Information from Wine Lover's Lexicon wine dictionary from www.wineloverspage.com is used here with permission.

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Abboccato (Ah-bo-kah-toe) - Italian word that means sweet or semi-sweet (when applied to wine)

 Abocado (Ah-bo-kah-doe) - term that describes a medium-sweet Sherry

 Adega (Ah-day-gah) - wine warehouse or cellar in Portugal

 Aglicano - Italian red wine grape known for its structure and aging potential

 Albarino (Ahl-ba-REE-n'yo) - Spanish white-wine grape from Galicia.

Aleatico (Ah-lay-AH-tee-co) - Red grape (of the Muscat family) used for an Italian red wine; also found in California.

Alicante Bouschet (Ah-lee-KAHNT Boo-SHAY) - Red-wine grape of Southern France and California's Central Valley, usually used in hearty jug wines.

Aligoté (Ah-lee-go-tay) - Burgundian white-wine grape, considered unimpressive but may turn up in modest white Burgundy of good value.

Alsace (Al-zahss) - Northeastern French province on the Rhine, known for rich dry white wines made from grapes of German heritage, primarily Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

Alsheim (Ahls-heim) - German vineyard town

 Alto Adige (AHL-toe AH-dee-jay) - Northeastern Italian wine region, near Bolzano.

Alto Douro (Ahl-toe-Du-roe) - classic zone of fine Port production in Portugal

 Amabile (Ah-ma-beel-ay) - Italian term used to describe a wine that is unusually sweet

 Amarone (Ah-ma-ROE-nay) - Powerful, hearty red wine from northeastern Italy.

Amontillado (Ah-MOHN-tee-YAH-doe) - A dry, rather full-bodied style of Sherry ... made famous by Poe.

Appellation Contrôlée (Ah-pel-ah-syohN cohn-troh-LAY) - Legally defined wine-growing region under French law.
 
 Appellation D'Origino (Ah-pel-ah-syohN Dor-re-gene) - French term describing a wine's geographical location

 Aromatized - flavored wines

 Arrope (Ah-ro-pay) - grape concentrate used to sweeten and color Sherry

 Asciutto (Ah-shoot-toe) - Italian term used to describe a dry wine

 Asti (Ahs-tea) - Italian wine-producing region famous for its sweet sparkling wines

 Auslese (OWS-lay-zeh) - Designated quality level for German wine made from grape bunches "picked out" (literally) for their sweetness.

Bandol (Bahn-dole) - Southwestern French wine region, once rare but gaining increasing attention for its rustic reds, particularly those of Domaine Tempier.

Banyuls (Bahn-YOOLZ) - Natural French dessert wine from the Pyrenees.

Barbaresco (Bar-ba-RES-coe) - Excellent red table wine made from the Nebbiolo grape in the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy.

Barbera (Bar-BARE-ah) - Grape used to make hearty red wines in the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy, also California.

Bardolino (Bar-d0-LEE-noe) - Light, simple red wine from the Veneto in Northeastern Italy.

Barolo (Ba-ROE-loe) - Outstanding, full-bodied and complex Nebbiolo-based red wine from the Piemonte of Northwestern Italy.

Barossa - large Australian wine district

 Barsac (BAR-zock) - Sub-region of Sauternes in Bordeaux, France, making sweet wines similar to Sauternes but generally less expensive.

Beaujolais (Boe-zho-lay) - Light, fruity red wine from the region of the same name in Southern Burgundy, France.

Beaumes-de-Venise (BOME da Veh-NEES) - Southern Rhone (France) region best known for its delicious white dessert wine made from Muscat grapes.

Beaune (Bone) - Small city in Burgundy, center of its wine region.

Beerenauslese (BARE-ehn-OWS-lay-zeh) - Quality rating for very sweet German dessert wines, made, literally, from "individual grapes picked out" for their sweetness.
Beeswing - light sediment sometimes found in very old red wines

 Bereich (Beh-RYE'KH) - German wine region, a rather broad area usually incorporating a number of neighboring villages and vineyards.

Berg (Bairg) - used in the name of a German vineyard to indicate its location on a hill or mountain

 Blanc de Blancs - a french term used to describe a Champagne made entirely from the Chardonnay grape

 Blanc de Noirs - a French term used to describe a Champagne made from the the Pinot Noir grape

 Bodega (Bo-day-ga) - Spanish wine cellar

 Bonarda (Bo-nar-da) - Italian red wine grape grown in Piedmont

 Bordeaux (Bore-DOH) - Major wine region of Southwestern France, along the Dordogne and Garonne rivers from the city of Bordeaux downstream to the Atlantic; source of some of the world's greatest table wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and other minor grapes. Bordeaux from specific delimited sub-regions, from Medoc and Haut-Medoc down to such specific villages as Pauillac and Margaux, are considered most desirable; wines from the "right bank" of the river, St.-Emilion and Pomerol, often contain higher proportions of Merlot.

