Alan Boehmer - Knack Wine Basics: A Complete Illustrated Guide To Understanding, Selecting & Enjoying Wine

Appellation: The delimited region where the grapes were grown and the wine produced. See introduction.

AC: Appellation Contrle (France). Controlled appellation of origin. DOC in Italy, DO in Spain.

Acid: A necessary and desirable component of wine. The primary acid in wine is tartaric acid, from which Cream of Tartar is derived.

ATF: U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Formerly BATF. The bureau oversees the AVA system and grants appellation status. A new government agency, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), has been created to oversee alcohol-related issues.

AVA: American Viticultural Area. Replaces the older appellation of origin system used in the U.S.

Balance: A wine is balanced when the levels of acid, body, and tannin complement each other.

Central Coast: A large appellation including the California counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara.

Clone, clonal selection: A genetically uniform group of individuals derived originally from a single individual by asexual propagation (cuttings, grafting, etc.). Cloned varieties are usually heat treated to insure that they are virus-free.

Cru: French term for growth. The finest wines are classified as grand cru (or grand cru class in Bordeaux).

Cuve: A blend resulting from the mixing of wines.

Dry: Lacking sweetness. The sugars in fermenting grape juice turn into alcohol, but some fermentations are stopped short of total dryness. The resulting wines are said to be off-dry.

Eiswein: Sweet wine made from healthy grapes that have frozen on the vine. Also called ice wine and icewine.

EU: European Union.

Hybrid Grapes: New grape varieties resulting from natural or induced crossings of native and vinifera grapes, e.g., Norton, Seyval Blanc.

International Variety: A grape variety of vitis vinifera associated with Europe. These are the most common and successful of wine grape varieties, e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah.

Native Variety: An indigenous grape variety that grows naturally in a region or country, e.g., vitis labrusca, a U.S. native used for grape juice and grape flavoring.

Noble Grapes: Members of the species vitis vinifera that have historically yielded the highest quality wines.

North Coast: California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino.

NV: Non-vintage. The wine is a blend of two or more vintages.

Old Vine: Unregulated term used to describe vines planted prior to the 1960s. Many old vine vineyards are more than a century old. As a vine grows old its yield decreases and the flavor components become more concentrated.

Phenolics: Chemicals in wine that are responsible for color, flavor, and tannin.

Prohibition: A period during which the consumption of alcoholic beverages was forbidden. In the U.S. it was from 1920 to 1933. Prohibition occurred at various times in Canada, Scandinavia, Russia, and Australia, as well.

South Coast: California counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego.

Tannin: An astringent phenolic compound present in red wine and tea that puckers the mouth and makes it feel dry. Tannins are said to be soft or hard.

Terroir: The combination of soil, aspect, and climate that distinguishes a particular vineyard location from others.

Variety: A particular grape cultivar. Some older sources use the term varietal.

Vineyard Selection: A grapevine grown from a cutting from an especially desirable vineyard. Similar to clones, but not subjected to the rigors of laboratory propagation.

Viniculture: The science and practice of growing grapes for wine.

Viticulture: The science and practice of growing grapes.

Winegrowing: The science and practice of growing grapes for wine.

To Brian McClintic, Sommelier and Chevalier du Crachoir

Copyright 2009 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Knack is a registered trademark of Morris Publishing Group, LLC, and is used with express permission.

Editor-in-Chief: Maureen Graney

Editor: Katie Benoit

Cover Design: Paul Beatrice, Bret Kerr

Text Design: Paul Beatrice

Layout: Kim Burdick

Cover photos (left to right): Rene Comet, Tom Higgins/shutterstock, Rene Comet, shutterstock

Back cover photo by Rene Comet

Additional Photo Research by Anna Adesanya

Interior Photos by Rene Comet with the exception of those on p. 235

Maps by Melissa Baker Morris Book Publishing, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Boehmer, Alan.

Knack wine basics: a complete illustrated guide to understanding, selecting & enjoying wine / Alan Boehmer; principal photography by Rene Comet.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59921-540-2

1. Wine and wine making--Amateurs manuals. I. Comet, Rene, 1957- II. Title. III. Title: Wine basics.

TP548.2.B64 2009

641.22--dc22

2009024022

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Globe Pequot Press. The author and Globe Pequot Press disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

Printed in China

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The information contained in this book would not have been possible without the assistance of the St. Stephens Wine Study Group of San Luis Obispo, California, whose monthly tastings over the past decade have uncovered a wealth of valuable knowledge.

If your home library contains only a single book on wine, this book would be an excellent choice, If a picture is still worth a thousand words, consider the lavish use of photographs and captions in this book that allow you to learn a maximum amount of useful information with a minimum of effort. The text here provides you with the most useful information in the most succinct fashion.