Glossary Terms

Madeira (a PDO) is a Portuguese fortified wine, made in the Madeira Islands, off the coast of Africa. It is made through a very unique process where the wine is oxidised through both heat and ageing. Styles range from dry through to sweet, and a variety of both red and white grapes are used. Due to the wine’s exposure to both heat and oxygen during production, Madeira is extremely shelf-stable and once opened a Madeira can last almost indefinitely.

Malolactic fermentation (malo, MLF or malolactic conversion) is a bacterial process, typically controlled by the winemaker, that converts malic acids (the green apple kind of acids) into the softer lactic acids (the dairy kind – think the kind of acidity you see in yoghurt). Most red wines go through this process whereas whites it is a winemaking decision, as it does affect the flavour of the wine. It is also not an all-or-nothing decision – a winemaker may choose to stop malolactic fermentation part-way through or to blend wine that has gone through malo with wines that haven’t. If you’re picking up dairy notes in a white wine – such as butter, cream or yoghurt – there’s a good chance that it has gone through some degree of malolactic fermentation.

Médoc is an appellation d’origine contrôlée for wine that is part of Bordeaux in south-western France. The region is situated on the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary. The area is planted predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, although smaller quantities of Petit Verdot and Malbec are also grown. The wines themselves are Cabernet Sauvignon dominant.

Méthode Ancestrale is, perhaps, the oldest method of making sparkling wine. It goes by many names, but the most common in Australia is pétillant naturel (petnat). As with all sparkling wine production, the bubbles come from carbon dioxide trapped in the wine. However, a key difference in méthode ancestrale is that the wine is bottled part-way through its first (and only) fermentation. The wine finishes fermenting in the bottle, releasing carbon dioxide that is trapped and thus, creating bubbles.

The wines are often left unfiltered, so they can be hazy. The carbonation tends to be more gentle than in a wine made by the traditional method, and there can be some residual sweetness.

(Eng: traditional method, Sp: metodo tradicional)

A sparkling wine production technique, widely regarded as the best, in which the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Yeast and sugar are added to a bottle of base wine. The bottle is then sealed and the secondary fermentation takes place. This creates the carbon dioxide, and as this cannot escape, the bubbles are trapped in the bottle. Champagne and Cava both must be produced by this method and it is used in the production of premium sparkling wine around the world.

Methoxypyrazines (often shorted to pyrazines) are aroma compounds that give wines ‘green’ aromas. Descriptors include herbaceous, vegetal, grassy and green capsicum.

They are most commonly found in Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Must is the freshly crushed grape juice, usually containing skins and stems.

Oxidative is used to describe winemaking techniques that expose a wine to oxygen, and it also applies to the aroma and flavour characteristics then present in the finished wine. Oxidative winemaking processes used judiciously help wines develop tertiary characteristics, but an excess of oxygen (such as a closure failing) results in a wine that smells and tastes like a Sherry (toasted nuts, caramel), and will be browner in colour than expected and lack fruit character.

This is the opposite end of the winemaking and flavour spectrum to reductive.

Petit Chablis is a village level AOC (created 1944) in the Chablis region of Bourgogne. The wines are exclusively white wines made from Chardonnay and represent approximately 20% of all Chablis wines.

(Pinot Bianco in Italian) A white wine grape that is actually a mutation of Pinot Noir. It is grown in cool climate European countries, particularly Germany where it is known as Weißburgunder (“white burgundy”). Its flavour profile shows citrus, apple and floral notes.