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Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is a variety of red grape and is the main red
wine grape for most of the top vineyards in Bordeaux's
Medoc and
Pessac-Leognan Graves districts. For more details about Cabernet
Sauvignon, see our article
HERE..>> |
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Candylike
Tasting term referring to the
perfumed
fresh fruit
aromas of the grape. |
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Canopy management
Canopy management relates to the different processes used in the care of the leaf
canopy such as thinning,
pruning and trimming. |
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Cap
During the
alcoholic
fermentation, the mass of solid matter (pips, skins) that rises to
the surface of the wine is called the cap . The cap can be mixed in with the wine,
enhancing colour, flavour and
tannin. |
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Capsule
The foil that protects the cork and part of the upper neck of a
wine bottle.
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Carbonic maceration
Carbonic maceration is a process in which whole bunches of uncrushed
grapes are fermented without crushing. |
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Cedar / Cedarwood
Aroma component often described in mature red wines. |
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Centrifuge
A centrifuge machine is used to clarify the
must
by rapidly spinning
mixed materials. |
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Cepage (French term)
For more details about the grape varieties of the Bordeaux area,
see our article
HERE..>> |
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Chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding
sugar to the fermenting vat, which is
converted to ethyl
alcohol
by the
yeast. This is often done when
grapes have not ripened adequately. |
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Chateau (French term)
In France, a Chateau is considered as the equivalent to a
winery. |
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Chewy
Tasting term referring to the high
tannic component of a wine. |
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Citrusy
Tasting term used to describe flavours reminiscent of citrus fruits. |
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Claret
Originally the British name for Bordeaux wine. The lesser
appellations are sometimes referred to as Clarets. |
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Clarification
During the winemaking, the clarification process involves the
fining and
filtration of wine to
remove suspended solids..
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Classified or Classed growth
A literal translation of the French "Cru Classé". |
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Clos (French term)
Traditionally, a walled
vineyard, although the term is much abused
on wine labels. |
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Closed
Tasting term to describe a wine with little,
aroma or flavour. |
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Cloudy
Cloudiness is the visual characteristic of some
unfiltered wines. |
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Cloying
Relates to an excessive
sugar component with a dominating
sweet flavour and
aftertaste. |
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Cold stabilization
Cold stabilization is a process after
fermentation used in winemaking to reduce tartrate
crystals where the wine is chilled to near freezing
point for a couple of weeks. This causes tartaric acid to crystallise
out. |
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Complex
Denotes wines judged to have reached their optimum
expectations of aroma,
balance
and
structure. A complex wine combines all flavour and
taste components in
a marvellous harmony. |
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Confected
A tasting term to describe a
sweet aroma related to some kind of candy. |
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Cooperative (French term)
A cooperative is usually a local
winery owned and often run by a
group of local winemakers. |
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Cork
A cork is the wine bottle stopper made from the tissue of the cork
oak tree, Quercus
Suber. One of the leading cork companies is the Amorim
Group, from Portugal. |
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Corked
Tasting term used to describe wines contaminated by trichloroanisole
rendering the wine completely undrinkable. |
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Cork taint
A type of wine
fault describing undesirable
aromas and flavours in
wine.
The main cause of cork taint is the presence of
trichloroanisole (TCA) in the wine. |
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Cote (French term)
A cote or côte in French is a slope or hillside. It is used in many regions of
France - Côte Rôtie (Rhône Valley), Côte d'Or (Burgundy), Côte
de Castillon (Bordeaux). |
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Coteau (French term)
Like côte, coteau is a French term which also refers to a hillside. |
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Coulure (French term)
Once the vine has flowered, it develops a little grape in place of each flower.
The coulure is related to the failure of the fruit to develop
properly. This happens when the weather is particularly
cold or humid. Coulure usually result in a limited crop. |
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Creamy
Tasting term referring to a sliky - buttery
taste of some wines. |
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Crisp
Tasting term used for wines with a pleasing
acidity. |
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Crossing
A crossing is the result of breeding two vine plants as a distinction from a hybrid
plant. |
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Cru (French term)
The French term "Cru" can be translated by "growth" . It is used as
a means of classifying wines. |
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Cru Bourgeois (French term)
A Bordeaux classification which regroups 247
Bordeaux chateaux that were not originally classified in the 1855 Cru Classe
list. The Cru Bourgeois classification is reviewed every 10 years
(last in 2003). For more details about the Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois
classification, see our article
HERE..>> |
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Cru Classe (French term)
The upper classification for the châteaux of the Medoc area. For
more details about Classified growths, see our article
HERE..>> |
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Crust
Crust is the sediment formed by potassium bitartrate, that adheres to the inside
of a wine bottle. |
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Cryo-extraction
Cryo-extraction is an alternative to
chaptalization. The grapes are frozen in order to extract ice,
thereby concentrating the sugars and other components. |
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Cult wines
Fashion wines for which buyers are ready to pay large sums of money
because of their reputation and / or rarity.
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Cuvaison (French term)
The cuvaison, the French term for vatting, is the period of time during
alcoholic
fermentation where the pips, skin and stalks
are left to macerate in the wine in order to increase the
extract of
tannins and the colour. |
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Cuve (French term)
In French, a "cuve" is the large vat used for fermenting the must.
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Cuvee (French term)
Cuvée is a French term referring to the
blending of several
grape varieties. |
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More about the
grape varietals
and
the Bordeaux wine region
Winemega's
tasting notes by chateau
Tasting tips: a sommeliere writes about
advanced wine topics |
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