Wine Rack and Wine Glossary

Aperitif: a wine to drink without food or before a meal to stimulate the appetite.

Bakers Wine Rack: a piece of furniture, usually constructed of metal, with a wine rack, shelves, and serving area. Many include a glass rack.

Ban de Vendange: the official start of the grape-harvesting season in France.

Bar: a large, cabinet-style piece of furniture that serves as a bar with a wine rack, glass rack, serving area, and additional storage space.

Beaujolais Nouveau: a red wine from the Beaujolais region of France, made from the Gamay Noir a Jus Blanc (or just Gamay) grape. Beaujolais has a fruity, grape-jam flavor that is light, unpretentious and easy to drink.

Bellisimo: based in the United States, Bellisimo is a maker of fine wine glasses with colorful, decorative hand-painted designs. Bellisimo's glasses are designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Bin: wine bins are square with enclosed sides and dividers to separate different wines. They are designed for bottle-on-bottle storage.

Breathing: allowing a red wine to interact with the air for a period after it has been opened and before serving. Breathing brings out the wine's flavor and aroma. Decanting helps a wine to breathe.

Burgundy: the Burgundy region of France produces Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Chardonnay grapes. Both red and white burgundies should be aged, and both are full-bodied wines with earthy and cherry flavors.

Cabernet Sauvignon: a red grape produced all over the world. Cabernet is the world's favorite wine. The wine is complex, bold, and dry with flavors like plum, berry, black cherry, cassis, and cocoa.

Cabinet: a piece of furniture usually with a wine rack and additional storage space inside the cabinet.

Carafe: a glass or crystal vessel that holds an entire bottle of wine and is used to allow wine to breathe before serving and for pouring.

Cart: similar to the wine table, this is a table on casters with a wine rack below the tabletop, and many have shelves for serving appetizers and other items.

Case: 1. a hard or soft tote made of fabric, leather, or other material with a padded, insulated interior for transporting bottles of wine. 2. a box of 12 wine bottles used for shipping and transporting wine.

Champagne: only sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne, and those produced in Italy are often called Spumante. Champagne is made by fermenting still wine in cold, pressure-sealed tanks with yeast and sugar. The fermentation process creates carbon dioxide, which puts the effervescence in bubbly. All Champagnes contain sugar, but in order from driest to sweetest they are Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec, and Doux.

Chardonnay: a white grape grown across the world, the Chardonnay grape is related to the Pinot Noir grape. Chardonnays can be crisp and fruity with a flavor of green apples and tart citrus or full-bodied and buttery with a flavor of apple, caramel, vanilla, and buttery toast, depending on the fermentation process.

Chianti: an Italian red wine produced in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Chianti is a medium-bodied, dry wine with flavors of cherry, plum, and raspberry. Chianti's flavor varies slightly depending on which of the eight Chianti zones it is from, for example, the Ruffina zone or the Classico zone.

Chiller: a vessel for keeping wine cooled to the proper serving temperature. Chillers can be made of metal or marble and stored in the freezer before inserting a bottle of wine in them; they can be bucket-style so you can add ice around the bottle(s) for chilling; or they can be electric and set to chill wine to a specific temperature.

Clairet: the French word for a wine that is between a light red and a dark rose wine.

Claret: the British word for Bordeaux.

Column: a wine rack with vertical compartments to display wine bottles. Compartments are partial bottle depth to provide easy access to bottles.

Cooler: a refrigerator - with a wine rack inside - that maintains a constant temperature to keep wines properly cooled and chilled. Coolers can be small or large, and some have multiple regions that can be set to different temperatures for red and white wines.

Cube: cube storage racks are square with enclosed sides and dividers that create four compartments within each cube. They are designed for bottle-on-bottle storage, with individual storage compartments that are partial bottle depth for easy access.

Decanter: a glass or crystal vessel that holds an entire bottle of wine and is used to allow wine to breathe before serving and for pouring. Decanters often have unusual, beautiful shapes.

Dessert Wines: dessert wines are sweet because they have a higher residual sugar content than table wines. Dessert wines include late-harvest wines, port, ice wines, and Madeira.

Display Row(s): the row or rows of a wine rack designed to showcase bottles of wine.

Drip Catcher: a metal utensil inserted snugly around the upper neck of a wine bottle to catch drips when pouring.

Iittala: based in Finland, Iittala is a maker of premiere wine glasses designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Fortified Wine: a wine to which a liquor (such as brandy) has been added to increase the alcohol for fermentation.

Floor-Standing Wine Rack: a large, often decorative rack made of metal or wood that is freestanding.

Glass Shape: the shape of a wine glass is designed to maximize the flavor of a wine and the tasting experience. The various shapes of wine glasses are designed to deposit specific wines on the part of tongue that will best taste the flavors of the wine; this is why white wine glasses have slightly longer and slimmer bells than red wine glasses. Red wine glasses also have fuller bells with wider mouths to allow red wines to breathe.

Hanging Wine Rack: a small, decorative rack made of metal or wood that hangs from the ceiling and holds around six to 12 bottles of wine.

Holder: a decorative piece that holds a single bottle of wine.

