B
- Back-Blend
- Blending unfermented, fresh grape juice into a fully fermented wine in order to add sweetness. Synonymous with the German winemaking technique Sussreserve.
- Barrel fermented
- A wine fermented in oak barrels as opposed to stainless steel or concrete. Traditional with white Burgundies, some Chardonnays and some Champagne.
- Baumé
- A measure of the sugar concentration in the juice or wine.
- Beeswing
- A light sediment, chiefly mucilage, found in Port.
- Bentonite
- A type of clay used in wine as a clarifying agent.
- Blanc de Blancs
- A white wine, usually sparkling, made exclusively from white grapes, often Chardonnay.
- Blanc de Noirs
- A white wine, usually sparkling, made from red grapes.
- Blending
- The mixing of two or more different parcels of wine together by winemakers to produce a consistent finished wine that is ready for bottling. Laws generally dictate what wines can be blended together, and what is subsequently printed on the wine label.
- Blush wine
- A pale, pinkish color wine. It may refer to a sweet rosé such as White Zinfandel.
- Botrytized grapes
- Grapes that have been rotted by botrytis cinerea.
- Bottle Age
- The length of time that wine has been allowed to age and mature in bottle.
- Bottle shock
- Also known as bottle-sickness, a temporary condition of wine characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are shaken in travel. After several days the condition usually disappears.
- Bottle variation
- The degree to which bottled wine of the same style and vintage can vary.
- Box wine
- Wine packaged in a bag usually made of flexible plastic and protected by a box, usually made of cardboard. The bag is sealed by a simple plastic tap.
- Brettanomyces
- A wine spoilage yeast that produces taints in wine commonly described as barnyard or band-aids.
- Brix
- A measurement of the dissolved sucrose level in a wine.
- Brut
- A French term for a very dry champagne or sparkling wine. Drier than extra dry.
- Bung
- A stopper used to seal a bottle or barrel. Commonly used term for corks.
- Burnt wine
- Another name for Brandy, a liquor made from distilled wine. It is often the source of additional alcohol in fortified wines.
- Butt
- An old English unit of wine casks, equivalent to about 477 litres (126 US gallons/105 imperial gallons).
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of Winemaking Terms