Results for Letter d
D.A.C.: See Districtus Austriae Controllatus.
Decanting : A technique that removes sediment from wine before drinking. After allowing the sediment to settle by standing the bottle upright for the day, the wine is poured slowly and carefully into another container, leaving the sediment in the original bottle.
Dégorgement: See Disgorgment.
Degree Days: A method of classifying the climate based on the number of days the temperature is within a range that vines can grow. In California, climates are rated from coolest (Region I) to the warmest (Region V). This classification can help winemakers determine where to plant which variety.
Délestage: French term for racking and returning a wine back to the tank. Wine is pumped out of the fermenting tank and back over the cap to facilitate extraction of color and flavor.
Delicate: Used to describe light- to medium-weight wines with good flavors. A desirable quality in wines such as Pinot Noir or Riesling.
Demeter: A non-profit organization that promotes and certifies biodynamic farming.
Demi-Muid: A French term for 600-liter capacity oak barrels, typically used in the Rhône Valley.
Demi-Sec: Designates a medium-sweet wine, though the term—which translates literally to half-dry—is potentially confusing. Most often used for Champagne or other sparkling wines, the term also appears on semi-sweet wines from the Loire Valley and other French regions.
Demi-Sec (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 32 to 50 g/l of residual sugar. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Demijohn: See Carboy.
Denominación de Origen (D.O.): One of Spain’s regulatory classification systems, used to determine the grape varieties, alcohol levels and yields of a wine region. In 1991, a higher regulatory level, Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.), was established.
Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.): One of Spain’s regulatory classification systems, created in the early 1990s, and the highest given to a wine region. Rioja and Priorat are the only two Spanish wine regions to have earned the D.O.Ca.
Denominazione di Origine Controllata (D.O.C.) : The Italian system for defining wine regions and wine names. In addition, the D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) covers regions willing to submit their wines to tougher requirements, including tasting approval.
Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (D.O.C.G.) : The Italian system for defining wine regions and wine names. D.O.C.G. wines are submitted to tougher requirements than those labeled D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), including tasting approval.
Dense: Describes a wine that has concentrated aromas on the nose and palate. A good sign in young wines.
Depth: Describes the complexity and concentration of flavors in a wine, as in a wine with excellent or uncommon depth. Opposite of shallow.
Destemming: The process of removing the grape berries from the stems once the grapes have been harvested and brought into the winery. The goal is to minimize the amount of astringent tannins that stems can add to wine.
Desuckering: The removal of young, non-fruit-bearing shoots from a vine.
Deutscher Tafelwein: A wine classification within Germany’s lowest level of wines, Tafelwein; indicates that the grapes were grown in Germany.
Devatting: Also known as délestage, the oxidative winemaking process in which, after the cap of grape musts, skins, seeds and stems forms on the top of a vat of fermenting wine, the wine is drained through a valve at the base of the tank into another vat and reserved while the remaining solids are allowed to drain for a few hours. The reserved wine is then pumped back into the original tank over the top of the drained skins, seeds and stems. Like punch downs and pump overs, the purpose of devatting is to increase the extraction of color, flavor, tannins and aromas from the solids, as well as aerate the fermenting wine.
Developing: Refers to a wine that is starting to show signs of age in flavor, aroma or color.
Dirty: Covers any and all foul, rank, off-putting smells that can occur in a wine, including those caused by bad barrels or corks. A sign of poor winemaking.
Disgorgement: When making sparkling wine, this technique is used to remove frozen sediment remaining in the bottle after the second fermentation. Through the riddling process, the sediment settles in the bottle neck and the neck is then dipped into a brine solution and frozen. Working quickly, the bottle is turned upright and the crown cap removed. The plug of frozen sediment is ejected by the pressure of the carbon dioxide. Also known as Dégorgement.
Disjointed: Describes wine with components that are not well-knit, harmonious or balanced. The timing of the components may be off; upon tasting, a disjointed wine might first reveal big fruit, followed by a blast of screeching acidity and finishing off with a dose of tannins.
Districtus Austriae Controllatus: The Austrian system of appellations, established in the early 2000s and modeled after France's Appellations d'Origine Contrôlée. To carry an appellation in this system, a wine must follow rules describing the area the grapes are grown in, the varieties used, the ripeness, the alcoholic strength, the vineyard yields and the methods used in growing the grapes and making the wine.
Diurnal Temperature Shifts: The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures, which can affect the speed of ripening and grape quality. Shifts can be considerable; parts of Napa Valley regularly experience a 40-degree difference.
Dolce: Italian term for "sweet."
Dosage: In bottle-fermented sparkling wines, a small amount of wine (usually mixed with sugar) that is added back to the bottle once the yeast sediment that collects in the neck of the bottle is disgorged. Also known as liqueur d'expedition.
Double Blind: See Blind Tasting.
Doux: Designates a sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Doux (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields more than 50 g/l of residual sugar.
Drip Irrigation: An irrigation process associated with grapegrowing. Hoses with individual spouts for each vine deliver precise amounts of water, drop by drop. This saves water and allows grapegrowers to carefully control the water vines receive in dry areas.
Dry: Having no perceptible taste of sugar. Most wine tasters begin to perceive sugar at levels of 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent.
Dry (Champagne): Has a dosage level that yields 17 to 32 g/l of residual sugar.
Dry (Sparkling): A misleading term, which designates a fairly sweet Champagne or sparkling wine. In Champagne, the scale from driest to sweetest is: Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry (or Extra-Sec), Dry (or Sec), Demi-Sec and Doux.
Dry Farming: Agricultural technique that prohibits irrigation; it is mandatory in some wine regions—and in most of Europe—and strongly encouraged in other drought-susceptible areas, such as California's Paso Robles, Sierra Foothills and Santa Barbara County.
Drying Out: Losing fruit (or sweetness in sweet wines) to the extent that acid, alcohol or tannin dominate the taste. At this stage the wine will not improve.
Dumb: Describes a phase young wines undergo when their flavors and aromas are undeveloped.
