TASTING TERMS
(These are words you might use when referring to your experience tasting a particular wine) :

aromatic: Descriptive term for wines with an expressive flowery, spicy, or fruity aroma.

barnyard: Smell of farm animals. Negative.

beefy: Term for wines (usually red) which are extremely full-bodied, solid, or even 'chunky.'

bite: A marked degree of acidity or tannin. An acid grip in the finish should be more like a zestful tang and is tolerable only in a rich, full-bodied wine.

bitter: One of the four basic tastes. Considered a fault if the bitterness dominates the flavor or aftertaste. A trace in sweet wines may complement the flavors. In young red wines it can be a warning signal, as bitterness doesn't always dissipate with age. A fine, mature wine should not be bitter on the palate.

buttery: It refers to both flavor and texture or mouthfeel.

chewy: Describes rich, heavy, tannic wines that are full-bodied.

clean: Wine with no faults that possesses simple, direct, flavors.

cigarbox: term used if tobacco notes are present in nose.

corked: term relating to the presence of bacteria in cork that reacts with small amounts of chemical that may have remained in the bottle after it was cleaned. The result is described as 'wet dog,' 'socks,' or an otherwise musty odor.

dirty: Covers any and all foul, rank, off-putting smells that can occur in a wine, including those caused by bad barrels or corks. A sign of poor winemaking.

dusty: Usually applied to reds made from grapes grown in hot climates, particularly those from the Southern Rhone.

earthy: Describes a wine that tastes of soil, most common in red wines. Can be used both positively (pleasant, clean quality adding complexity to aroma and flavor) and negatively (barnyard character bordering on dirtiness).

fat: a heavy, sometimes clumsy wine, though if made from fully ripe grapes it can imply a rather unctuous richness.

flinty: Describe the aroma or taste of some white wines; like the odor of flint striking steel.

fruity: Describes any quality referring to the body and richness of a wine, i.e., "appley," "berrylike" or "herbaceous." Usually implies a little extra sweetness.

grapey: Describes the pure and basic flavor of grapes themselves.

green: Tasting of unripe fruit. Typically used to express negative characteristics, but in some cases it can be positive. Wines like Riesling are sometimes expected to have a 'green' characteristic.

heady: Used to describe the smell of a wine high in alcohol.

herbaceous: The taste and smell of herbs.

murky: Lacking brightness; turbid or swampy.

musty: Having a moldy smell.

oaky: Describes the aroma and taste of oak, often adding a 'creamy' or 'vanilla' character to the wine.

oxidized: Refers to wines that have been to exposed to oxygen, resulting in a flat, dead wine.

peppery: Describes the taste of pepper in a wine, often times from mineral or oak components.

perfumed: A light and delicate attribute that many good white wines and lighter bodied reds share.

smoky: Describes a subtle wood-smoke aroma.

spicy: Describes the presence of spice flavors such as anise, cinnamon, cloves, mint and pepper, often present in complex wines.

sweet: One of the four basic tastes. Describes the presence of residual sugar and/or glycerin.

tannic: Describes a drying, almost puckering sensation on the palate, as a result of grape skin or wood tannins in the wine. This is normal and can be quite enjoyable when in balance.

tart: Sharp-tasting because of acidity.

toasty: Describe a hint of the wooden barrel.

velvety: Having rich flavor and a silky texture.