Wine glossary: Tasting

Tasting terms

Dry

Not sweet. A dry wine is one where almost all the grape sugar has fermented into alcohol, leaving little or no sweetness.

Off-dry

Just a touch sweet — noticeably softer than fully dry, but not a dessert wine. Many aromatic whites like Riesling are made in an off-dry style.

Body

How heavy or light a wine feels in your mouth, from the watery feel of skimmed milk (light) to whole milk or cream (full). It’s about weight and texture, not flavour.

Acidity

The fresh, mouth-watering, zingy quality in wine — the same tartness you get from a squeeze of lemon. Good acidity makes a wine feel lively and pairs well with food.

Tannin

Natural compounds from grape skins, seeds, stems and oak that create a drying, grippy feeling on your gums, a bit like strong tea. Found mostly in red wines and key to how they age.

Finish

The flavour and sensation that linger after you swallow. A long finish that stays pleasantly with you is usually a sign of a well-made wine.

Legs

The streaks or ‘tears’ that run down the inside of the glass after you swirl. They mainly reflect alcohol and sugar levels — fun to notice, but not a reliable sign of quality.

Corked

A faulty wine spoiled by a tainted cork, smelling musty like damp cardboard or a wet dog. Harmless but unpleasant, and a genuine reason to return a bottle.

Balance

When no single element — fruit, acidity, tannin, alcohol, sweetness — sticks out awkwardly. A balanced wine feels harmonious and complete.

Mouthfeel

The overall physical sensation of wine in your mouth, like how smooth, silky, rough, or fizzy it feels, separate from its actual flavours.

Complexity

When a wine offers many different aromas and flavours that change and unfold as you sip. A complex wine keeps revealing something new, rather than tasting one-note.

Minerality

A debated, hard-to-pin-down descriptor for aromas some wines suggest, like stony, chalky, or wet rocks. It is an impression, not a literal taste from minerals in the soil.

Residual sugar

The grape sugar that stays in the wine after fermentation (the process where yeast eats sugar and turns it into alcohol). Yeast didn’t convert this leftover sugar, so more of it means a sweeter wine.