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Table Wine |
Any wine that is not a fortified or sparkling
wine. |
|
Tafelwein |
A simple German table wine that qualifies for
the lowest tier of German wine quality
standards. Not to be confused with Tischwein. |
|
Tannin |
Natural defense mechanisms in plants that create
a bitter, astringent taste which induces a
negative response when consumed. In wine, they
are derived from grape skins and provide the
flavanoids in wine that give you the dry,
puckery mouth sensation. They also help preserve
a wine. |
|
Tastevin |
The silver tasting cup used by the Sommelier to
taste the wine before pouring for the customer. |
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TBA |
See Tribromoanisole |
|
TCA |
See Trichloroanisole |
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Tears |
See Legs |
|
TeCA |
See Tetrachloroanisole |
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Tenuta |
Italian for estate or farm. |
|
Terroir |
Translated literally as soil, this French term
describes not only the terrain on which the
vines are grown, but also encompasses soil,
slope, orientation to the sun, elevation and
effects of climate. Can be used for earth
characteristics found in a wine. |
|
Tetrachloroanisole |
An airborne bacteria similar to Trichloroanisole,
which contaminates the cellar environment
instead of the wine cork and is responsible for
imbuing the wine with a moldy taint. |
|
Texture |
The overall feeling of a wine when it's in the
mouth. |
|
Third Growth |
See Troisième Cru |
|
Tinto |
Spanish and Portuguese for red, but reserved
almost solely for use with wine. |
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Tischwein |
A common, ordinary German wine. |
|
Tribromoanisole |
A taint known in the plastics and water industry
that has recently been found in some French
wine. |
|
Trichloroanisole |
Known as TCA for short, this is the most common
of flaws found in a bottle of wine. Industry
standards put the amount of wine with detectable
amounts of TCA at anywhere between 3-5%. This
chemical compound can occur naturally in cork
forests but is most often caused by corks that
haven’t been cleaned properly after they are
bleached, a process quite common for aesthetic
purposes.\r\n\r\nTCA is the cause of corked or
corky wines, and causes flavors and aromas of
wet cardboard or a musty, wet basement. The
fruit in the wines is also muted by TCA. Wines
affected by TCA can range from absolutely
terrible to only slightly different from a
pristine bottle, and it can be difficult in the
more subtle instances to tell the
difference.\r\n\r\nThe prevalence of TCA has
spurred the growth of alternative enclosures
such as screw caps and synthetic corks, as
nothing is worse than opening a bottle of
Bordeaux that has been carefully cellared for
ten years only to have it taste like a basement. |
|
Trocken |
German for dry. |
|
Trockenbeerenauslese |
Intense, rich, sweet and rare wines from Germany
and Austria made from overripe grapes affected
by Botrytis cinerea that have nearly shriveled
to raisins. |
|
Trod |
To crush grapes by stomping them with bare feet. |
|
Troisième Cru |
A French term meaning third growth, a Médoc
category specified in the Classification of
1855. |
|
Tufa |
Soft, porous rock consisting of calcium
carbonate deposited from springs rich in lime. |
