General Wine Glossary
Please note: due to the nature of this entry it will be constantly expanded as needed. Feel free to visit often.
AOC – Appellation d’origine contrôlée, which translates as “controlled designation of origin”, is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products. The French base these areas on the concept of terroir. They can loosely be used as the equivalent to the AVA of the U.S. but with much more detail and definition regarding not only the geographical area but what grapes can be grown % range of Alcohol allowed vineyard practices and many more tightly defined criteria.
AVA – American Viticultural Area is a U.S system used to designate areas with wines of a similar style and character based on geographical area.
Hectare – unit of area equal to 10,000 square meters and primarily used in the measurement of land. An acre is about 0.4047 hectare and one hectare contains about 2.47 acres.
Terroir – Terroir can be very loosely translated as “a sense of place,” which is embodied in certain characteristic qualities, the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the production of the product. Terroir is a French loanword.