Natural wine glossary

Organic farming

Growing vines without synthetic herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilisers. In the EU it is regulated and certified.

Biodynamics

A form of organic farming that treats the estate as a living organism and follows a work calendar tied to the moon and the stars. It uses natural preparations made from plants and minerals.

Regenerative farming

Practices that aim to give life back to the soil: cover crops, less tillage, more organic matter and biodiversity in the vineyard.

Cover crop

Plants growing between the rows of vines, sown or spontaneous. They protect the soil from erosion and keep its microbial life going.

Hand harvest

Picking the grapes by hand into small crates. It lets you choose what is cut and brings the fruit whole to the winery, which some methods, such as carbonic maceration, need.

Old vines

Vines with many decades behind them. They give little fruit and wines with more concentration and character. There is no legal age that defines “old”.

Bush vine

The traditional way of training a vine without wires or posts, its arms open like a goblet. Typical of dry-farmed Mediterranean vineyards.

Dry farming

A vineyard with no irrigation: the vine lives only on rainwater. It gives less fruit, but its roots go deeper into the soil.

Phylloxera

An insect that destroyed almost every European vineyard in the late 19th century. Nearly all vines today are grafted onto resistant American rootstock; “ungrafted” vines are rarities.

Ungrafted vine

A vine growing on its own roots, not grafted. It tends to survive in sandy soils, where phylloxera does not thrive.

Limestone soil

Soil rich in calcium carbonate, of limestone origin. It tends to give fresh wines with good acidity and a mineral feel.

Slate

A thinly layered metamorphic rock that warms up by day and gives the heat back at night. Slate wines are often tense and saline.

Granite

An igneous rock that breaks down into acidic, free-draining sands. It tends to give fine wines with floral aromas and a light texture.

Terroir

Everything that makes a place unique: soil, climate, relief, grape varieties and the hand of whoever works the vineyard. It is the idea Terroir Radical is built on.

Single plot

A specific piece of vineyard with its own name. A single-plot wine comes from just one of them and reflects its soil and aspect.

Spontaneous fermentation

Fermentation of the must that starts on its own, with the yeasts already living on the grapes and in the cellar, with no lab yeast added.

Native yeasts

The yeasts that belong to a particular vineyard and cellar. They carry out spontaneous fermentation and add local character.

Maceration

Contact between the must and the grape skins, and sometimes the seeds and stems. It is where colour, tannin and much of the aroma come from.

Carbonic maceration

Whole bunches are sealed in a tank saturated with CO₂. Fermentation starts inside each berry and gives fruity, light wines with little tannin.

Stems

The skeleton of the bunch, without the berries. Fermenting with stems (whole bunch) adds freshness, green notes and structure.

Grape skin

The skin of the grape. It holds colour, tannin and aroma; how long it stays in contact with the must shapes the wine.

Lees

Dead yeast and particles that settle at the bottom after fermentation. Leaving the wine on them gives it body and texture.

Barrel

A wooden cask, usually oak, for ageing wine. A new barrel marks the flavour more; an old one adds almost no wood and just lets the wine breathe.

Amphora / clay jar

A fired-clay vessel, sometimes buried, where wine is fermented or aged. It adds no wood flavour and lets the wine breathe very gently.

Sulphites (SO₂)

A sulphur compound added to wine to protect it from oxidation and microbes. Natural wine avoids it or uses minimal doses. In the EU the label must say “contains sulphites” above 10 mg per litre.

No added sulphites

The winemaker adds no SO₂ at any point. Even so, fermentation naturally produces small amounts.

Filtration

Passing the wine through a filter to remove particles and yeast. An “unfiltered” wine can look a bit cloudy and throw a deposit without that being a fault.

Fining

Adding a product (such as bentonite or egg white) so that particles clump together and settle. Natural wine is usually left to rest instead of being fined.

Malolactic fermentation

Bacteria convert malic acid (sharper, like green apple) into lactic acid (softer, like yoghurt). It makes a rounder wine.

Racking

Moving wine from one vessel to another to separate it from the sediment at the bottom.

