Selected from History Press books, dated definitions are fascinating descriptions of historical novelties. This week’s definitions are taken from Maryland Wine: A Full Bodied History by Regina Mc Carthy.
In this flavorful history, Mc Carthy travels through the red tobacco barns of southern Maryland and the breezy vineyards of the Eastern Shore all the way to the cool mountain cellars of the west, searching for the state’s finest wines and their stories.
Test your knowledge of today’s wine terms and then read more here! You may just find the roots of Maryland wine history to be surprisingly deep…
Lone barrel in a field at Woodhall Wine Cellars. Courtesy of Danielle Grilli Marcus.
Amphora (AM-fuhr-uh): An ancient vessel used to store and transport wine.
Aurore: A hybrid grape variety produced in the nineteenth century by French nurseryman Albert Seibel and still used, especially in the eastern United States, for sparkling wine production. Sometimes spelled aurora.
Noble rot: A common name for botrytis cinerea, the famous fungus of more than a few fabulous dessert wines.
Sugaring: Called “chaptalization” in France and most other countries, sugaring is the addition of common sugar to fermenting grape juice or must for the purpose of raising the eventual alcohol content in the wine. Illegal in some states, sugaring is usually needed only in very cool climates (or very cool vintages) in which the fruit fails to achieve full ripeness naturally.
Trockenbeerenauslese: The highest category of sweet dessert wine produced in Germany. Meaning “dry berry selection,” it indicates that the raisined berries are individually picked to ensure that only fully raisin-dried grapes are used for the wine.
Zymurgy: The science of fermentation.
