Backbone

Wine description regarding wine structure; see under structure.

Term (also architecture, skeleton, framework; backbone, skeleton) for the overall picture of a wine in the context of a wine assessment or wine evaluation. The structure describes the interplay of all relevant ingredients and sensory components and determines how a wine is built and how it behaves on the palate. Whether this structure is perceived as balanced or harmonious is a question of the integration and evaluation of the individual components. This interplay characterises and determines the quality of the wine. The impressions are perceived olfactorily (odour), gustatorily (taste) and also trigeminally (sense of touch).

Total extract

The term total extract (dry extract) refers to the substances that remain after evaporation of the aqueous-alcoholic portion. The total of all minerals and trace elements forms the ash, the quantity of all acids the total acidity, and the quantity of all sugars the residual sugar.

Extract

The term extract refers to a part of the total extract. It is the sum of the non-volatile ingredients that contribute significantly to the body, density and flavour intensity of the wine.

Substance groups

The structure is created by the interaction of all the substances contained in the wine. However, they have different potencies, which is why they can be categorised into two main groups:

Flavouring substances

The groups of substances listed below mainly determine the aroma and style of the wine, i.e. how the wine smells and tastes. The individual substances can support, reinforce or, if combined unfavourably, paralyse (weaken) each other. Ideally, they merge into an inner structure and give the wine its character. A structurally convincing wine shows a clearly defined,...

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