Tackling any new endeavor is made more daunting when confronted with a whole new vocabulary of specialized terms. Here are a few to help get novices through their first steps into the world of wine.

Breathing

The interaction between air and wine after a wine is opened. Advocates believe that the practice allows wines to soften and the bouquet to evolve and develop complexity. Detractors say breathing dulls a wines flavor and diminishes its liveliness.

Body

The perception of texture or weight of a wine in the mouth. A wine with a rich, complex, lingering flavor is considered full-bodied; one that's watery or lacking in body is called light-bodied or thin; a medium-bodied wine ranks in between.

Clone

A clone is a plant that has been propagated asexually, usually by cuttings or by grafting. Cloning is done to reproduce plants with the distinctive traits of its "mother" plant such as high productivity, disease resistance, and/or better adaptability to environmental conditions.

Cuvée

French term, meaning vat or tank.

Drip dickey

A wine accessory that slips over the neck of a wine bottle and absorbs any drips that may run down the bottle after pouring.

Entry-level wine

The wine from a producer's portfolio that is the lowest cost for purchase and offers the most basic quality.

Fine wine

The highest category of wine quality, representing only a very small percentage of worldwide production.

Fruit wine

A fermented alcoholic beverage made from non-grape fruit juice which may or may not include the addition of sugar or honey.

Mead

A wine-like alcoholic beverage made of fermented honey and water rather than grape juice.

Mousse

The sparkling effervescence of a wine. In the glass it's perceived as the bubbling but the surface of the glass can affect this perception. Premium quality sparkling wine has a mousse composed of small, persistent string of bubbles.

Nose

The aroma or bouquet of a wine

Oenophile

From the Greek, literally meaning "wine lover." It describes a disciplined devotion to wine, accompanying strict traditions of consumption and appreciation. The term can refers, in general, to the enjoyment of wine.

Port

A sweet fortified wine, which is produced from grapes grown and processed in the Douro region of Portugal. This wine is fortified with the addition of distilled grape spirits in order to boost the alcohol content and stop fermentation thus preserving some of the natural grape sugars.

Premium wines

A subject term to describe a higher quality classification of wine above every day drinking table wines. While premium wines may be very expensive there is no set price point that distinguishes when a wine becomes a "premium wine."

Reserve

A term given to wine to indicate that it is of higher quality than usual.

Sommelier

The French term for a steward or waiter in charge of wine.

Varietal

Wines made from a single grape variety.

Yield

A term used in grape-growing and wine making circles to express the productivity of a set amount of vineyard land