Wine glossary: Serving

Serving terms

Aerate

Exposing wine to air to soften it and lift its aromas, by swirling, decanting or using an aerator.

Blind tasting

Tasting without knowing which wine is in the glass, so the label cannot sway you. A favourite training method for sommeliers.

Breathe

To let a wine sit in contact with air after opening so its aromas open up and any harsh edges soften. Bold young reds benefit most.

Brettanomyces

A type of yeast that can grow in wine and give it barnyard, sweaty, or sticking-plaster smells. A little can add character, but a lot is usually considered a fault.

Cellaring

Storing wine to age it, ideally somewhere dark, still and at a steady 12–13°C.

Corkage

A fee some restaurants charge to open and serve a bottle you brought yourself. Worth asking about if you’d like to bring a special bottle.

Decant

To pour wine from its bottle into another container, giving it air and separating it from any harmless sediment. Helps bold young reds open up and older reds pour cleanly.

Drinking window

The span of years in which a wine is expected to taste its best: after it has softened, before it starts to fade.

Flight

A set of small pours of several wines, tasted side by side, often on a theme.

Magnum

A 1.5-litre bottle, twice the standard 750 ml. Wine tends to age more slowly and gracefully in a magnum.

Oxidised

A fault where too much air has spoiled the wine, dulling its fresh fruit flavours and turning it flat, with a bruised-apple or sherry-like taste. White wines also go browner in colour.

Pairing

Matching wine and food so both taste better, mostly by balancing weight, acidity, sweetness and flavour intensity.

Punt

The dimple in the bottom of many wine bottles. It helps make the glass stronger, which matters most for sparkling wine under pressure.

Sediment

Harmless gritty bits that settle at the bottom of a bottle, mostly in older red wines. It is natural, not a fault, but most people prefer to leave it in the bottle rather than the glass.

Serving temperature

How cold or warm you pour a wine. As a guide: sparkling and light whites 6–10°C, fuller whites 10–13°C, light reds 12–14°C and fuller reds 15–18°C.

Sommelier

A trained wine professional, often in a restaurant, who helps you choose wine and pairs it with food. A good one is a friendly guide, not a gatekeeper.

Spittoon

The bucket for spitting at tastings, so you can taste many wines without drinking them all. Spitting is normal and polite.

Standard bottle

750 ml of wine: five 150 ml glasses, or six 125 ml glasses.

Standard drink

The US measure of 14 grams of pure alcohol, roughly a 5-ounce (150 ml) glass of wine at 12% ABV.

Ullage

The air gap between the wine and the cork. A large gap in an old bottle can mean evaporation or a leaking cork.

Unit of alcohol

The UK measure of 10 ml of pure alcohol. A 750 ml bottle of wine at 13% ABV holds about 9.75 units.

Universal glass

One tulip-shaped glass that works well for nearly every wine. A good universal glass is all most people need.

Vertical and horizontal tasting

A vertical tasting compares several vintages of the same wine; a horizontal tasting compares different wines from the same vintage.

Volatile acidity

A fault where the wine develops a sharp, vinegary smell, sometimes like nail varnish remover. A tiny amount can add lift, but too much means the wine is spoiling.

Wine diamonds

Harmless crystals of potassium bitartrate (tartrates), a natural salt of the grape’s tartaric acid. They can form in cold wine, on the cork or at the bottom of the bottle, and they are not glass and not a fault.