Pruning that is performed when the grape berries are forming (June) in an attempt to increase the concentration and quality of the bunches by cutting a considerable amount of bunches per vine.

 

With aroma or taste of earth, of the soil where the grape came from. This is characteristic of mature Cabernet and Merlot grapes.

 

This is how Madeira and Sherry wines that had been transported to the Orient, crossing the tropics, were called back at the time of sail boats. It was believed that the trip improved the wine's quality. When commercial sail ended, Madeira wines started to be mechanically heated, in an attempt to reproduce such beneficial effect. Some East India Sherry are still sold today in England. These wines are usually odoriferous and a little sweet.

 

Said of a wine that is pleasant but with no complexity.

 

Smell resembling that of plastic woods and synthetic catechu. It is found in faulty wines, produced by improper means (plastic containers, for instance).

 

Apparatus used to measure the alcohol content of wines and brandies. It is based on the boiling point of alcohol, at 78.35ºC, a temperature lower than that of the boiling point of water.

 

In Alsace (France), wine made up of a blend of white grapes.

 

To sweeten must by addition of sugar, to chaptalise.

 

That releases carbon dioxide. It is characteristic of sparkling wines.

 

White variety grown in the cold vineyards of northern Europe (Luxembourg, Moselle). It produces low quality, acid wines. However, tradition says it descends directly from Plinio's vitis alba.