You`re sitting in the restaurant, the candles are lit and the food is perfect. What you need is a few choice words on the wine to impress your dinner dates even more!" So here it is......

Aftertaste: Not your `morning-after-too-much-garlic-the-night-before` mouth. This is the flavour that lingers after you`ve swallowed. A quality wine will usually have an aftertaste that lasts longer.
Aroma: The smell that hits you when you take that first big sniff. Cheese anyone? It can be the odour of the grapes itself if the wine is young, or it`ll smell of oak if the wine`s matured in oak barrels.
Astringent: The taste of tannins that make your mouth pucker.
Austere: Too much tannin or a very young wine can give a tough, dry taste.
Balance: Harmony between fruitiness, sweetness, acidity, tannin and alcohol will produce a better wine than one that is dominated by any of the above elements.
Body: A light bodied wine is not the diet version! It`s the `weight` of the wine on the palate which is determined by its alcoholic strength.
Bouquet: As wine ages it develops richer and more interesting flavours, the bouquet. Absolutely nothing to do with weddings or flowers.
Closed: Recent bottling can contribute to a non-aromatic wine which will appear closed.
Corked: If the wine smells musty it has been contaminated by a mouldy cork and should be sent back. You`ll realise if it`s corked when you`re asked to check the wine. Never be shy to send wine back if you think it`s corked.
Crisp: A wine with good acidity. Very refreshing.
Earthy: A description of rustic wine, but also the soil quality that gives the wine its distinctive flavour.
Extract: The minerals and trace elements in a wine.
Fat: Term for a rich, full-bodied wine.
Finish: The length of the aftertaste left in your mouth.
Firm: A positive tannic and/or acidic taste in the wine.
Flabby: Not enough acidity in the wine will make it lack shape.
Fruity: The lovely aroma and flavour that some wines get from the variety of grape used.
Green: Either the wine needs time to mature or it is too acidic. Sounds just like the ex!
Grip: When a wine has a firm finish.
Hard: The wine is too acidic or tannic.
Hot: A very alcoholic wine - as if that could be a problem - I`ll have a crate please!
Jammy: Red wine from hot countries might display this characteristic, the wine will taste of cooked fruits as opposed to the fresh variety.
Lean: Not always a bad thing, but sometimes a wine might not have enough body.
Nose: The aroma or bouquet of a wine.
Oaky: When wine has been aged in oak casks it will smell and taste oaky.
Oxidised: A wine that`s been exposed to the air for to long will have a stale taste.
Powerful: A wine high in extract or alcohol.
Sharp: A bitter tasting wine.
Soft: Low in tannin and /or acidity.
Spritz: Young, lighter wines with a slight fizz on the tongue.
Steely: A metallic taste associated with wines of a high acidity. Grapes grown in soil of a high mineral content may also taste steely.
Supple: A smooth and round wine.
Sweet: A description of wines high in sugar content, ripe or very rich.
Tart: Acidic, as opposed to sluttish.
Tough: Found in red wines with a high tannin content.
Vinous: In general terms it means wine-like when looking at acidity, liveliness and overall impression.
Volatile: A high level of acid can sometimes help with a wine`s aroma, giving it a vinegary taste.