From the supermarket to your table

No-Fuss Pocket Guide

The 20 terms that solve almost any shelf. They're all right below, to read on this very page. Want to take them with you? Print it or download the PDF.

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One page, 20 terms. The full glossary, with 100 terms and a search box, lives in the Glossary.

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A jeans pocket with a folded sheet of paper sticking out of it, next to a glass of wine. — fig. 1Twenty terms, one page: it fits in your pocket and solves almost any shelf.

Seco (dry): No noticeable sugar. Not to be confused with bitter, nor with “strong”.
Suave (sweet): In Brazil, it means sweet wine. Not a synonym for light: it's actual sugar.
Tanino (tannin): The astringency that “grips” your tongue, like strong black tea. It softens with time and fatty food.
Acidez (acidity): What keeps the wine lively and makes your mouth water. High acidity goes very well with food.
Corpo (body): Its presence in the mouth, from water (light) to whole milk (full-bodied).
Safra (vintage): The harvest year. Supermarket wine is meant to be drunk young, within 2 or 3 years. “The older, the better” only holds for wine made to age.
Guarda (wine for aging): Made to improve with years in the bottle. A tiny minority.
Reserva: Strict law in Spain, a minimum aging time in Argentina and Brazil (12 months and 11% alcohol, a flexible rule), half a degree more alcohol in Chile. Context is everything.
Gran Reserva: In Spain, long aging guaranteed by law. Anywhere else, take it with a grain of salt.
Reservado: No requirements at all: by law, in Brazil, it's the young wine that's ready to drink. Usually the most basic line, with a pompous name.
Vinho fino (fine wine): In Brazil, wine made from vinifera grapes (Cabernet, Merlot). A legal category, not a compliment.
Vinho de mesa (table wine): What the label calls just “vinho de mesa” (without the “fino”) is made from American or hybrid grapes (Isabel, Bordô). A different idea, a different price, and no apologies.
Frisante (semi-sparkling): Less pressure than sparkling wine: light, easy, cheap. Bubbles, no ceremony.
Espumante (sparkling): Bubbles from a second fermentation. The category where Brazil shines.
Brut: Dry sparkling. Extra brut and nature are drier still; demi-sec is a little sweet, good with dessert.
Charmat × Traditional: Tank gives fruit (prosecco). Bottle gives bread and brioche, with fine bubbles (Champagne). Neither one is “the right one”.
DOC / DOCG / AOC / DO: Origin seals: where it comes from and under which rules. Origin, not a quality score.
Terroir: The whole package of a place: soil, climate, altitude and people. It's real; it just turned into a status word.
Rolha (corked / TCA): A smell of wet cardboard or mold is a cork fault. At a restaurant, you can send it back.
Harmonização (pairing): A suggestion, not a law. Liked it? Then go for it. The jury is your palate.

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