Botrytis (Boe-TRY-tis) - "Noble rot," a kind of mold that may appear on late-harvested grapes, causing them to shrink and dry so the natural sugars become highly concentrated.

Bottle Age - development of a wine after bottling

 Bouchet (Boo-shay) - name local to the St. Emilion district used to describe the Cabernet Franc grape

 Bouquet - array of odors (usually pleasant) given off by a wine after it is opened

 Bourgogne (Boor-GON-yeh) - French for "Burgundy."

Breathing - referring to wine, oxidization that occurs after opening or decanting (often necessary to help round out a wine's flavors)

 Brouilly (Brew-ye) - wine-producing region of Beaujolais

 Brunello di Montalcino (Broo-NELL-oh dee Mon-tahl-CHEE-noe) - Excellent red Italian wine from Tuscany, a neighbor of Chianti; usually slow maturing and long-lived

 Brut (Broot) - Very dry (unsweet), in specific reference to Champagne.

Burgundy - famous French wine-producing region

 Cabernet Franc (Cab-air-nay FrahN) - French red wine grape, often used in a Bordeaux blend, also in the Loire and California. Probably best blended, but increasingly trendy as a varietal, in which blueberry aromas are often descriptive.

Cabernet Sauvignon (Cab-air-nay So-veen-yawN) - One of the noblest red wine grapes, used in Bordeaux, also as either a 100 percent varietal or in red blends in the U.S., Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and wherever wine grapes grow.

Cahors (Cah-ORE) - Southwestern French wine region, not far from Bordeaux, best known for inky-dark red wines made from the Malbec grape.

Cairanne (Kay-rahn) - French wine-producing village of the lower Rhone valley

 Cannonau - name for the Grenache grape grown in Sardinia

 Carignan (Cah-reen-yawN) - Red grape from Southern France, once lightly regarded, but coming into its own with the emergence of quality wines from Languedoc. Red-fruit character, sometimes peppery like Syrah.

Carmenere (Car-men-air) - grape variety of Bordeaux

 Cask - wooden container used to store and/or mature wine or other spirits

 Cava (CAH-bah) - Spanish sparkling wine.

Chablis (Shah-blee) - Excellent white wine made from Chardonnay grapes in the region of the same name in northern Burgundy. Long used as a generic term for "white wine" by makers of cheap American jug wines, a practice that is thankfully dying out.

Chambourcin (Sham-boor-saN) - One of the more palatable red French-American hybrid wine grapes, widely used for making table wines in Eastern U.S. regions where vitis vinifera grapes don't thrive.

Champagne (Sham-pain) - Sparkling wine, specifically the type made in the French region of the same name using a traditional process in which the wine gains its sparkle by a secondary fermentation in the bottle, and made only from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes. Some U.S. wineries still appropriate the name for their sparkling wines, a practice illegal in Europe; but as with Chablis, above, and Burgundy, this practice is dying out.

Chancellor (CHAN-suh-ler) - Another French-hybrid grape used to make hearty red wines in the Eastern U.S.

Charbono (Shar-BOE-noe) - Italian-style grape used to make a simple, robust red wine in California.

Chardonnay (Shar-doe-nay) - One of the world's most well-known white wine grapes. Originated in Burgundy, where many argue that it still reaches its pinnacle, but widely planted in the U.S., Australia and all over the world. In modern times, "Chardonnay" has become almost synonymous in the mass market with a generic "glass of white wine." Apple and green-apple aromas are the classic descriptor, although tropical fruit and pineapple show up commonly, especially in American and Australian Chardonnays, and when aged in oak -- as New World Chardonnays often are -- it may add the vanilla, spice and tropical fruit flavors typical of oak.

Charnu (Shar-noo) - French term for a full-bodied wine

 Charpente (Shar-pahn-tay) - French term for a well-balanced wine

 Chasselas (Shah-s'lah) - White wine grape best known in dry Swiss whites.

Chateau (Shot-toe) - Roughly equivalent to "vineyard" or "winery" in French wines.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Shot-toe-noof duh Pop) - An excellent, complex red dry wine from the Rhone region of Southern France, made from a blend of up to 13 specified grapes and boasting a heritage that reaches back to the Fourteenth Century sojourn of the Catholic Popes in nearby Avignon (hence, "new castle of the Popes").

Chelois (Shel-wah) - French-hybrid grape used in Eastern U.S. wines, makes a rather light and fruity red.

Chenin Blanc (Shay-naN BlaN) - Noble French grape, most common in the Loire, making very fine white wines both dry and slightly sweet. Also found in California and elsewhere, though it rarely reaches the same heights as in the Loire. Variable in the glass, although pleasant honeydew, persian and cantaloupe melon flavors and light muskiness are common.

