Champagne Tasting Terms
Terms
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- Frizzante
- Slightly sparkling, in Italian wine. Similar to the French "Pétillant."
- Biscuity
- flavor often associated with malt
- Rising bread dough
- Very specific aroma description for a fresh, yeasty quality that I often find in Champagnes and White Burgundies. Note, however, that Champagne-makers consider this a flaw and prefer the euphemisms "toasty" or "biscuity" to describe this scent. I like it
- Yeasty
- Pleasant scent of yeast, often noted in sparkling wines. Compare "rising bread dough."
- Hot stuff!
- In all honesty, I don't think wine makes a very good accompaniment for curries, Thai food and other hot-and-spicy dishes. The alcohol wines interacts with the otherwise pleasant fire of curries to create a burning sensation that I find unpleasant.
- Spumante
- Literally "foaming," Italian for sparkling wine, usually seen in combination with its source, as in "Asti Spumante."
- Bready
- A grainy flavor often found in ales
- Autoclave
- Sealed tanks used in the Charmat Process or bulk process of producing sparkling wines. Asti Spumante sparkling wines rely heavily on this process.
- Brut
- Very dry (unsweet), in specific reference to Champagne.
- Sur Lees
- on the lees or on the yeast deposit (a richer, more complex flavor arises the longer the wine stays on the lees)
- Toast, toasty
- Descriptive flavor and aroma term that may result from making wine in lightly toasted or charred oak barrels; I've also found it as an element of unknown origin in fine Champagnes and older Bordeaux.
- Metodo Champenois
- The traditional method of producing sparkling wines. First, the wine is created. Then additional sugars and yeast are added and the wine is immediately bottled. A secondary fermentation then takes place with CO2 being the byproduct of fermentation.
- Pinpoint
- Classic description of the peculiarly tiny bubbles that flow in a lasting fountain from the bottom of your glass when very fine Champagne is poured.
- Blanc de Blancs
- made from white grapes only
- Creamy
- A textural description that I use most often in discussing Champagnes and sparkling wines.
- House style
- Indication of body; light, medium or full
- Body style
- how heavy it feels in the mouth (think skim milk verses heavy cream). Brut is a lighter body, prestige cuveé is a medium body and rosé has the fullest body.
- Tete de Cuveé or prestige cuveé
- the most expensive bottling of the house
- Nutty
- Nut-like bouquet often found in white wines
- Brut non-vintage
- a blend of vintages for consistency and complexity
- Flavor style
- dry or sweet
- Cava
- Spanish sparkling wine.