Bartender's Diary-5

First of all I would like to thank you for reading my posts. This is post is second part of Wine knowledge hope you all read my last post on wine Bartender's Diary-4

Wine Terms or Dictionary

Acidic: Every wine requires some acidity. This quality makes a wine feel fresh, or give it lift. Too much acidity makes a wine taste sour and feels sharp, lean or angular. Not enough acidity will make a wine feel flabby.

Aeration: This happens to a wine when you add air to help its perfume become more noticeable.

Age: Wine aging refers to a group of reactions that tend to improve the taste and flavor of a wine over time.

American Viticulture Area: Also known as an AVA, specific grape growing area that is marked by its unique terroir and the wines from the region. AVA’s are granted that status by the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade.

AOC Appellation d’Origine Controllee: French Government certification awarded to select regions for agricultural product that is most often for wine or cheese.

Appellation: Similar to AOC, a specific area where grapes or other agricultural products come from. For example, Pomerol in Bordeaux , or Napa in California.

Assemblage: French term for the grape varieties used to blend a wine.
Barrel or Barrique: A vessel to age wine which is usually made from oak.
Barrel Tasting: When a taster tries a wine before it has been bottled.
Bottle age: All quality wines need to be aged in the bottle before being opened. For some wines, this could be a few years. Other wines (for example the First Growths from Bordeaux) in select vintages require 30 years or more to become mature.
Breathe: When you allow a wine to breathe, you are giving it air, which improves the perfume and the texture of the wine.
Brix: The measurement of sugar content.
Clay: Type of soil most often found in Pomerol and Saint Emilion that is perfect for Merlot.
Cuvee: This term is most often used to describe a special blend, barrel or bottling of a specific wine.
Decant: Decanting  is the practice of pouring wine from a bottle into a larger container. Decanting is done for two reasons removal of sediment from older wines, or to allow air into a young wine for the purpose of allowing them to soften in texture and display more aromatics.

Extract: The raw materials found in a wine that is not water, sugar, alcohol or acidity. These raw materials make up the actual soul of the wine. Interestingly, they are on average between 1% and 1.5% of a wine.
Field Blend: Multiple grape varieties planted in the same vineyard that are usually harvested and vinified at the same time.
Lactic Acid: A smooth textured acid that is the by product of malolactic fermentation. This is the same acid that is also found in milk.
Late Harvest: Late Harvest wines are sweet wines produced from grapes that are allowed to over ripen on the vine.
Mineral: This aroma or flavor comes from grapes gown in intense, rocky, mineral laden soils.
Sec: French term for dry wine.
Sediment: Natural occurrence as wines age that is formed with the tannins, pigments and other materials bond together.
Tannin: Tannins which are extracted from the grape skins and stems, coupled with acidity and alcohol, are the backbone of a wine and one of the key components to a long life. Tannins need to be ripe for a wine to feel good in your mouth, Unripe tannins can make your mouth feel dry or make the wine seem hard.
Tart: Tart wines are produced from unripe fruit and, or fruit that is overly acidic.
Tartaric Acid: The small, harmless crystals found at the bottom of a wine bottle. The crystals are harmless, odorless and lack flavor. They occur naturally when some wines age.
Terroir: A sense of place created from numerous environmental factors ranging from soil types, exposure, climate, topography and various other elements specific to the unique location. Those factors have a real effect on the vine and its expression of character on the vines and in the grapes.
Tertiary Aromas: The same as secondary aromas. This is what happens to the scent of wine once it matures. It develops secondary, non fruit aromatics like truffles, tobacco, leather, tar, cedar and spice. This is a positive term.
Vintage: The specific year the grapes were harvested in.

 WINES ACCORDING TO THE COUNTRIES

Australia:  The most stylish wines come from the Margaret River region where the climate and soil combine to produce grapes of unparalleled ripeness with purity of fruit and balance. The most productive wine region accounting for 60% of the country's total wine output is South Australia. The wines of Tasmania and Victoria regions range from deep-coloured, cassis –flavoured cabernet Sauvignon to some surprisingly classic Pinot noir through light and delicate aromatic whited to rich oak yet finely structured Chardonnay, Riesling & Semillon. 

Famous Wine Regions in South Australia are Barossa, Adelaide, Padthaway, McLaren Vale, Mount Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu and Limestone coast

California: Some of the world's most late harvest wines are made in California, where the sunshine state brings a wonderfully ripe peachiness to Riesling and tropical fruit freshness to Chenin and Muscat. 

Regions of California: Endocino country, Napa, Sonoma country, The North and The South Central Coast.

Chile: Many good wines from Chile can still be had for less than a sawbuck, but the country's wine universe is expanding. Red wines still dominate but whites have improved considerably. New varieties like petite sirah and malbec are being offered.
Regions in Chile: Atacama, Coquimbo, Central Velly and Colchagua Velly

France: Mixture of historic chance & climatic conditions is the greatest wine-producing region. France has the most far-reaching system of wine quality control.  The key factors are the origin of the wine, the historic method of production, the use of rare grape type.
Regions in France: Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Cotes de Rhone and Loire

Italy: Like France makes a quarter of the world's wines and Italian exports are healthy. The number of interesting indigenous grape varieties is greater than can be found in any other wine-making country of the world including France.
Wine regions of Italy: Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, and Sardinia.

New Zealand: Has long been famed for its stunning, unspoiled landscape. Equal to the international acclaim for its beauty is that for its fine wines. Climate, geography and human skill have combined to produce highly distinctive, premium quality wines, which are the riches of a clean, green land.
Regions of New Zealand: North and South Island, Botrytized wines, Corkscrews

Spain: Is more famous for its fortified wines than its table wines. It also produces sparkling wines, which is known as Cava. The grape yield is much more than in Italy of France, but most grapes are grapes and hence not used for wine making.
Regions of Spain: Ioja - is the best known of Spanish table wines

India: Wine has been made in India for many thousands of years. Today India has more than 123,000 acres of vineyards, but only Ten percent of them is used for wine.  Mostly grapes which are growing in India was imported either from France or Italy. India has mostly hot climate which is not ideal for wine growing still we have some regions where we can produce great wines.
Regions of India: Maharashtra (Nasik, Solapur, Pune), Punjab, Karnatka.

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