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Christine, who is being Sip & Swirl, has for years, been obsessed with learning about and tasting different wines, but found herself totally overwhelmed and intimidated by the wine world.

The language used, the million and one wine options on shelves, it was all too much for Christine, so she took things into her own hands and studied for a sommelier diploma with the UK Sommelier Association.

Now as a certified sommelier Christine, who goes by 'Sip & Swirl' has been hosting wine tastings in bars, restaurants, corporate offices and people's homes with a real focus on keeping things fun, chilled and judgment-free, and now in partnership with NICE, has built the below wine glossary. We hope you love it!

Basically lets you know how much of the wine you’re drinking is made up of pure alcohol. The alcohol levels in wine are pretty much determined by the grape variety and the climate they’re grown in. If grapes are grown in super sunny and warm regions they have more time to ripen on the vine. This means they fill up with plenty of sugar which then converts to alcohol during the fermentation process, giving us wines with higher alcohol content than ones from cooler climates. For example, an Argentinian Malbec tends to be fuller in alcohol than a French one as the climate is warmer and sunnier there than in France.

This is essentially a fancy term for the lovely smell or fragrance you get from a wine and that’s mostly down to the grapes the wine is made from. For example, if you smell your wine and can pick out aromas like gooseberry, grapefruit and maybe a little grassiness - spoiler - you’re more than likely drinking a zippy, fresh, lip-smacking sauvignon blanc.

Nothing but body positivity here in the wine world! Body is a great way of defining the weightiness of a wine. If you imagine the texture difference between whole milk and skimmed milk - it’s a similar concept when it comes to the structure contrast in full, medium and light bodied wines. As a general rule, a young, juicy, lower alcohol and lower tannin red wine will be lighter in body than a rich, velvety, bold, higher alcohol and higher tannin red which will be fuller bodied.

Nothing but body positivity here in the wine world! Body is a great way of defining the weightiness of a wine. If you imagine the texture difference between whole milk and skimmed milk - it’s a similar concept when it comes to the structure contrast in full, medium and light bodied wines. As a general rule, a young, juicy, lower alcohol and lower tannin red wine will be lighter in body than a rich, velvety, bold, higher alcohol and higher tannin red which will be fuller bodied.

Not just a dreamy potato based snack. But also a word to describe the sensation of a fresh, acidic and dry (usually white) wine on your palate. A refreshing, crisp wine will make your mouth start to water thanks to a nice high acidity level and lower sugar content.

The depth of a wine isn’t just about how deep the glass we’re pouring is (although we’re all for a large wine), it refers to how deep the levels of flavour are that you experience from tasting it. If you can identify loads of different aromas and flavours from the wine for example, or maybe lots of floral notes, lots of fruit flavours and maybe earthy tastes too; the wine has depth and is likely also great quality.

Dry and sweet are opposite ends of the spectrum in wine. If a wine is dry, its sugar content is next to nothing. Dry wine can still taste fruity and floral but it will still have some of that mouth-watering acidity you won’t find in a sweet wine.

So HOW can wine have legs? If you give your wine a swirl around your glass and notice little droplets or arches running down the inside of your glass, this is what is referred to as the legs. These are caused either by a higher alcohol content in the wine, or a higher sugar content making the wine more syrupy - it’s got nothing to do with how good the wine is though, so don’t sweat it if your wine is legless! 

There are actually thousands of types of grapes around the world we can now make wine with - and they’re very different from the grapes we get at the supermarket. Wine grapes are usually a lot smaller, with thicker skins and are more juicy as opposed to crunchy. A lot of wines are named after the grapes they’re made from eg, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc which are all originally French grapes but are now grown all over the world.

A wine region basically covers an area in a country that grows vines and produces wine. Sometimes, in the more traditional places, wine is named after the region it’s from, for example Champagne, Bordeaux or Rioja where they have to play by certain rules to keep their wines consistent and to a certain tradition or standard. These are often referred to as ‘Old World’ wines however there are now wine regions in 60plus countries all over the world making incredible wine using all sorts of different grape varieties and newer wine-making methods. We now even have a handful of amazing wine regions here in the UK!

Believe it or not, some wine can be described as tasting a little salty - in a good way. That delicious salty tang is also referred to as salinity. It’s a characteristic you’d mostly find in white wine, sometimes because the grapes have grown in vineyards that are coastal and exposed to a dreamy sea breeze, or down to the soil the vines grew in having a high salt content.

Bear with me for this one… Did you know that whether you squeeze a white grape or a red grape, the juice that comes from both will be clear?! This is how you can make white wine from red grapes - by only using the clear juice. The colour of wine actually comes from the grape skins. So when making red wine, the grapes are squeezed for their juice and fleshy bits, but the red grape skins are also left in contact with the juice for a while, imparting their colour, flavours, structure and general goodness!

With rosé, the red grape skins are only left in contact for a short time - sometimes only a few hours to give the wine a more delicate pink colour rather than full on red.
Skin contact white wine is a style that adopts this method too - it gives us dry, deep, bolder, more intense white wines that have a similar texture to red wine. Does this keep it less pet nat/craft vibes?

Sometimes referred to as mouthfeel. The structure is the way the wine feels in your mouth - simple as that! Mainly relating to the texture, ways of describing the structure of a wine might be smooth and silky, velvety, sharp, creamy, drying, prickly… These textures are mostly down to how the wine was made, the grape varieties used, and the relationship between components like the acidity, tannin, sugar and alcohol levels.

Sulphites are a naturally occurring compound that is produced during the wine-making process that pretty much most wines will contain. It’s also something that wine makers can add to wine to help preserve its freshness and tastiness and allows them to make wines that can sit in cellars and still be delicious years down the line. You can also find sulphites in other products you’d expect to preserve their natural goodness like dried fruits, guacamole, pickled veggies and way more!

Have you ever peeled the skin from a grape and eaten it? No?! Give it a go! You’ll notice it kind of dries your mouth out and leaves that grippy texture on your tongue (also known as astringency)  - that’s down to tannins. They’re a substance in wine that comes from the skins and the pips of the grapes. You’ll find them more in red wine as the grape skins are a much bigger part of the process in making red wine. So next time you’re enjoying a glass of red that leaves your tongue feeling a little grippy and dry, it’s likely the wine is higher in tannins.

Tasting notes are toootally subjective. They’re a description written by the wine producer or wine expert to describe the different aromas and flavours you’d be expected to enjoy in the wine. People’s taste can vary massively so it can be fun to compare what you taste with what your friends do! 

This is a great wine term to know. The vintage actually refers to the year that the grapes were picked to make the wine in your glass so if you see the year 2021 on a bottle or can of wine, this is when those grapes were picked. They are then likely to go through a long wine-making process as well as potentially being left to age for a while so it’s not likely to be the same year that they were also bottled or arrived on the shelves.