as the Portuguese crackling
rose or the German Perlwin.
pH:
A scale for measuring acidity. A value of 7 indicates a neutral solution,
neither acid nor alkaline. Acid solutions are below 7, while alkaline
solutions are above. Wines are acid and generally fall between 3 and
4 pH.
Phenolics:
A large group of chemical compounds that include pigments, flavor
compounds and tannins. Many are found in grapes, more profusely in
red grapes than in white, and in greater concentration in the seeds,
stems and skins than in the juice and pulp. They are absorbed into
wine during fermentation and maceration and play an important role
not only in the flavor and color of the wine but in its ability to
age. Wine can also acquire phenolics from oak barrels, adding to their
value in the making of fine, long-lasting, complex wines.
Wine Terminology- Dallas Bartenders
Phylloxera:
An tiny louse that kills grapevines by feeding on their roots. In
the 1860s this pest was accidently brought into Europe from America
and subsequently nearly wiped out European viticulture. It would be
twenty years before the devastating problem was solved and the solution
came from America as well. Phylloxera-resistant species of vines were
imported and European vines were grafted onto them. Eventually, phylloxera
spared very few countries worldwide and as a result, there are almost
no wine regions left today where vines have not been altered to resist
the pest. Alarmingly, new strains of this insect are continuing to
cause problems in many regions, sometimes feeding on rootstock long
thought to be safe from it.
Pomace:
A term borrowed from cider making that refers to pulp left behind
after the fruit has been pressed for juice. It is equivalent to the
French word marc.
Port:
One of the world's great fortified wines, it is a style that is made
in many regions of the world, but authentic port, labelled "Porto",
comes from the Douro valley in northern Portugal.
Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
Powdery
mildew: Also known by the French name, oidium, this
is a fungal vine disease that has spread worldwide and can cause havoc
in a vineyard, drastically reducing yields. It is usually controlled
by means of sulphur and lime.
Pressing:
A method of extracting juice from crushed grapes, or pomace, by means
of a mechanical device. In modern wine making, pressing is usually
done after grapes have already been crushed and destemmed, generally
prior to fermentation for white wine, and after fermentation for red.
Press
wine: Wine made from juice that is yielded by a wine
press. More harsh and astringent than free-run wine, it is often blended
into other wine to increase tannins.
Punt:
The indentation in the bottom of some wine bottles.
Q
Quaffing
wine: Any very drinkable, refreshing and uncomplicated
wine.
Quality
wine: In some cases merely a subjective term for better
wine; it is regulated in the European Union. All wine sold in Europe
falls under quality wine or the inferior table wine.
Wine Terminology- Dallas Bartenders
R
Racking:
The separation of wine from the sediment in a container. This labor
intensive operation of clarifying wine is carried out with a siphon
or pump and sometimes fining agents. This process takes place at least
twice in the making of most fine wines and sometimes five or more
times.
Rancio:
A style of wine that is usually fortified or vin doux naturel and
involves deliberate maderization and/or oxidation; made primarily
in France and Spain.
Ratafia:
A sweet apéritif made in France from dried
grapes and fortified with marc.
Raw:
Describes a wine with a harsh taste usually due to overpowering tannins;
may soften with age.
Rehoboam:
Large bottle used in Champagne and Burgundy equivalent to 6 standard
bottles (4.5 litres, 153 US fl. oz., 159.3 UK fl. oz.).
Reserve:
The implication that a wine so designated is superior. "Reserve"
is not subject to any government quality requirements in any of the
countries in which it is used, unlike Riserva (Italy) and Reserva
(Spain and Portugal).
Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
Residual
sugar: Sugar that remains in wine after fermentation.
A small amount of sugar invariably remains in even dry wines, usually
1 to 2 grams per litre (.037 to .074 oz per US quart, .044 to .088
oz per UK quart), where sweet wines may contain 200 to 300g/l (7.4
to 11.1 oz/US qt or 8.9 to 13.3 oz/UK qt) or more. Sweeteners are
frequently added when the amount of residual sugar is insufficient
for the style of wine.
Rhône
ranger: A name given to certain California winemakers
who, since the early 1980s, have been producing wines in the style
of the Côte Rôtie and Hermitage in France's Rhône
valley. These wines are made almost exclusively from the Syrah grape
and are deeply colored, rich and fruity.
Rice
wine: Technically not a wine at all, this fermented
beverage is made from steamed glutinous rice. It is classified as
a beer in the U.S. but because of its alcohol content (between 12
and 16%) it is marketed more like a specialty wine. Produced mainly
in Asia, rice wine ranges from colorless to golden yellow and from
very dry to sweet. The most famous variety is Japan's sake.
Wine Terminology- Dallas Bartenders
Riddling:
The process used to remove the deposit left in the bottle by the secondary
fermentation of sparkling wine. Called remuage in French, the traditional
method of riddling, employing special racks and involving inverting
bottles by hand in stages over a period of some weeks, is time-consuming
and laborous. Mechanized racks shorten the time involved, however,
new specially-modified yeasts may render the practice obsolete.
Rootstock:
This is the portion of the root system of a vine onto which the scion,
or shoot, is attached or grafted.
Rosé:
From the French word meaning "pinkish", it is wine that
falls between red and white in both hue and character. It can be made
in two ways: using red grapes and allowing only a short maceration,
the period of time the wine is in contact with the grape skins. The
second and less popular technique is blending a small amount of red
wine with white.
Rough:
A wine that may lack maturity or have overwhelming characteristics
that would be more suitable as a wine cooler mixed with soda versus
a wine for a dinner party.
Rounded:
A wine whose characteristics complement each other.
