Acid/Acidity:

  Stuff that makes wine taste sharp.   Also contributes to  the bouquet and brilliance.  Can have too much or too little.   

Acrid:

Describes a wine   with overly pronounced acidity.  This is often apparent in cheap red wines.    

Aeration:

The process of letting a wine "breathe".   

Aftertaste:

The taste or flavors that linger  in the mouth after the wine is  tasted, spit, or swallowed.   

Age/Aged/Aging:

  To let get older  under controlled conditions  in order to improve flavor.  All wine is aged  from a few weeks to many decades.  Aging in barrels  is a very slow oxidation,   and the barrels can impart flavors to the wine:  bottle aging allows the wines to soften and   various components within the wine  to harmonize.  After a certain point  all wine will decline in the bottle.   

Alcohol:

The whole point.   The part of wine that makes you drunk.  Why am I telling you this?  You know all about alcohol, don't you?   

Aperitif:

Any wine drunk before eating,  ostensibly to induce  appetite, but in fact  as an excuse to start drinking early.   

Appellation:

Defines the area  where a wine's grapes were grown  such as Bordeaux or Burgundy.   

Aroma:

Smell ( Next Question )   

Attractive:

A lighter style, fresh , easy to drink wine.   

Balance:

A tasting term, states whether  the fruit, acid, wood flavors   etc. are in the right proportion.   

Blending:

The art and science  of mixing wines and/or spirits.   

Blanc:

French word for white.   

Body:

Hmmmmm......  Sort of the oomph a wine has.  The flavor  ( or perhaps the character )  per unit volume.   

Bouquet:

See Aroma   

Brandy:

A liqueur distilled from wine aged in wood.   

Brut:

French word for dry.   

Buttery:

Associated with some white wines,  notably California Chardonnays.  It refers to both flavor and texture or "mouthfeel."    

Carbonic Maceration:

Fermentation of whole, uncrushed grapes  in a carbon dioxide atmosphere.   

Champagne:

Any lightish, whitish wine  that is sparkling ( ie:fizzy )   

Cognac:

The finest of all Brandies  aged in oak vats for a minimum  of 3 years.   

Complexity:

A combination of richness, depth, flavor intensity  balance, finesse, and lots of other fancy words  that let you know this is a really good wine.   

Cordials:

See Liqueurs   

Crisp:

A tasting term,  denotes a fresh, young, wine  with good acidity.   

Decanting:

Slowly and carefully pouring  the wine from the bottle.   

Developed:

A tasting term  referring to the maturity of a wine.   

Dry:

Not sweet,  in the same way that "cold" means not hot...   

Earthy:

Describes a wine that tastes  of the soil in which it was grown.   Red wines most often have this characteristic.   

Extra-Dry:

Don't believe everything you read.  What this really denotes is   a sweet Champagne.   

Fermentation:

The process that turns the lowly grape  into wonderful wine.   

Finish:

See Aftertaste   

Flinty:

Used to describe the fragrance  or taste of some white wines,  especially a White Bordeaux.  If you can remember what flint smells like  when struck with steel,  you'll have an idea of this characteristic.    

Fortified:

More alcohol !   

Fruity: 

Surprise ! Surprise !  Having the taste of fruit.   

Green:

Tasting of un-ripe fruit.  Not a bad thing really  especially in a Riesling.   

Heady:

Used to describe the smell  of a wine high in alcohol.    

Herbaceous:

The taste and smell of herbs in a wine.   

Late harvest:

Wines made from grapes  that were allowed to hang on the vine   until their sugar content was very high, thus the  wine is sweet.   

Lees:

Sediment remaining in a barrel  during and after fermentation.   

Legs:

The droplets that form and ease down  the sides of a glass  when the wine is swirled.   

Liqueurs:

Sweet flavored alcoholic beverage  distilled from   rum, brandy, or whisky.   

Maceration:

During fermentation,  the steeping of the grape  skins and solids in the wine,  to extract color and aroma from the skins.   

Malolactic Fermenation:

A secondary fermentation process  ,which occurs naturally in most wines.   

Mature:

Ready to drink.   

Methode Champenoise:

The method by which  real Champagne gets its bubbles.   

Mouthfeel:

How a wine feels in your mouth  and against the tongue.   

Noble Rot:

The beneficial mold on grapes  that causes the grapes to  shrivel, concentrating the sugars and flavours.   

Neutral:

Generally used to describe a wine   without any outstanding characteristics,  but with no particular bad ones, either.   

Nose:

Smell again !   

Nouveau:

New, okay bottled as soon as possible.   

Oaky:

Aroma & Taste of Oak   

Palate:

The feel and taste of wine in the mouth.   

Potent:

Strong, Intense, Powerful ( Got It ? )   

Round:

Describes a wine   that has a good balance of fruit and tannins,  with good body as well.   

Short:

Term for a wine  which does not remain on the palate  after swallowing - see 'finish.'   

Simple:

Used to describe a wine  that has few characteristics  which follow the initial impression.  Not necessarily a disparaging term,  it's often used to describe  inexpensive, young wine.   

Smoky:

Term used to describe  a subtle wood-smoke aroma and  also some wines that seem  to pick up a smoky aroma from   the earth in which they are grown.   

Soft:

Term to describe a wine  with low acid and gentle tannins.   

Spicy:

Term to describe flavors that are spicy.  Now that wasn't too hard to figure out was it.   

Supple:

Describes a wine with well-balanced tannins  and fruit characteristics.   

Tannin:

Adds dryness and astringency.  Handy if you know  what astringency means.   

Toasty:

Often used to describe a white wine  with a nice hint of the wooden barrel  in which the wine was stored.  Sweeter wines are rarely described this way.   

Vintner:

Wine Merchant