A-Z Wine Alphabets

These photos were taken at David Lowe's vineyard at Mudgee. I find it really interesting. Not only is David a fantastic winemaker, he knows how to design a cellar door.

A - Ampelography, the science of wine identification

B – Botrytis, a fungus which grows on grapes that can result in sweet grapes under the right conditions

C – Cabernet, cabernet sauvignon or cabernet franc is a red wine grape

D – Durif, a red wine grape, also known as Petite Sirah

E – Earth
F – Fermentation, the process which turns sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide
G - Grape

H – Harvest

I – Inflorescence, a cluster of flowers
J – Juice

K - Kaolin, clay mineral found in soil

L – Lees, deposits of residual yeasts
M– Must, grape juice which contains the skins, seeds and stems

N- Node, the place on a plant stem where leaves, fruits and flowers are attached
P – Pinot, pinot noir or pinot meunier is a red grape, pinot gris, pinot grigio or pinot blanc is a white grapes
O - Oxygen, too much of it causes the wine to go spoilt but in small qualities, it adds complexity and softens the wine

Q - Quercus, the species of oak trees, used in making barrels to store wine

R - Riesling, a white grape

S – Screwcap, or stelvin, the closure for wine bottles
T – Terrior, a French word for the physical and environmental characteristics of a vineyard that affects the quality of the grapes
U - Unctuous, a term to describe a full bodied and sweet wine V - Vinifera, vitis vinifera, the species of vine that produces most of the wine grapes in the world

W – Wine

X – Ximenez, or pedro ximenez, a red grape used in the production of sherry, a fortified wine

Y – Yeast, microscopic organism that causes fermentation to occur
Z – Zinfandel, a red grape