Wine-Searcher Technical Wine Terms C to D

'C'

• Carbonic maceration: a winemaking technique mostly associated with wines from the Beaujolais region of France. In this process, whole grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide-rich (anaerobic) environment in a sealed container before crushing. The carbon dioxide penetrates the skins, starting a chemical activity inside each grape. At the same time, the grapes at the bottom of the container get split due to the weight of the fruit. The resulting juice starts to ferment conventionally. All of this results in a wine which is extremely fruity and normally enjoyed young. Since they are very low in tannins, these wines are not suitable for extended cellaring.
  
  
• Chaptalization: a winemaking process where sugar or concentrated grape sugar is added to the grape 'must' before the start of alcoholic fermentation. The aim is to increase the alcohol content of the wine. It is normally practised in wine regions where the grapes do not attain optimum ripeness, mostly due to a marginal climate. The appellation laws of most countries stipulate whether chaptalization is legal or not. It is also sometimes referred to as 'enrichment'.
  
  
• Charmat: a process of sparkling wine production which involves a secondary fermentation in pressurized stainless steel tanks, as opposed to the traditional method, where secondary fermentation takes place inside the bottle. Once the fermentation is over, the yeast is filtered out and the wine is bottled under pressure.
  The Charmat method is particularly useful for bulk sparkling wine production as the cost involved is significantly lower than the Champagne (traditional) method. It is known by various other names, such as Méthode Cuve Close, Tank Method and Metodo Charmat-Martinotti/Metodo Italiano.
  
  
• Climat: a broad term used in Burgundy for a particular vineyard site on the basis of its 'terroir'. It should not be confused with monopole, which is classified according to 'appellation laws', whereas climat is often used to indicate the prestige of a vineyard.
  
  
• Continental climate: a climate characterized by extreme variations in winter and summer temperatures. These wine regions tend to be in the interior regions of large continents – hence the name. A continental climate is responsible for marked vintage variations, i.e. notable differences in ripening patterns according to the weather conditions of a particular year.
  
  
• Cool climate viticulture: denotes the matching of grape varieties and vineyard operations with a region's cool climate. The aim is to ripen the grapes sufficiently for wine production. These regions are normally found at southern hemispheres. Some prominent regions include Germany, Switzerland, the Loire Valley, Champagne, Burgundy, the most southerly vineyards of Chile, and New Zealand. Cool-climate grape varieties include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chasselas and Gewürztraminer, among many others.
  
  Some vineyard sites at high 'altitudes' which do not receive enough sunlight due to fog or cloud cover, may also fall into this category.
  
  
• Cryoextraction: the process of artificially freezing the grapes in a sub-zero refrigeration unit before they are pressed, to obtain a concentrated juice high in sugars while leaving behind the frozen water content. It replicates the natural 'Ice Wine' process. The technique has been employed in sweet-wine-producing regions where grapes do not attain the required 'must weight' in less favorable vintages. Interestingly, the famous region of Sauternes has allowed this process since the late 1980s.

'D'

• Deacidification: a technique used in the winemaking process to reduce acidity levels in the grape juice or 'must'. This is primarily carried out to achieve wine that is overall, balanced and is mainly practiced in cool-climate (see above) wine regions where the natural acid levels in grapes tend to be high. Deacidification is also necessary in warmer regions when temperatures have been cooler than normal. It is important to keep in mind that this process, like many other winemaking techniques, will be subject to a particular country's wine laws.
  Deacidification is also carried out after alcoholic fermentation in the form of 'malolactic fermentation'.
  
  
• Disgorgement: a stage in the production of sparkling wines made in the 'methode traditionelle', whereby the 'lees' on which the wines have been aged are removed from the bottle necks. By immersing the inverted bottles into a freezing solution the lees solidify into a single pellet. When the seal is removed from the bottle, this pellet is ejected by the carbon dioxide created by the primary fermentation. The space created in the bottle by the ejected lees is then filled with a mixture of wine and sugars – a process known as 'dosage'.
  
  
• Diurnal temperature variation: the difference between the highest temperature of the day and the lowest temperature of the night. This variation in temperatures has a significant impact on a grape's ripening pattern, as the heat of the day ensures the accumulation of sugar and the drop in temperature at night preserves the natural acids. A greater variation also helps to concentrate the color and flavor compounds ('phenolics'). It is sometimes generically referred to as 'temperature variability'.
  
  
• DO: stands for Denominación de Origen. The term denotes the quality control regime used in Spain to identify quality wine-producing regions as specified by the local laws and regulations.
  
  
• Dosage: a term mostly used in the production of sparkling wines, referring to the process of topping up a bottle to adjust the sweetness level as well as the volume. This mixture usually consists of wine and sugar, but on rare occasions it can also include alcohol to 'lift' the alcoholic strength of the final product.