Glossary of Wine Terms - E

E

Eau-de-Vie

French term for a grape-derived spirit such as brandy. Its literal translation is "water of life"

Edelfäule

German term for noble rot

Edelkeur

South African term for noble rot.

Egrappage

The French term for destemming. Destemming is removing stems prior to pressing and fermenting the grapes and their juice. Stems have a significant amount of coarse and often green tannin undesirable in the finished wine.

Einzellage

The smallest geographical unit in German wine law representing a single vineyard.

Eiswein

German for ice wine, a dessert wine made from frozen grapes.

Élevé en fûts de chêne

French phrase that may appear on wine labels to denote that the wine has been aged in oak barrels.

Élevage

French term for the historical role that negociants play in the winemaking process-roughly translating as "bringing up" or "raising" the wine. Traditionally negociants would buy ready made wines after fermentation, blend and then store the wine before bringing them to the market.

En primeur

A system commonly associated with Bordeaux wine where the previous year's harvest is available for contract sales several months before the wine will be bottled and release.

Encépagement

French term for the proportion of grape varieties used in a blend.

Entry-level wine

The wine from a producer's portfolio that is the lowest cost for purchase and offers the most basic quality.

Estate winery

A United States winery license allowing farms to produce and sell wine on-site, sometimes known as a farm winery.

EU lot number

A European Union directive initiated in 1992 that mandates every bottle of wine produced or sold in the European Union to include a designated lot number. This allows identified defective or fraudulent wine to be tracked and removed from circulation more efficiently.

Ex-cellars

Refers to the extra cost associated with buying wines en primeur that may include the cost of shipping to the importer's cellars as well applicable duties and taxes.