Ice Wines: very expensive dessert wines made from grapes left on the vine until a frost covers them, then crushed immediately after picking. Because the grapes' water is frozen, they produce only pure nectar when crushed.

Late-Harvest Wines: dessert wines made from over-ripened grapes, which have a high sugar level and produce sweet wine.

Madeira: an Old World French grape that is now grown around the world. Merlot wine is medium-bodied wine with flavors of dark berry, cherry, cassis, plum, and chocolate. Merlot lends itself well to blended wines.

Magnum: a 1.5L bottle of wine. A magnum is equal to two regular wine bottles.

Meritage: the American version of Bordeaux. Both red and white Meritage are blended with at least two of the five Bordeaux grapes.

Mousse: the effervescence of a wine caused by carbon dioxide. For example, the bubbles in Champagne or sparkling wine are the mousse.

Opener: a metal utensil that assists in the removal of corks from wine bottles. Openers range from simple, handheld utensils to ornate fixtures mounted to a counter or tabletop.

Open Wine Rack: a rack in which wine bottles are displayed in the open rather than inside a cabinet. Open wine racks promote air circulation around the wine bottles.

Pinot Grigio (Gris): a white wine grape produced in regions around the world. Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris often has a spicy, melon or pear flavor, but can also have a refined, honeyed, or creamy flavor.

Pinot Noir: a red wine grape produced in regions around the world. Pinot Noir wine has a silky texture and is easy to drink. The flavor depends on the style: Old World Pinot Noir has flavors of team, mushroom, sandalwood, spice, and tart red fruits; New World Pinot Noir has flavors of juicy red fruits and earth.

Port: a sweet dessert wine fortified with brandy and made in the Douro region of Portugal. Most port is made from the grape varieties of Spain and Portugal. Tawny port has a golden brown color and a nutty flavor; ruby port has a rich red color and fruity flavors.

Pourer: a metal utensil inserted into the top of a wine bottle for easy, drip-free pouring.

Punt: the indentation in the bottom of a wine bottle.

Rack: usually constructed of metal or wood, a wine rack holds several bottles of wine in individual slots or holders.

Ravenscroft: based in the United States, Ravenscroft is a maker of fine, lead-free crystal wine glasses designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Reed & Barton: based in the United States, Reed & Barton makes fine wine glasses designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Riedel: based in Austria, Riedel is a premiere maker of fine wine glasses, decanters, and wine accessories designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Riesling: considered the finest white grape in the world, the Riesling grape produces an acidic, sweet, crisp wine with subtle flavors of lemon, green apple, peach, apricot, tangerine, melon, or honeysuckle, depending on the region where the grape is grown.

Sauvignon Blanc: a white grape grown in regions around the world. Sauvignon Blanc wine is vibrant and crisp, with flavors of citrus fruits, melon, pear, pineapple, lemongrass, herbs, green vegetables, and fig.

Scallop: crossbars of a wine rack that create notches where wine bottles rest. Scallop wine racks store wine bottles at an angle to keep the corks moist.

Sherry: a Spanish wine made from Moscatel, Palomino, and Pedro Ximenez grapes. Sherry can be dry to very sweet and served as a chilled apertif or room-temperature dessert wine. Fino Sherry is complex, refined, light, dry, and tangy. Oloroso Sherry is nutty, rich, and dry or medium-dry.

Shiraz (Syrah): the Shiraz grape, also called Syrah, is produced in regions around the world, but some of the most popular come from Australia. These wines range from simple to complex and feature a fruity flavor with a touch of peppery spice.

Sparkling Wine: sparkling wine is an effervescent wine that comes from regions other than the Champagne region of France; the Italian counterpart is Spumante. Sparkling wines are traditionally made from the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grapes. They contain sugar and are effervescent.

Spiegelau: based in Germany, Spiegelau makes premium wine glasses designed to bring out the essence and flavor of wine.

Spumante: Italian sparkling wine.

Stemless Wine Glass: a wine glass without a stem. These glasses consist of only the bell part of a traditional wine glass and reduce the chance of spills.

Stemware (or glass) holder: a rack made of metal or wood that mounts to the wall, ceiling, or underside of a cabinet or table and holds wine glasses in an inverted position to prevent dust from entering the bell of the glass.

Stopper: an accessory, usually decorative and made of metal with rubber, that fits into a wine bottle mouth to seal wine from the air (instead of a cork). Champagne stoppers help retain the "fizz" after the bottle is opened.

Table: an end table or sofa table with a wine rack below the tabletop.

Table-Top Wine Rack: a small, decorative rack made of metal or wood that holds around six bottles of wine.

Varietal: wines made from a single variety of grape.

Wall-Mounted Wine Rack: a decorative rack made of metal or wood that mounts to a wall and holds around six to 12 bottles of wine.

Wine Barrel Furniture: a wine rack or piece of furniture constructed from genuine wine barrels.

Zinfandel: originally used in blends, the Zinfandel grape now produces flavorful wines from California. Red Zinfandel has flavors of blackberry, boysenberry, raspberry, and black cherry. Its flavor is jammy with hints of black pepper and warm spices.