Doubled Varieties
This Italian black grape is known for high levels of acidity and tannin and a noted lack in color. The best examples hail from crus on either side of the town of Alba, and display aromas of sour cherries, herbs, and dried flowers.
What is Nebbiolo?
This process involves placing whole, uncrushed bunches into tanks that are then filled with CO2, prompting an intracellular fermentation. It often yields unique aromas such as banana and bubblegum.
What is carbonic maceration?
The most well-known villages of this German wine region are Piesport, Bernkastel, and Wehlen, where the best rieslings come from steep slopes situated on blue slate soils.
What is the Mosel?
The area around Châteauneuf-du-Pape is littered with this type of stone, which absorbs the sun's heat, warming the vineyard and aiding ripening.
What are galets?
Riesling and Vidal are left on the vine through the winter, which freezes the grapes and concentrates the sugar, in order to produce this style of sweet wine.
What is Icewine?
Some of the most notable dessert wines in the world are based on bunches of this variety that have been affected by botrytis. You can find it blended with Sauvignon Blanc or as a standalone.
What is semillon?
This layer of surface yeast necessary for biologically aged sherries is responsible for the production of acetaldehyde and is very sensitive to ambient conditions, needing precise levels of alcohol, temperature, and humidity to thrive.
What is flor?
This region is nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps and is home to some of the most notable Pinot Noir coming out of New Zealand.
What is Central Otago?
These two rivers combine to form the Gironde Estuary, dividing Bordeaux into the Left Bank, Entre-Deux-Mers, and Right Bank.
What are the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers?
This DO for sparkling wines covers noncontiguous areas and features traditional method wines based on Xarel-lo, Macabeo, and Parellada.
What is Cava?
This grape is typically seen as Argentina's signature white variety - some of the best examples are intensely perfumed and can often be found growing at high-elevation vineyard sites in Salta.
What is torrontés?
In particularly wet regions, vineyard managers can employ this trellising system, which opens up the canopy, allowing for better airflow and lowering disease pressure.
What is Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP)?
The 'black' wines of this French wine region are historically based on malbec and are known for being long-lived, highly tannic, and deeply colored.
What is Cahors?
This distinctive white soil has a high chalk content and forms a hard crust that limits evaporation from the soil in Jerez.
What is albariza?
This style of sherry undergoes both biological and oxidative aging, being transferred into a solera system after the flor dies.
What is Amontillado?
Often trained into a basket shape to protect from the intense winds of the Mediterranean, this white variety is approved for dry and sweet wine styles in the Santorini PDO.
What is Assyrtiko?
A producer can utilize this category of winemaking techniques to preserve primary fruit aromas and prevent oxidation. Some examples include careful fruit handling, fermentation in inert vessels, and the use of SO2.
What is Protective Winemaking?
This DAC is Austria's largest vine-growing area, and requires all of its wines to be made exclusively from Grüner Veltliner.
What is Weinviertel DAC?
Cabernet Sauvignon thrives in this distinctive red soil found in the Australian wine region of Coonawarra.
What is terra rossa?
This category of port consists of vintage wines that have been aged for between 4 and 6 years before bottling. Most of these wines are filtered and ready to drink upon release, but some can benefit from bottle aging.
What is Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)?
This thick-skinned drought resistant black grape needs hot and sunny conditions to ripen fully. Outside of the south of France, you can find it in the Spanish regions of Yecla and Jumilla, where it goes by this name.
What is Monastrell?
This method of sparkling wine production involves storing and chilling the juice until it is needed and fermentations in pressurized tanks. In this method, CO2 is initially allowed to escape, then the tank is sealed, allowing the gas to dissolve into the wine.
What is the Asti Method?
This region lies in the rain shadow of two mountain ranges and is home to large glacial lakes that help moderate temperature. It is arguably the most important wine region in British Columbia.
What is the Okanagan Valley?
This current flows north from Antarctica, blowing cool air inland along Chilean river valleys and providing a strong cooling effect in areas where the coastal mountains are their lowest.
What is the Humboldt Current?
This luscious fortified Muscat involves a fermentation that is almost always on skins, is fortified when the juice reaches 1-2% ABV, and undergo oxidative aging that can last for decades.
What is Rutherglen Muscat?