Said of a common wine; that lacks nobility.

 

Common wine without quality distinctions.

 

Pleasant aroma resembling the plant, also called marjoram.

 

Said of a wine's gustatory qualities, revealed in tasting.

 

Sensory appreciation of a wine - colour, aroma and flavour. The same term is used for other products, such as, for instance, olive oil.

 

Wine that is identified by its distinctive qualities. Such is the case of big farms or vines, which confer personality to wines.

 

State of grapes that keep ripening even after the ripening period. Over-ripeness is characterised by a desiccation of the grape berries caused by the internal biochemical reactions of enzymatic oxidation, noble rot, etc.

 

Oxidation enzymes that cause oxidasic casse, attacking the phenolic components (pigments, tannins) and conferring an unpleasant flavour to the affected white wines, making them harsh.

 

Turbidity and darkening of a wine, caused by oxidases. Wines exposed to air can suffer a change in colour and the process is accentuated by the precipitation of tannin, lutein, quercetin and chlorophyll.

 

When wine is in contact with oxygen it oxidises, thus changing its colour. This is unwanted in young table wines, but can occur in old wines due to a bad cork or bad conditioning. There are also some cases in which oxidation is essential, as, for example, in Port wine, endowing it with its characteristic aromas.