Natural Wine
Natural Wine
Natural wine is produced with minimal intervention, using organic or biodynamic grapes and little to no additives, synthetic chemicals, preservatives or artificial yeasts. There is no legal definition for natural wine and it is often described as a winemaking philosophy, rather than a strict style. Winemakers focus on hand harvesting grapes to craft unfined and unfiltered wines that reflect pure terroir.
See Also
Tawny Port
Tawny Port is a sweet fortified wine from Portugal's Duoro Valley. It is aged in small oak barrels which encourage more oxygen interaction, causing the color to shift from red to brownish amber and creates a caramelized taste.
Claret
Claret is the traditional British term for red wines produced in Bordeaux, France. It refers to a blended red wine, often dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, known for being elegant and structured.
Brut
Brut is the French term for dry sparkling wine with very low sugar content: specifically less than 12 grams per liter (g/L) of residual sugar.
Port
Port wine is a sweet, fortified wine from Douro Valley, Portugal. It is created by halting the fermentation process early by the addition of brandy, resulting in a rich, high alcohol wine.
Dry Wine
A dry wine is a wine that contains very little to no residual sugar, resulting in a flavor profile that lacks sweetness. It is defined by sugar levels (often under 4g/L) and not by mouth drying tannins.
Doux
Doux is the French term for "sweet", representing the highest and sweetest classification level in French wine (>50 g/L residual sugar).
Sec
'Sec" refers to the French word for "dry" and its meaning in wine varies depending on the wine type. In still wines, sec wines have very little residual sugar (less than 4 g/L), while in sparkling wines and Champagne, "sec" indicates an off dry or slightly sweet style with 17-35 g/L of residual sugar.
Fortified Wine
Fortified wine is a style of wine to which a distilled spirit (usually brandy) has been added, resulting in a higher alcohol content (15-22%). The spirits are either added during fermentation to create sweet wines like Port, or after fermentation to craft dry wines like Sherry.