Please click here for the updated glossary (March 21, 2019).
Over the weekend, reader Enzo commented on my Italian-English wine glossary:
“Please add ‘scheletro’ in there. The most sensible translation I found is ‘rock fragments.’ Thank you for your work.”
Thank you, Enzo, for the nudge!
The Italian term scheletro (akin to the English skeleton) denotes soil texture composed of grains that are greater than 2 mm in diameter.
According to the Wentworth scale (the standard in modern granulometry), soil texture with grains between 2-4 mm in diameter is classified as “very fine gravel.”
For Italian readers, see the Italian Wikipedia entry for Tessitura (terreno) here.
Readers may wonder why it’s called scheletro or skeleton in Italian.
The word skeleton comes from the Greek σκελετός (skeletos) meaning dried up or arid. Fine gravel is a great soil type for fine wine growing because it doesn’t retain water.
Here’s the complete glossary, updated. I hope you find it useful. Thanks, as always, to wine writer and vineyard consultant Maurizio Gily for his invaluable contributions.
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
| a giropoggio | vines planted across a slope (along the contour of the slope; compare with a ritocchino) |
| a ritocchino | vines planted up and down a slope (from peak to valley, as it were; compare with a giropoggio) |
| acciaio [inossidabile] | stainless-steel [vat/tank] |
| acinellatura | millerandage [alt.: shot berries, hens and chicks, or pumpkins and peas] |
| affinamento | aging |
| alberello | head-trained bush vines |
| allegagione | fruit set |
| allevamento | training |
| argilla | clay |
| arresto di fermentazione | stuck fermentation |
| assemblaggio | blend |
| azoto | nitrogen |
| barbatella | rooted cutting |
| barrique | barrique [small French oak cask] |
| bâtonnage | stirring on the lees |
| biodinamica | biodynamics/biodynamic |
| biologico | organic |
| botte | traditional large cask |
| bucce | skins |
| Cabernet [Sauvignon] | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Cabernet Franc | Cabernet Franc |
| calcare/calcareo | limestone/calcareous [limestone-rich] |
| capo a frutto | fruit cane |
| cappello sommerso | submerged cap maceration |
| chioma | canopy |
| cordone | cordon |
| cordone speronato | cordon-trained spur-pruned [vines] |
| cru | vineyard designation/single vineyard |
| cuvée | blend |
| délestage | rack and return |
| diraspare/diraspatrice | de-stem/de-stemmer |
| diradamento | pruning/thinning grapes/dropping fruit |
| diserbante termico | weed torch/weed flamer |
| DOC | DOC [designation of controlled origin] |
| DOCG | DOCG [designation of controlled and guaranteed origin] |
| DOP | PDO [Protected Designation of Origin] |
| doppio capovolto | double-arched cane [training] |
| drenaggio | drainage |
| esca | esca [alt.: black dead arm or black measles] |
| escursione termica | [diurnal] temperature variation |
| fermentazione arrestata | stuck fermentation |
| femminella | lateral shoot |
| flavescenza dorata | grapevine yellows (flavescence dorée) |
| follatura | punching down |
| galestro | galestro [a marl- and limestone-rich subsoil unique to Tuscany] |
| giropoggio | vines planted across a slope (along the contour of the slope; compare with a ritocchino) |
| grappa | grappa |
| grappolo | cluster/bunch |
| grappolo spargolo | loosely clustered grape bunch |
| Guyot | Guyot |
| IGP | PGI [Protected Geographical Indication] |
| IGT | IGT [typical geographical indication] |
| leccio | holm oak |
| lievito naturale | native/ambient/indigenous/wild yeast |
| lievito selezionato | cultured yeast |
| limo | silt |
| macchia mediterranea | Mediterranean maquis [shrubland] |
| maestrale (vento di maestrale) | north-westerly wind |
| malolattica | malolactic fermentation |
| marna/marne | marl |
| monovitigno | single-grape variety [wine] |
| mosto | must |
| oidio | oidium [powdery mildew] |
| pedicello | pedicel |
| peduncolo | stem (peduncle) |
| peronospora | peronospora [downy mildew] |
| pied de cuve | pied de cuve [native yeast starter] |
| pigiatura | crush/crushing |
| pirodiserbatore | weed torch/weed flamer |
| pirodiserbo | weed torching |
| portinnesto | rootstock |
| pressa | press |
| pressare | to press |
| quercia | oak |
| rachide | rachis |
| raspo | stem |
| rimontaggio | pumping over |
| ritocchino | vines planted up and down a slope (from peak to valley, as it were; compare with a giropoggio) |
| sabbia/sabbioso | sand/sandy [sandy soil] |
| Sauvignon [Blanc] | Sauvignon Blanc |
| scacchiatura | shoot-thinning and disbudding |
| scheletro | very fine gravel |
| siccità | drought/drought conditions |
| sistema di allevamento | training/trellis system |
| sottosuolo | subsoil |
| sovescio | cover crop/green manure |
| spargolo (grappolo spargolo) | loosely clustered (grape bunch) |
| sperone | spur |
| spollonatura | disbudding and suckering |
| stralciatura | shoot-thinning |
| stress idrico | hydric stress |
| sulle bucce | skin contact [macerated on the skins] |
| sulle fecce nobili | lees aged [aged on its lees] |
| sur lie | lees aged [aged on its lees] |
| svinatura | racking (devatting, drawing off) |
| terreno/terreni | soil |
| tignola della vite | vine moth [Eupoecilia ambiguella] |
| tralcio | shoot/cane |
| tramoggia | hopper/feeder |
| tufo | tufaceous subsoil [porous limestone] |
| vasca | vat/tank |
| vento di maestrale | north-westerly wind |
| vigna/vigne | vine/vineyards |
| vigneto | vineyard |
| vinaccia/vinacce | pomace |
| vite | vine |
| vitigno | grape variety |
Image via Wikipedia.
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Interesting content! Will keep an eye on it. :)