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British wine without the stuffiness.
A friendly guide to the words you will meet while exploring sparkling and still wines from England, Wales and the wider UK.
Wine words explained
From the label to the first sip.
You do not need a vocabulary test to enjoy a bottle. Explore these plain-English definitions, from sparkling-wine labels to the words in a tasting note.
Tasting
Acidity
The fresh, mouth-watering feeling in a wine. Think of the effect of a squeeze of lemon. Acidity helps a wine feel lively and balances sweetness; it is different from the drying grip of tannin.
Tasting
Aroma
What you smell in the glass. Fruit, flowers, herbs, toast and spice are all useful descriptions. A wine that smells of apple has not necessarily had apples added: these comparisons help us describe aromas from grapes and winemaking.
Sparkling style
Blanc de Blancs
Literally “white from whites”: a white sparkling wine made only from white grapes, most often Chardonnay. Expect freshness, citrus, orchard fruit and often a clean mineral edge.
Sparkling style
Blanc de Noirs
A white sparkling wine made from dark-skinned grapes such as Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. It can feel broader and richer, with red apple, spice or subtle red-fruit character.
Tasting
Body
How light or weighty a wine feels in your mouth. A light-bodied wine feels more delicate; a full-bodied wine feels broader. Alcohol, sugar and texture all contribute. More body does not automatically mean better wine.
Sweetness
Brut
A dry style of sparkling wine. It can contain a little dosage to balance acidity, but it should taste crisp rather than sweet.
Producer language
Cuvée
A producer’s particular blend or bottling. The word alone does not guarantee a grape, sweetness or quality level—the rest of the label tells the fuller story.
Sparkling winemaking
Disgorgement
Removing the collected yeast sediment from the neck of a bottle after lees ageing. A disgorgement date tells you when this happened, not when the grapes were harvested. It can help distinguish different releases of the same sparkling wine.
Sparkling winemaking
Dosage
A finishing addition, usually wine mixed with sugar, made after the sediment is removed from a traditional-method sparkling wine. It helps shape the balance and final sweetness. Some wines receive no added sugar at this stage.
Sweetness
Dry
A wine with little or no noticeable sweetness. Dry wines can still smell and taste fruity, so fruitiness and sweetness are not the same thing. The mouth-drying feeling of tannin is a separate sensation.
How it is made
Fermentation
The process in which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This turns grape juice into wine. In traditional-method sparkling wine, a second fermentation in the bottle produces the carbon dioxide that becomes the bubbles.
Tasting
Finish
The flavours and sensations that remain after you swallow or spit. A long finish lingers; a short one fades quickly. Notice what stays with you, such as citrus, fruit or toast, rather than simply counting seconds.
Flavour development
Lees ageing
Time spent with the yeast sediment after fermentation. Longer ageing can build texture and flavours such as bread, biscuit, pastry and toasted nuts.
Blend of years
Non-Vintage
A wine blended from more than one harvest year. Producers use reserve wines to create a dependable house style rather than expressing just one growing season.
Blending
Reserve wines
Wines kept from earlier harvests for use in later blends. They can bring maturity, depth and continuity to a non-vintage sparkling wine. The word “reserve” printed on a label does not, by itself, mean that a wine contains these older wines.
Colour & style
Sparkling Rosé
Pink sparkling wine, often with Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier in the blend. Flavours can range from delicate strawberry and citrus to richer cherry and spice.
Colour & style
Sparkling White
A white sparkling wine that may blend white and dark-skinned grapes. It covers many blends, sweetness levels and winemaking styles.
Tasting
Tannin
Compounds from grape skins, seeds and stems, and sometimes oak, that create a drying or gripping feeling on your gums. They are most noticeable in red wines. Think of the mouthfeel of strong black tea rather than a sour taste.
How it is made
Traditional Method
The second fermentation happens inside the bottle. Time resting on the lees creates fine bubbles and can add brioche, toast, pastry and nutty complexity.
Single harvest
Vintage
Made mainly from grapes harvested in the year shown on the label. Vintage wines capture the character of that season and are often given extra ageing time.