Ageing

The time wine rests and matures before bottling, in barrel, tank, amphora or bottle. It changes its texture and aromas.

Natural wine

Wine made from grapes grown without synthetic chemicals, fermented with native yeasts and with as little intervention as possible in the cellar, with no corrections or additives. It has no legal definition in the EU.

Minimal intervention

A way of making wine that corrects as little as possible: no added yeast, no acidity or colour adjustments, and little or no sulphur.

Orange wine

White wine made like a red, with the skins for days or months. It gains an amber colour, tannin and a more spiced profile.

Pét-Nat

Short for pétillant naturel: a sparkling wine bottled before fermentation has finished, so the bubbles come from the wine itself. No second fermentation is added.

Ancestral method

The pét-nat procedure: a single fermentation that finishes inside the bottle. It tends to give cloudier, fruitier sparkling wines with less pressure than cava.

Clarete

A wine between rosé and light red in colour, made from a blend of red and white grapes or with little skin contact.

Blend

A mix of wines from different grape varieties, plots or barrels. It is used to balance the wine and add nuance.

Single-variety

A wine made from one grape variety, or nearly. It shows that grape's character without blends to soften it.

Village wine

A wine blending grapes from several plots in one village. It sits between regional wine and single-plot wine.

Sparkling wine

Wine with dissolved CO₂ bubbles. It is made by different methods: traditional, ancestral, closed tank…

Nose

The aromas of the wine when you smell it. “Open nose” means expressive; “closed” means it is not showing yet.

Palate

What you perceive when drinking it: flavour, texture, acidity, tannin and aftertaste.

Acidity

The freshness that makes your mouth water. It gives the wine liveliness and helps it age well. Too little makes it flabby; too much, sharp.

Tannins

Compounds from the skin, seeds and stems (and from wood) that dry and grip the mouth a little, like strong tea. They give structure to reds.

Body

The feeling of weight the wine has in the mouth, from light (like water) to heavy (like whole milk).

Finish

How long the flavours last in the mouth after swallowing. A long finish is a sign of quality.

Minerality

A feeling of wet stone, salt or chalk rather than fruit. It is a tasting description, not scientific proof that the soil passes into the wine.

Primary, secondary and tertiary aromas

Primary: from the grape (fruit, flowers). Secondary: from fermentation (yeast, butter). Tertiary: from ageing (nuts, leather, earth).

Fresh

A light, lively wine with good acidity that you want to keep drinking. It has nothing to do with serving temperature.

Structure

The framework of a wine: acidity, tannin, alcohol and body in balance. A “structured” wine holds up well over time.

Volatile acidity

Acetic acid, the one in vinegar. A little is normal; too much smells of vinegar or solvent and counts as a fault.

Brett

Brettanomyces, a yeast that gives stable, wet-leather or sweaty smells. A touch is sometimes tolerated; too much hides the wine's character.

Oxidation

The wine has had too much oxygen: dull colour, a smell of bruised apple or nuts. It is a fault, except in oxidative styles made on purpose.

Reduction

A lack of oxygen that gives smells of boiled egg, struck match or rubber. It often fades once the bottle is opened and left to breathe.

Cork taint (TCA)

A smell of wet cardboard or damp cellar caused by a molecule called TCA that sometimes comes from the cork. The wine is not harmful, but it has lost its aroma.

Mousiness

A fault typical of some no-sulphur wines: a lingering taste of toasted cereal or peanut that appears after swallowing. Certain microorganisms cause it.

D.O. (Designation of Origin)

A protected geographic area whose wines follow their own rules on grape varieties, yields and winemaking. A regulatory council oversees it.

P.G.I. / Vino de la Tierra

A geographical indication with looser rules than a D.O. It serves those who want to use grape varieties or methods the denomination does not allow.

Organic certification

An official seal (in the EU, the “Euro-leaf”) guaranteeing the grapes are grown under organic farming rules. A control body issues it.

Vintage

The year the grapes were harvested. It matters because the weather changes every year, and the wine with it.

Winery

The place where wine is made and kept, and by extension the company that makes it. A grower-producer farms their own grapes.