|
Tannin
Polyphenolic compounds that give wine a bitter, dry, or puckery feeling in the mouth. Tannin is a desirable component of most red wines, adding considerable "body" and a pleasant, mouth-drying taste. |
|
Tart
A tasting term used to describe wines high in acidity. Often displayed by young, unripe wines. |
|
Tartaric acid
The most important organic acid found in grapes. |
|
Tartrates
The clear, glassy crystals that form in the bottle or on the cork. They are harmless and do not effect the flavour of the wine. |
|
Tendrils
String like, coiling growth from nodes of grape shoots that support vines by curling around objects. Tendrils are thought of as sterile or undeveloped grape clusters, since the two have a common origin. |
|
Terroir
French term for the physical and geographical characteristics of a particular vineyard site that give the resultant wine its unique properties. |
|
Texture
A tasting term used to describe the feel of wine on the palate. |
|
Thief
A type of pipette, used for sampling wine from the top of a tank. |
|
Thin
A tasting term used to describe wines that seem lacking in substance. |
|
Tirage
Production term that describes the first bottling step that turns a new wine into Champagne or sparkling wine. After the tirage, the new sparkling wine is aged on the yeast, then riddled, disgorged and labeled for sale. |
|
Topping
A winemaking technique to control oxidation of wines aging in barrels where wine is added periodically to replace wine lost through evaporation. |
|
Translocation
Movement of water and nutrients from one part of a grapevine to another. |
|
Transpiration
Loss of moisture from a vine by evaporation through tiny pores in the leaves. |
|
Trockenbeerenauslese
The highest category of nectar-sweet and expensive dessert wine produced in Germany. The word means "dry berry selection," which indicates that the raisined berries are individually picked to insure that only fully raisin dried grapes are used for the wine. |
|
Trunk
The main, vertical body of a grapevine that supports all the top growth. |
