Wine Terms Starting with T

Tafelwein translates as "table wine" in German.

Collective brand name for a sparkling wine made using the “metodo classico”, only with Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and/or Pinot Nero grapes. This wine must be aged on its lees for at least 15 months, and produced in brut or dry style.

An early A vessel for fermentation that is most often made of stainless steel, cement or oak. The term is used interchangeably with a vat.English term for what is now called Sherry.

Synonym of Charmat Method

Tasting term describing a wine that has a dry mouthfeel and strong tannins. The tannin level in a wine is caused by the seeds, stems and skins of the grape. Tannins soften as the wine ages and past the optimal drinking window for the wine they start to fall off.

Italian term for tannic

Astringent compound primarily foundin grapes, that gives red wines its structure

Italian term for tannin

Italian term for the process of corking a wine

Italian term that refers either to a cork, the smell of cork that is present in some wines or to a wine that is affected by  2,4,6-trichloroanisole  

Italian term to refer to a screw cap

The small, harmless crystals found at the bottom of a wine bottle or the bottom of the cork. The crystals are harmless, odorless and lack flavor. They occur naturally when some wines age.

Refers to a selection of wines, usually between three and eight glasses, but sometimes as many as fifty, presented for the purpose of sampling and comparison.

A pale port aged in wood sufficiently long for it to lose its red pigment, hence the name. In addition to imbuing a tawny color, extensive barrel aging also gives the wine a nutty aroma due to the prolonged exposure to oxygen. The finest tawny ports are typically labeled by their age, such as: ten, twenty, or even forty years old.

TCA is the chemical compound that is the main cause of cork taint in wine.

A synonym for the term "legs", meaning the viscous film that runs down the side of the glass after swirling. There is some disagreement about whether tears are a function of the glycerin in wine, thus indicating wine with a good body, or if it is simply related to the amount of alcohol.

Teinturier grapes are a unique category of grape varieties distinguished by their red-colored flesh and juice. Unlike most red grapes, which have clear juice and derive their color from the skins during the winemaking process, teinturier grapes have anthocyanins (pigments) not only in their skins but also in their pulp, resulting in a naturally deeper, more intense color in the wines made from them.

The term "teinturier" is derived from the French word for "dye" or "to dye," which reflects the grapes' ability to impart a deep color to wine. This characteristic is relatively rare among Vitis vinifera, the species of grape that includes most well-known varieties.

Some well-known examples of teinturier grapes include Alicante Bouschet, Saperavi, and Dunkelfelder. These varieties are often used in blends to enhance the color intensity of wines made primarily from grapes with clear juice. However, they can also be used to produce varietal wines, which tend to have a deep, rich color and robust flavors. Due to their intense pigmentation, teinturier grapes are also useful in making rosé wines, as they require less skin contact time to achieve the desired hue.

The most popular red grape in Spain; common in Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

Italian term for "estate".

Italian term for terrain or soil

Terroir is a French term that describes the combination of environmental factors (what lies below and above the surface) and micro-climate (wind, sun, temperature, etc.) that affect the viticulture and viniculture and give a wine its unique character. Collectively, these characteristics shape the character of the grapes and subsequently the wines. Terroir is a reference to the site specific character of a wine that is as unique as your fingerprints.

Tertiary aromas in wine refer to the aromas that a wine develops during the aging process. This occurs through the exposure of wine to oxygen, oak and lees.

The phrase translates from French as "head blend." Unofficially, it's used to refer to the top sparkling wine blend within a given Champagne house.

The tactile sensation of a wine on one's palate, "texture" is more specific than "body", which is a more general term for a wine's impression. Wines with pleasing textures are often described as velvety, silky, or smooth.

A wine tasting term describing wines which are dense, rich, and somewhat heavy, typically with low acid levels.

A tubular instrument for removing a sample from a cask or barrel. Also called a pipe.

A wine in which the fruit flavors have not emerged from behind big tannins yet. It’s anothernamed for “closed” and is often used to describe young tannic wines.

A tasting term for a wine that does not have much body and, thus, feels somewhat watery in the mouth. This is not necessarily a flaw; certain wine styles, like champagne for instance, strive more for balance and refinement than dense, full-bodied power.

Term for château in the 1855 Classification of the Medoc that earned the Third highest level of classification.

American system of wine distribution which in some states can require wineries to sell to an importer or in the case of it being an American winery, the distributor or wholesaler, who then sells it to the merchant, who sells it to you. This is the defacto system in Canada as well where the winery is referred to as Supplier, the importer as the Agency, and the merchant as the Licensee. Distribution is typically controlled by a government regulator commonly referred to as a Liquor Board, even if that function is outsourced to a private corporation.

An Italian Bordeaux-style red wine produced in the Chianti region of Tuscany. When introduced in 1971 by Antinori, the wine broke with the heritage (and the rules) of the Chianti producing region by adding Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to the Sangiovese blend.

Spanish and Portuguese term for a red wine or grape.

Italian term to refer to the style of a wine

Tirage is a liquid solution of yeast, wine and sugar that is added to the still base wine in order to create the secondary fermentation in bottle.

A descriptor used for wines that are rather boring and dull due to being old and beyond their prime.

Italian term to refer to the alcoholic strength of a wine

Italian term to refer to the potential alcoholic strength of a wine before any enrichment

Italian term to refer to the potential alcoholic strength of a wine if all sugars were fermented

Tasting term to describe warm toasted flavors coming from oak.

Tobacco is a common smell found in mature wines, especially from Bordeaux. The aromas can range from cigar tobacco to ash or even pipe aromatics. This is a tertiary aroma and a positive trait.

A dessert wine made in Hungary from botrytised Furmint grapes.

Coffee with vanilla aromatics, with scents arising from the oak barrels during the aging process.

This descriptor is applied to wines that taste hard or astringent due to having an excess of tannin. Many tough wines soften and improve after being aged.

Similar to classic. Traditional is most often used for Bordeaux and California wine when the wine is less alcoholic, less ripe and more austere than modern tasters prefer. It can be a pejorative term.

A French term for the amount of wine released for sale by the château during the En Primeur campaign. Loosely translated, a tranche is a slice of the wine produced that year.

Italian term for a still wine,that is not effervescent.

The ability of a wine to clearly portray all unique aspects of its flavour: fruit, floral, and mineral notes.

How well a wine reflects the characteristics of its grape variety and terroir.

Slang term for wines reaching 100 point score.

German word for 'dry.'

A German term meaning approximately “A late harvest of selected dry berries”. A type of German wine made from grapes affected by noble rot. Such grapes can be so rare that it can take a skilled picker a day to gather enough for just one bottle.

This important viticultural region in central Italy has been producing Chianti wines for centuries. Other well known wines from Tuscany include: Brunello di Montalcino, Carmignano, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.