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Glossary & Pronunciation Guide (Italy) |
Abboccato |
slightly sweet |
Acerbo |
(a-chay-rboh) tart, "green" |
Aceto |
(a chay to)vinegar, usually made with a wine base |
Alcool |
alcohol |
Amabile |
(amah-bi-lay) off dry (semi-sweet) |
Amaro |
bitter |
Annata |
vintage year |
Asciutto |
( a-shoe-t- toh) bone dry |
Azienda |
(ah-tsi-en the-a) (also Agricola, Agraria and Vitivinicola)- describe a vineyard or estate that grows all or most of its grapes to be bottled under its own labels; not sold off in bulk |
Barbaresco |
Top Piedmont wine made with Nebbiolo grapes
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Barbera |
semi-classic grape commonly grown in the Piedmont (Piemonte) region and most of northern Italy |
Barolo |
Another top Piedmont red wine, made with the Nebbiolo grapes |
Barrique |
( Bah-reek)the Bordeaux term for a 225 litre wine barrel used to age wines |
Bianco |
white (wine) |
Botte |
wine Cask or Large Barrel. Usually made of oak, also sometimes made of Chestnut wood Slovenian oak is quite common in Italy , particularly in Tuscany |
Botticella |
(botee-chay-l-la) small wine cask |
Bottiglia |
(boh-tee-lya) bottle |
Brunello di Montalcino |
(brew-nel-lo dee montal-chino) Top Tuscan red wine, made with Sangiovese clone in Montalcino , Tuscany |
Brut |
(broot)dry; used for sparkling wines such as Franciacorta DOCG |
Cantina |
cellar, winery |
Cantina Sociale |
( so-chaa-lay)co-operative winery |
Casa Vinicola |
wine house or merchant ("commerciante)" who bottle wines made with other cellar's wines |
Cascina |
(cash-eena) farmhouse, wine estate |
Castello |
castle |
Classico |
( class-ee-ko) the historic core of a DOC marked zone (such as Orvieto Classico) |
Consorzio |
consortium of producers that sets standards and promotes wines of a certain appellation or region. |
Cortese |
( cor-tay-zeh) White grape used to make dry and expensive Gavi in Piedmont |
Corvina |
red grape used with two other grapes, Rondinella and Molinara, to create the light red regional blends known as "Bardolino" and "Valpolicella" wines in northeast Italy. Also called "Corvina Veronese" |
Cru |
French term, used internationally, to mean the wine estate's best vineyards |
DOC |
"Denominazione di Origine Controllata" (controlled place of origin), indicating details about where the wine comes from, the grapes used and how it was produced (including the viticulture techniques). |
DOCG |
"Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita" (controlled and guaranteed place name), which entails the same as DOC, but with stricter rules |
Dolce |
(though-l-chay) sweet |
Dolcetto |
(though-l-chet-toh) dry wine red grape, predominately grown in northern Italy (especially Piedmont ) |
Enologo |
enologist (winemaker) |
Enoteca |
(a-no-tay-ka) Wine shop or wine bar |
Enotecnico |
winemaking technician |
Etichetta |
( a-tee-ket-ta) wine label |
Ettaro |
hectare (2.471 acres) |
Ettolitro |
hectolitre (100 liters), the technical standard used to measure wine volume |
Fattoria |
farm and/or estate. Usually suggests a number of small wine/olive oil estates, and working farms |
Fiasco |
the classic Chianti bottles from the 70's, covered in straw, that symbolized low quality. They made Chianti notorious till the better quality brought it back in fashion. |
Frascati |
light white wine that comes from Lazio Region (which includes Rome ) |
Freisa |
medium bodied red grape used to make still, sweet and Frizzante wines in Piemonte |
Frizzante/ Frizzantino |
slightly sparkling. Not fully sparkling like ‘Spumante’. |
Frutti di bosco |
"forest fruits", referring to wine flavors such as blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. |
Governo |
Tuscan practice (called "Governo all'uso Toscano) of drying late harvested grapes to add to the fermented wine, setting off a secondary fermentation to enrich body, color and flavor |
Grappa |
Italian digestive made from the pomace of grapes. Can be aromatic and flavoured |
Grechetto |
(gray-kay-t-toh) Main grape used to make Orvieto in Umbria |
IGT |
