Results for Letter c

Cane: A branch of a vine.

Canopy: The green foliage of a grapevine is called the canopy. The canopy can be trimmed or thinned to manage the amount of air and sun reaching the fruit, improving fruit quality, increasing yield and controlling disease.


Capsule: The metal or plastic protective coating that surrounds the top of the cork and the bottle. Before pulling out the cork, at least the top portion should be removed to expose the cork and the lip of the bottle.


Carboy: Sometimes referred to as a "demijohn," a carboy is a nonreactive vessel, usually glass or plastic, used to ferment alcoholic beverages. Due to their relatively small size (typically ranging from 20 to 60 liters) and portability, they are most popularly used in home winemaking, but are also employed by commercial winemakers for experimental lots or test batches.

Casa: Spanish for house. In wine terms, synonymous with "bodega."

Case: A case of wine in the United States typically contains 9 liters or 12 standard 750ml bottles of wine. The size of wineries is most frequently measured in the number of cases produced annually.

Casein: audio-icon A dairy-based protein used in the fining process. Casein is particularly effective at clarifying cloudy or off-colored white wines.

Cask Number: A term sometimes used to designate special wines, as in Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, but often applied to ordinary wines to identify a separate lot or brand. Synonymous with bin number.

Cava: audio-icon Spanish term for sparkling wine made using the traditional méthode Champenoise.

Cave: French term for wine cellar.


Cellar: The room in a winery where wine is made or stored. Can also refer to a personal wine collection in a residence.


Cépage: audio-icon French term for grape variety.

Chai: French term for wine cellar.

Chaptalization: audio-icon The addition of sugar to juice before and/or during fermentation, used to boost sugar levels in underripe grapes and alcohol levels in the subsequent wines. Common in northern European countries, where the cold climates may keep grapes from ripening, but forbidden in southern Europe (including southern France and all of Italy) and California.


Château: French term for "castle." In the wine world, it translates loosely as "estate." However, in France, the term is protected.

Chef de Cave: French term for cellarmaster or head winemaker.


Cigar Box: Aroma frequently associated with mature Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet blends, this descriptor refers to the cedary and tobacco leaf scents associated with cigar boxes.

Claret: audio-icon The British term for red wines from Bordeaux. Originally the wines were quite pale or nearly clear in color, giving rise to the term clairet.

Clarity: Referring to the amount of suspended particulate matter in a wine, clarity is described in terms of the wine’s reflective quality; brilliant, clear, dull or hazy. A pronounced haziness may signify spoilage, while brilliant, clear or dull wines are generally sound.

Classified Growth: Included in Bordeaux's 1855 Classification, which ranked châteaus from first-growth to fifth-growth. The original classification was set by the prices that the wines fetched and was intended to be synonymous with quality.

Clean: Fresh on the palate and free of any off-taste.


Climate: The long-term weather pattern—including temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine—in a specific region. In contrast, weather is associated with a specific event, such as a hailstorm.

Clonal Selection: Vineyard management term for a technique by which dead or under-performing vines are replaced with new vines grown from a single superior vine, or mother vine.


Clos: audio-icon A French term used to describe a walled vineyard, such as Clos du Vougeot in Burgundy.

Closed: Describes wines that are concentrated and have character, yet are shy in aroma or flavor. Closed wines may open up to reveal more flavors and aromas with aging or aeration.


Cloying: Describes ultra-sweet or sugary wines that lack the balance provided by acid, alcohol, bitterness or intense flavor.

Cluster: A grape bunch.



Cold Stabilization: A clarification technique that can prevent the formation of crystals in wine bottles. Prior to bottling, the wine's temperature is lowered to approximately 30° F for two weeks, causing the tartrates and other solids to precipitate out of solution. The wine is then easily racked off (separated from) the solids.

Colheita: Portuguese term for "vintage."

Commune: audio-icon French term for village.


Composite cork: Also known as an agglomerated cork. A wine bottle stopper made of particles or granules of natural cork pressed together and bound by an FDA–approved glue.

Cooked: Describes a dull, stewed flavor associated with wines adversely affected by excessive heat during shipping or storage.

Cooper: A wine barrel maker.

Cooperage: The facility where wine barrels are made.

Cooperative: A wine company that is owned and managed by a group of vineyard owners who bottle their wine under one label, sharing the profits. Wine cooperatives are typically associated with cheaper, often bulk, wine.

Coravin: An appliance that allows wine to be removed from an unopened bottle of wine via a hollow needle.

Cordon-trained: Refers to a method of vine training. Cordon-trained vines are supported by a trellising system; typically one or two cordons, or branches, are trained horizontally out of the main trunk.

Corkage Fee: The fee charged by restaurants when guests bring their own bottle of wine rather than ordering from the wine list.


Cosecha: Spanish term for "vintage."

Coulure: audio-icon Also known as "shatter." During flowering in the spring, wind and rain as well as chemical deficiencies can keep grapevine flowers from being properly fertilized, causing these flowers to drop off the cluster. This dropping of flowers is called coulure. Since each flower is responsible for a grape, the cluster of grapes that eventually forms is loose and missing grapes. If the improperly fertilized flower stays attached, it produces a puny, seedless grape called a "shot" grape. Although the yield is reduced, there is a corresponding benefit—loose clusters that allow for increased air circulation are less susceptible to rot in humid conditions.

Crianza: audio-icon One of Spain’s quality classifications, it requires that reds are aged for two years, with at least a year in wood, and whites a total of six months.

Crisp: Describes a wine with moderately high acidity; refreshing and bright with a clean finish.

Cru : audio-icon A French term, "cru" generally refers to a vineyard or group of vineyards that have similar characteristics.

Cru (French): audio-icon The term "cru" is officially codified in some old world countries and regions. In Bordeaux, the highest quality wines are called Premiers Crus and in Burgundy, Grands Crus.

Cru (Other): audio-icon In other countries like Italy, "cru" can simply refer to a single-vineyard bottling that may or may not be classified.

Cru Beaujolais: audio-icon Wines from the ten subregions—Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly—as opposed to the regional Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages AOCs. They are typically better in quality.

Crush: Harvest season when the grapes are picked and crushed.

Cuvée: audio-icon A blend or special lot of wine.