The holidays are coming and that means we'll be drinking a lot of bubbles again (or at least I will) Personally, I am a great fan of Spanish Cavas. In this article a list of wine terms related to this Spanish drink of the gods. Use it to your advantage, Salud!
A
aguja: the (release of) carbon dioxide that causes the small bubbles to form.
arrimar: lining up the bottles of sparkling wine in the pupitre. (Pupitres are traditional wooden frames with tapering angled holes used for the process of manual riddling (remuage) during sparkling wine production (traditional method), Champagne (méthode champenoise) production and bottle-fermented cider production.)
B
barra: the deposit (sediment) that forms in the bottle during the second fermentation.
blanc de blancs: sparkling wine made exclusively from white grapes.
blanco de tintas: sparkling wine made from blue grapes (possibly mixed with their white counterpart).
bozal: that is that metal cap with iron wire that prevents the cork from leaving the bottle on its own.
brut de brut: sparkling wine with less than 12 grams of residual sugar per liter.
brut nature (also called natural, extra brut or brut 0): sparkling wine with less than 6 grams of residual sugar per liter.
brut: sparkling wine with a residual sugar content of between 6-15 grams per liter without liqueur added.
C
crémant: actually the same as champagne, but not from the champagne region.
cupado (or mezcla): mixture of grapes, must or wine of different varieties and/or vintage years in order to create a special sparkling wine with special characteristics.
D
degüelle: in the so-called “método tradicional”, the act of opening the sparkling wine bottle after the second fermentation, causing the depot to “shoot” out of the bottle due to the built-up pressure.
L
lía: the deposit (sediment) that forms in the bottle during the second fermentation.
licor de expedición: composition of wines that is added to the sparkling wine after the “degüelle” to replenish the wine that has been ejected during this process.
licor de tiraje: composition of wines with a high concentration of sugar and yeast cells that is added to the sparkling wine in the making to initiate the second fermentation.
M
millesimé: sparkling wine where the vintage year is stated on the label to emphasize the quality.
N
non-vintage: sparkling wine for which the vintage year is not stated on the label and for which the grapes or must come from 2 or more vintage years.
R
removido: operation carried out once a month during the second fermentation in which the bottle is turned a quarter to loosen the depot from the glass.
rima: this is the name of the row of bottles that are neatly aligned in the pupitre during the second fermentation.
rosario (or efervescencias): the total of small bubbles that are constantly formed in the glass and then rise to the top.
T
toma de espuma: this is what the second fermentation is called.
V
vino base: this is the basic wine for making a sparkling wine that obtains its bubbles through the second fermentation.
vintage: year, harvest year, this shows you which harvest year the grapes from which the wine is made are.
I wish you bubbly holidays!
Roel Peters RP-Vinos USA
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