Wine terms used

Common wine terms used. Don't really like to use it during tastings ~ only good to drink or not. haha

• Acidity: vital component in wine that gives “tang” and life
• Beefy*: lots of body and quite a bit of tannin as well
• Blackcurrants: aroma of Cabernet Sauvignon, called cassis in French
• Black pepper*: smell I associate with the Syrah grape
• Cats’ pee: there is something of this in both Sauvignon Blanc and the intensely aromatic Scheurebe
• Chocolatey*: a flavour I find in the often rather sweet reds of Australia and especially South Africa
• Corked/Corky: wine with an offputtingly mouldy aroma, most usually, though not always, caused by a tainted cork. If you smell this in a restaurant you should send back the wine and ask for another bottle (which is most unlikely to be similarly tainted)
• Damp straw*: my trigger expression for Chenin Blanc though many others prefer “honey” and “flowers”
• Delicate: rather airy-fairy term meaning light bodied and without very strong flavour but well balanced
• Dumb: very little nose, common in good but youthful wine
• Farmyard*: a smell I associate with Chianti, particularly aged Chianti, with some mature St Emilion and with the odd rustically made Châteauneuf-du-Pape
• Flabby: too low in acidity
• Gamey: wines that smell pungent in a ripe animal sense, such as a rich Syrah, Mourvèdre and Merlot (especially Pomerol)
• Gummy*: the richness that very ripe Chenin Blanc grapes can bring
• Harmonious: well balanced
• Hot: too alcoholic
• Mouthfeel: American term for the physical impact of a wine on the mouth and its texture, heavily influenced by both tannin and body
• Petrol: aroma of mature Riesling, especially German
• Racy: lively, often used for white wine, especially Riesling
• Smoky: characteristic of many Alsace whites and the Chardonnay grape; a broad sort of flavour
• Tannin: preservative that comes from the skins, stalks and pips of grapes (and from wood too), which tastes like cold stewed tea