Wine Glossary

The city in southern Spain that is the home of Sherry. The word Sherry comes from a rather poor attempt to pronounce the name of the town. The full name harkens back to the days when this was a frontier town on the border between the Christians and the Moors.

A large bottle, equivalent to to six regular sized bottles (four in Champagne).

One of the most famous German wine towns. It is situated in the middle of the Rheingau region. Because of the fame of this village, the word "Johannisberg" is sometimes (in the US only) added to the Riesling grape, Riesling being the principal grape of this region in Germany. "Johannisberg Riesling" was adopted in the US to distinguish it from the now rare Franken Riesling (which is actually the grape Sylvaner).

A term used for low quality wines that are sold in large bottles, or jugs. While this type of wine rarely has much written about it, it is important to remember that most of the wine made in the world is in fact, of jug wine quality. Box wine is quickly taking over the form and the phrase.

The name used for the departement (like a state), mountain range, and wine growing region in eastern France, near the Swiss border. Not well known, for the wines do not travel well, it is a pleasant area, with pleasant, much varied, but ultimately simple wines.

A white wine region in the Pyrenees, in the southwest of France. Most of the wines are made dry today, but the area was once famous for its dessert wines. Visitors may still be able to find examples of this increasingly rare sweet wine. The wines are made from local grape varieties, and are rarely found outside of the area.