Wine tasting vocabulary

tannin · tanino

Bitter plant compounds from grape skins, seeds and oak that create the drying, gripping sensation in your mouth. Tannins give red wine its structure and aging potential.

Malbec · malbec

A black-skinned grape from France that found its true home in Mendoza, Argentina. It makes deep violet wines with plum, blackberry and chocolate notes.

terroir · terroir

The complete natural environment of a vineyard — soil, altitude, climate and human tradition — that gives a wine its sense of place. Pronounced 'teh-RWAHR'.

decanting · decantación

Pouring wine into a wide vessel before serving, to aerate it (young wines) or separate sediment (old wines).

legs · lágrimas

The droplets that slide down the glass after swirling, also called tears. They show alcohol and glycerol levels — not quality, despite the myth.

corked · acorchado

A wine spoiled by TCA, a cork contaminant: it smells of wet cardboard, damp basement or old newspaper, and the fruit disappears.