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- Decanting:
- A method by which cellar-aged bottled wine is poured slowly and carefully
into a second vessel, usually a glass decanter, in order to leave any sediment
in the original bottle before serving. Almost always a treatment confined
to red wines.
- Degree:
- Alcohol content. 'Twelve degrees' means 12% alcohol by volume.
- Delicate:
- Any wine demonstrating somewhat mild, but attractive characteristics. Occasionally
used to describe well-made wines from the so-called "lesser grape" varieties.
- Deep / Depth:
- Refers to a premium wine that demands more attention, it fills the mouth
with a developing flavor, there are subtle layers of flavor that go "deep"
(see also lingering).
- Dessert wine:
- Has two meanings:
-
– Fortified
wine - eg: Sherry - where alcohol is added in the form of Brandy or neutral
spirits.
– Sweet or
very sweet wines of any alcohol level customarily drunk with dessert or
by themselves and usually in small amounts.
- Destemming:
- Process of separating grapes from stems. Traditionally stems were
included in the fermenting vat, but they tend to give a tough, bitter taste
to the wine. Most good quality wines are now made without stems.
- Developed:
- Tasting term indicating a wine with some aged character and maturity.
- Diesel:
- Aroma constituent reminiscent of diesel/petrol/gasoline engine fumes. Occasionally
detected in botrytis affected sweet or semi-dry wines such as Riesling. Considered
a flaw if too obtrusive (see also petrol).
- Direct:
- Everything present in this wine is immediately obvious (see also easy, simple).
- Dirty:
- Describes any of the undesirable odours that can be present in a wine that
that was poorly vinified. A characteristic imparted by improperly cleaned
barrels or various other processes performed incorrectly. Usually detected
first in a wine by the smell of the cork stopper or from a barrel sample.
Not to be confused with corkedwines where the stopper is thought to be responsible
(see also yeasty / yeastlike).
- Double magnum:
- Bottle of 3 litres equivalent to 4 normal (75cl) bottles. In
Champagne this size is called jeroboam.
- Dry:
- Description of a wine made deliberately to possess ittle or no sweetness.
Commonly defined as containing less than about 0.5% residual sugar.
- Dumb:
- Characteristic description of a young wine with yet-to-develop aromas and
flavours. A synonym for "closed-in". Named so because it seems "unable to
speak".