Chianti (Ki-AHN-tee) - The classic dry red wine of Tuscany, made from Sangiovese and other grapes near Florence in North Central Italy. Once dismissed as "pizza wine" and served in wicker-wrapped fiaschi bottles, it's now more respected as a serious table wine, and has given rise in turn to pricey "Super Tuscan" wines incorporating Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and other non-traditional blends. Chianti Classico is made from grapes grown in the central part of the region and considered more desirable; Chianti Classico Riserva spends additional time aging in oak barrels.

Chiroubles (Shee-roubl) - wine-producing village in Beaujolais

 Cinsaut (SaN-so) - dark red French grape, sometimes spelled "Cinsault." Most common in Languedoc, also a parent (with Pinot Noir) in the South African grape crossing called "Pinotage."

Claret (CLARE-it) - Old synonym, particularly British, for red Bordeaux.

Classico (CLAH-see-koe) - Legally delimited central part of an Italian wine region, generally producing wines considered the region's best. See "Chianti."

Clos (CLOW) - Originally, a walled vineyard. Often used in French wine names, with some California imitators.

Collioure (Cole-YOOR) - Dry red wine from Banyuls in Southwestern France. Dr. Parcé is the most widely sought label.

Colombard (Call-awm-bar) - white wine grape grown primarily in the Cognac district of France or sometimes in California

 Concord (CAHN-curd) - American native grape (vitis labrusca) used in making old-fashioned country-style red wines with the "Welch's Grape Jelly" aroma and flavor that wine tasters call "foxy."

Corbières (Cor-b'yare) - A Languedoc region producing particularly appealing red wines based on Syrah, Carignane and other varietals.

Cornas (Cor-nahs) - Northern Rhone wine region, making a fine, ageworthy wine from Syrah.

Cosecha (Coh-SAY-cha) - Spanish for "vintage."

Côte de Beaune (Coat d'Bone) - wine-producing area located on the southern half of France's Burgundian slope

 Côte de Nuits (Coat d'Nwee) - wine-producing area located on the northern half of France's Burgundian slope

 Côte d'Or (Coat Door) - "Golden slope"; vineyard-covered Burgundian hillside in France

 Côte Rôtie (Coat Row-tee) - Exceptionally fine, ageworthy red wine from the Northern Rhone, primarily Syrah-based and named for the "roasted slopes" on which the vineyards grow.

Coteaux Champenois (Coat-toe Sham-pen-wa) - non-sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France

 Coteaux du Languedoc (Coat-toe duh Lahn-geh-dawk) - Increasingly desirable dry red table wine from Southern France, variously using Grenache, Syrah, Cinsaut, etc., individually or in blends

Côtes du Luberon (Coat dew Lew-bay-raw) - high-quality wines produced in southern France

 Côtes-du-Rhône (Coat duh Rone) - Generic appellation for basic Rhone Valley wines, red and white. Often represent good value, although some drop to jug-wine status.

Côtes-du-Ventoux (Coat duh VaN-too) - Neighbor of Cotes-du-Rhone, sometimes offering exceptional quality-price ratio. Look for La Vieille Ferme, replaced in the mid-'90s by Perrin Reserve.

Coupe (Coo-pay) - French term applied to a blended wine

 Cremant (Cray-mauw) - French term applied to wines that are slightly sparkling

 Crianza (Cree-AHN-zah) - Spanish term for "aged in oak."

Cru Classé (Croo Clah-say) - Literally "classed growth," French legalese for a vineyard historically identified as being of exceptional quality.

Cuvaison (Cew-vay-zahn) - process of giving a wine additional color and tannin by allowing the juice and skins to ferment together

 Cuvée (Coo-vay) - Literally "vat," typically means the blend of different grapes that make up a specific wine.

Decant - transfer a wine into another container (usually a Decanter) in order to allow oxygen to reach it more rapidly

 Demi-sec (Dem-mee-seck) - "half-dry" in French

 Denominación de Origen (Day-nom-ee-nah-SYON day Oh-ree-HEN) - "Denomination of origin," the Spanish equivalent of the French "Appellation Controlée," a legally designated description of a wine based on its origin and content.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata (Day-nom-ee-nah-tzee-OH-nay dee Oh-ree-GEE-nay Con-troh-LAH-tah) - Usually abbreviated DOC, the Italian equivalent of "Appellation Controlée." Certain wines, including Chianti, add "Garantita" (Gah-rahn-TEE-tah) to the phrase as an additional assurance of quality.

Dolcetto (Dohl-CHET-toe) - Tasty red-wine grape of the Piemonte in Northwestern Italy, making a delightful wine that's usually light and fruity, but not sweet as the name (literally "little sweet one") might suggest.

Domaine (Doh-mayn) - "Estate" in French; in Burgundy, a domaine may incorporate numerous separate vineyards.
 
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