M - P
MACERATION: During fermentation, the steeping of the grape skins and solids in the wine, where alcohol acts as a solvent to extract color, tannin and aroma from the skins.
MADE AND BOTTLED BY: Indicates only that the winery crushed, fermented and bottled a minimum of 10 percent of the wine in the bottle. Very misleading.
MADERIZED: Describes the brownish color and slightly sweet, somewhat caramelized and often nutty character found in mature dessert-style wines.
MAGNUM: An oversized bottle that holds 1.5 liters.
MALIC: Describes the green apple-like flavor found in young grapes which diminishes as they ripen and mature.
MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION: A secondary fermentation occurring in most wines, this natural process converts malic acid into softer lactic acid and carbon dioxide, thus reducing the wine's total acidity. Adds complexity to whites such as Chardonnay and softens reds such as Cabernet and Merlot.
MATURE: Ready to drink.
MEATY: Describes red wines that show plenty of concentration and a chewy quality. They may even have an aroma of cooked meat.
MERCAPTANS: An unpleasant, rubbery smell of old sulfur; encountered mainly in very old white wines.
MERITAGE: An invented term, used by California wineries, for Bordeaux-style red and white blended wines. Combines "merit" with "heritage." The term arose out of the need to name wines that didn't meet minimal labeling requirements for varietals (i.e., 75 percent of the named grape variety). For reds, the grapes allowed are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec; for whites, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. Joseph Phelps Insignia and Flora Springs Trilogy are examples of wines whose blends vary each year, with no one grape dominating.
METHODE CHAMPENOISE: The labor-intensive and costly process whereby wine undergoes a secondary fermentation inside the bottle, creating bubbles. All Champagne and most high-quality sparkling wine is made by this process. See also charmat.
METHUSELAH: An extra-large bottle holding 6 liters; the equivalent of eight standard bottles.
MURKY: More than deeply colored; lacking brightness, turbid and sometimes a bit swampy; mainly a fault of red wines.
MUST: The unfermented juice of grapes extracted by crushing or pressing; grape juice in the cask or vat before it is converted into wine.
MUSTY: Having an off-putting moldy or mildewy smell. The result of a wine being made from moldy grapes, stored in improperly cleaned tanks and barrels, or contaminated by a poor cork.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR: A giant wine bottle holding 15 liters; the equivalent of 20 standard bottles.
NEGOCIANT (NEGOCIANT-ELEVEUR): A French wine merchant who buys grapes and vinifies them, or buys wines and combines them, bottles the result under his own label and ships them; most commonly found in Burgundy.
NOBLE ROT: A beneficial mold or fungus that attacks grapes under certain climatic conditions and causes them to shrivel, deeply concentrating the flavors, sugar and acid.
NONVINTAGE: Blended from more than one vintage. This allows the vintner to keep a house style from year to year. Many Champagnes and sparkling wines are nonvintage.
NOSE: The character of a wine as determined by the olfactory sense. Also called aroma; includes bouquet.
NOUVEAU: A style of light, fruity, youthful red wine bottled and sold as soon as possible; applies mostly to Beaujolais.
NUTTY: Used to describe oxidized wines. Often a flaw, but when it's close to an oaky flavor it can be a plus.
OAKY: Describes the aroma or taste quality imparted to a wine by the oak barrels or casks in which it was aged; can be either positive or negative. The terms toasty, vanilla, dill, cedary and smoky indicate the desirable qualities of oak; charred, burnt, green cedar, lumber and plywood describe its unpleasant side. See also American oak, French oak.
OFF-DRY: Indicates a slightly sweet wine in which the residual sugar is barely perceptible: 0.6 percent to 1.4 percent.
OXIDIZED: Describes wine that has been exposed too long to air and taken on a brownish color, losing its freshness and perhaps beginning to smell and taste like Sherry or old apples. Oxidized wines are also called maderized or sherrified.
PEAK: The time when a wine tastes its best--very subjective.
PERFUMED: Describes the strong, usually sweet and floral aromas of some white wines.
PH: A chemical measurement of acidity or alkalinity; the higher the pH the weaker the acid. Used by some wineries as a measurement of ripeness in relation to acidity. Low pH wines taste tart and crisp; higher pH wines are more susceptible to bacterial growth. A range of 3.0 to 3.4 is desirable for white wines, while 3.3 to 3.6 is best for reds.
PHYLLOXERA: Tiny aphids or root lice that attack Vitis vinifera roots. The disease was widespread in both Europe and California during the late 19th century, and returned to California in the 1980s.
POTENT: Intense and powerful.
PRESS WINE (or PRESSING): The juice extracted under pressure after pressing for white wines and after fermentation for reds. Press wine has more flavor and aroma, deeper color and often more tannins than free-run juice. Wineries often blend a portion of press wine back into the main cuvée for added backbone.
PRIVATE RESERVE: This description, along with Reserve, once stood for the best wines a winery produced, but lacking a legal definition many wineries use it or a spin-off (such as Proprietor's Reserve) for rather ordinary wines. Depending upon the producer, it may still signify excellent quality.
PRODUCED AND BOTTLED BY: Indicates that the winery crushed, fermented and bottled at least 75 percent of the wine in the bottle.
PRUNY: Having the flavor of overripe, dried-out grapes; can add complexity in the right dose.
PUCKERY: Describes highly tannic and very dry wines.
PUNGENT: Having a powerful, assertive smell linked to a high level of volatile acidity.