The Language Of Spain

Abocado - Medium-sweet. Anejado por - Aged by. Ano - Year. Blanco - White. Bodega - Wine shop, firm or cellar. Cepa - Vine. Clarete - Very light red. Consejo Regulador - Official organization controlling each region's system of Denominacion de Origen. Cosecha - Harvest vintage. Criada por - Matured by Crianza - A red wine with a minimum of 2 years in the barrel (6 months for whites). Denominacion de Origen (DO) - Controlled quality wine region, equivalent to France's AOC. Every such region possesses its own quality stamp. Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOC) - A superior quality level, created in 1988, and confusingly similar to Italy's DOCG. So far Rioja is the only region. Doble Pasta - A wine macerated with twice the normal proportion of grape skins to juice during fermentation. Dulce - Sweet. Embottellado - Bottled Espumoso - Sparkling Elaborado por - Made by. Flor - Wine yeast peculiar to sherry that is vital to the development of the fino style Garantia de Origen - Simple wines that have received little or no oak ageing. Generoso - Fortified Gran Reserva - The top quality level for wines. Red must have spent 2 years in oak and 3 years in bottle, or vice versa. Whites must have been aged for 4 years with at least 6 months in cask. Granvas - Sparkling wine made by the cuve close method. Joven - Young wine - unwooded, fresh, fruity and modern. Nuevo - "Nouveau-style" red. Reserva - Reds matured for a minimum of 3 years, of which at least 1 is spent in cask. Whites and rosados receive 2 years' ageing with at least 6 months in cask. Rosado - Rose. Seco - Dry. Semi-seco - Medium-dry Sin Crianza - Without wood ageing. Solera - Traditional system of producing consistent style of sherry or Malaga whereby increasingly mature barrels are topped up-refreshed - with slightly younger wine. Tintillo - Light red (like clarete). Tinto - Red. Vendimia - Harvest, vintage Viejo - Old. Vina/Vinedo - Vineyard. Vino de aguja - Wine with a slight sparkle. Vino de mesa - Table wine. Vino de pasta - Ordinary, inexpensive wine, usually light in style. Vino de la Tierra - Equivalent of France's vin de pays, "country wine" with some regional character.