Acid, acidity: A component of wine consisting of tartaric acid that gives the wine a sense of body and structure.  An important element required for proper balance.

Aftertaste: The taste that lingers after you swallow. Same as finish. A pleasant lingering aftertaste is good.

Apple: Crisp, fruity flavor reminiscent of apples, characteristic of Chardonnays that spend little time in oak barrels.

Balanced: Goldilocks style - not too sweet, not too dry, not too sour, not too fruity. Everything blended in just the right proportions.

Big: A full-bodied, full flavored wine.

Blackberry: A jammy or fruit forward description commonly used to describe young Zinfandels.

Black pepper: Fragrant, floral, and peppery. A trademark of Syrah and Petite Sirah.

Body: The thickness or weight of wine in the mouth.

Butter, buttery: The smooth taste of butter in the wine. Common in Chardonnays that have gone through "malolactic fermentation"

Cassis: The smell and taste of cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur.

Citric: A slightly tart, pleasant taste.

Chewy, chunky: A full-bodied wine that is so “thick” in your mouth that it feels like you could chew it.

Chocolate: Rich, chocolatety essence found in robust red wines.

Clean: A positive attribute for a wine with no unpleasant aromas or tastes.

Complex: A delightful blending of taste and aromas and a lot of tastes going on.

Corked, corky: A flawed wine caused by a bad cork that tastes “off” and smells of damp cardboard.

Crisp: Fresh, spicy, and slightly tart - typical of a good white.

Delicate: Mildly complex, but light with the flavors blending nicely together.

Dry: Not sweet. Very dry wine has no residual sugar. Good with food, generally.

Earthy: A taste related to organic compounds.

Floral, Flowery: Aromas of flowers.

Forward: Flavors that grab you on your first sip.

Fragrant: A full, delightful aroma.

Fruit, fruity: General description for wines that are sweet with fruitiness (not sugary sweet) but not a specific fruit.

Full, full-bodied: The full, thick and weighty feeling a wine has in your mouth.

Grassy: Fresh cut grass or string beans, slightly musty, often found in Sauvignon Blancs.

Jammy: Fruit forward that reminds you of jam often found in Zinfandels.

Length, Lingering: The time that the "finish" or "aftertaste" lasts in your mouth. It’s nice if the taste lingers in your mouth…as long as you like the wine.

Light, light-bodied: A wine without much weight or body. Thin. Can still be a pleasant wine. Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Grigios are often light bodied.

Malolactic Fermentation: A natural conversion of malolactic acid into lactic acid which softens the acidity in the wine. A forced process often used in white wine production.

Medicinal: Not necessarily unpleasant. The tastes and aromas might remind you of a medicine cabinet.

Medium, medium-bodied: A wine that’s in-between light-bodied and heavy-bodied.

Nose: Overall smell of a wine, its aroma and bouquet.

Oak, oaky: Showing some signs of toastiness, smokiness, a charry smell or taste with vanilla aromas aroused by the influence of the oak barrels in which the wine was aged

Perfumed: a heavy floral aroma. Too much is not good.

Plum, plummy: Common in red wines, having aromas or flavors that suggest very ripe plums.

Rich: Like big and robust but more velvety and thick.

Robust: A full-bodied, full-flavored, bold wine, generally a red that needs time to breath.

Smooth: A wine whose texture is not harsh or rough.

Spicy: Mixed spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, and sometimes a dash of pepper.

Tannic, tannins: A substance in the skins, stems, and seeds of grapes that causes wine to be high in tannin. Tannin is also a component of oak barrels.

Thin: A dull, bland wine.

Toast, toasty: Descriptive flavor and aroma term that may result from making wine in lightly toasted or charred oak barrels.

Vanilla: Flavor and aromas of vanilla, characteristic of some wines aged in new American oak.

Velvet, velvety: Deliciously smooth.

Youthful: Usually a wine that is immature and needs cellar time, or a less expensive wine that was meant to be drunk now.