"Indicazione Geografica Tipica" (typical geographic name), referring to wines that may be produced from a large variety of grapes from one geographic area. Used by emerging wine producers or the established one for experimental wines. |
Madre |
Residual wine from earlier vintages, left in barrels to guide the transformation of must into wine (like in ‘Vin Santo’) |
Malvasia |
an ancient grape, cultivated in Europe for two thousand years; both in red and white colours. Malvasia Nera is grown in Puglia , in Southern Italy . Malvasia is one of the two white varietals allowed in DOC Chianti. Also a main ingredient in Frascati. |
Marchio |
brand name |
Maso |
a vineyard holding in Trentino |
Metodo Classico |
champagne method, where the second fermentation takes place in the Bottle and wines rest in "pupitres" until their disgorgement |
Millesimé/ Millesimato |
can be used for sparkling and also still wines, indicating the year of vintage. |
Muffa Nobile |
noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) |
Nebbiolo |
the black grape used to produce rich Barolo and Barbaresco wines in Piemonte |
Nero |
black |
Passito / Passita |
used to refer to partially dried grapes and also the sweet unctuous wines are made from them. Tuscan Vin Santo is an example of a Passito. |
Podere |
small farm or estate- in Tuscany a Podere is usually part of a larger "Fattoria" |
Produttore |
(pro-doot-toh-ray) producer |
Recioto |
(ray-cho-toh) wine made from partly dried grapes in the Passito style. Usually sweet and strong. |
Rosato |
(ro-za-toh)rosé wine |
Rosso |
(raw-s-so) red wine |
Sangiovese |
(sahN-jo-vay-zhe) main red grape varietal used in Tuscan red wines |
Sans année |
(abbreviated as S.A. ) - French phrase used in Italian winemaking to mean non vintage |
Scelto |
(shel-toh)means "selected", referring to certain DOC wines |
Secco |
dry |
Semisecco |
off dry, medium sweet. Used when referring generally to sparkling wines |
Soave |
( so-ah-vay) white wine from Soave region in Veneto |
Solaio |
refers to the loft where the grapes drying to make Passito wines are kept. In Tuscany , it is also referred to as a ‘Vin Solaio’. |
Spumante |
literally means "foaming", refers to sparkling wine |
Super Tuscan |
a term coined in the 80’s by wine journalists referring to the new high quality styles of wine that emerged in Tuscany in the 70's, using international varietals (Cab Sauv, Merlot, etc) with or without the local Sangiovese. This initially denied them the quality wine status for breaking local laws |
Superiore |
classification term that denotes a DOC or DOCG wine that meets standards above the norm (longer aging, special single vineyard, higher alcohol content etc) |
Tenuta |
(tay-noo-ta) Farm or wine estate |
Terroir |
French term that defines the harmonic relationship between vineyard site, soil, climate and grape variety |
Tonneau |
Bordeaux term for 900 litre barrels In Italy it also means 550 litre barrels |
Vecchio |
"old", used to describe some DOC wines ("invecchiato" means "aged" and "stravecchio" means very old.) |
Vernaccia |
(vay-r-nah-cha) white grape varietal, used in San Gimignano , Tuscany |
Vigna/ Vigneto |
(vee-nya) vineyard |
Vignaiolo/ Viticoltore |
grape grower who cultivates grapes for wine production |
Vin Santo |
"holy wine", this delicious wine is made from grapes dried after the harvest and kept in small barrels in "Vinsantaia" (aging rooms) where seasonal heat and cold are essential to the extended fermentation process |
Vinacce |
(veen-ah-chay)grape skins, seeds and pulp left after the must or fermented wine has been pressed. This is the base used to make grappa. |
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano |
(monte-pool-chah-no) top red wine from Tuscany , made with a clone of Sangiovese, called Prugnolo Gentile |
Vino Novello |
‘new’ wine, meaning young wine- to be drunk within a year of bottling and produced using carbonic maceration, like Beaujolais |
Vite |
vine |
Vitigno |
vine or grape variety |
Vivace |
"lively", used to refer to the slight sparkle in some wines |
Zuccheri Residui |
residual sugar |
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