The foundation

The Canon

In the Canon we define the terms our work rests on — from drinking maturity through ageing in the cellar to what the senses find in the glass. Each definition is kept short and is meant as a fixed setting, one we refer back to in the cellar, in conversation and in our texts.

This is our reference space for terms. Anyone who would like to read the thinking behind them at greater length will find it in the Contexts and in the Journal.

279 terms in the Canon

Too young wine Decanting Open bottle Sulfites When to drink Bordeaux Drinking maturity Drinking window Maturity vs. Age Ageing potential Maturity plateau Cellar conditions Closure & Maturation structure integration Finish En Primeur Model Early marketing Released ready to drink Market logic vs. maturity Transparency in viticulture Second Wine / Selection Left vs. Right Bank Bordeaux vs. Burgundy Decision models Good decisions Fish Pairing Cheese Pairing Gift Serving temperature Glass selection Modern style Pressed wine Cork taste Vintage depth Blind tasting Point systems Vegan wine Modern Bordeaux Menu order Lees ageing (Sur Lie)Racking (Soutirage)Filtration in wine Cloudiness in the wine Bottling as a critical moment Minerality in wine Old Vines (Vieilles Vignes)Monoculture vs. Polyculture Drought stress in the vineyard Rootstocks & Grafting microclimate in the plot Terroir as a system Tannin quality from the vineyard Water balance in the soil Vertical vs. horizontal tasting Sustainability in viticulture Transparency in wine Collector's value of wine En primeur Second Wine Why wine tastes bitter Style in wine Why wine tastes sharp Why wine has an astringent effect Umami and wine Fat and wine Acid and food Spicy food and wine Vegetarian pairings Glass and wine Clones vs. Mass Selection Appellation logic Ageing vessels Low Intervention Malolactic fermentation Fining Spontaneous fermentation Balance Biodiversity as a ripeness buffer Oxidation in wine Style as a decision Intensity vs. Integration Reduction in wine Climate change and maturity Phenolic ripeness Ecological resilience Plot selection Precision Texture Accessibility Bottle ageing Bottle variation Storage conditions Oxidative bottle ageing Reduction vs. closed phase Reduction propensity Reductive bottle ageing Ageing curve You can taste terroir directly Terroir expression vs. origin Ageing aromas Ageing stability Aroma precision Decision error Decision bias Decision-based viticulture Asynchrony of ripening Biodiversity Decision window Decision logic Decision quality Decision timing Fault vs. style Origin term High alcohol and ripeness Harvest timing Maceration time Oxidation and maturation Physiological ripeness Precision vs. neutrality Precision viticulture Vine age Ripeness vs. overripeness Ripening axes Maturity decision Maturation potential Ripening moment Spontaneous microbiology Structure & power Structural axes Tannin ripeness Sugar ripeness Time factor Astringency Alcohol content Alcoholic fermentation Alcohol perception Old vines = better quality Bud load Anthocyanins Malic acid Aromatics Aroma intensity Aroma complexity Aromatic persistence Autolysis Soil profile Soil compaction Cover cropping Bâtonnage Binding forms of SO₂ Bitterness Bottle shock Brettanomyces Dissolved oxygen Ex-Cellar price Aspect Extract Color intensity Color stability Barrel aging Destemming Yield regulation Acetic acid bacteria Elegance Elegance & lightness Fault tolerance Filtration destroys wine Bottle life Bottle spread Volatile acidity Free sulfur Freshness Freshness & acidity Fermentation management Fermentation kinetics Stuck fermentation Fermentation temperature Whole-cluster fermentation Whole-cluster pressing Total sulfur Total acidity Flavor length Haptic perception Yeast nutrients Yeast strains Yeast lees Oak & complexity Ionic strength Cold stabilisation Potassium uptake Seed tannins Classification systems Colloidal stability Colloidal interactions Complexity & layering Concentration Concentration vs. density Cork contact Critic scores Critic points & quality Length Length vs. echo Canopy work Market logic Market price Market transparency Mesoclimate Micro-oxygenation Lactic acid bacteria Minerality as substance Minerality vs. salinity Molecular sulfur pH value pH buffer Phenol-protein interaction Phenolic management Planting density Mouthfeel Naturalness vs. untreated Low yield = high pleasure Oxidation susceptibility Oxidative aroma compounds Polymerisation Primary aromas Primary market Protein binding Protein haze Provenance Process control Buffer capacity Quality in wine Vine pruning Redox balance Redox potential Reductive aroma compounds Cultured yeasts Retronasal perception Reference prices Risk in viticulture Cleanliness vs. sterility Oxygen affinity Oxygen ingress Oxygen transmission Skin phenols Sulfur dioxide Secondary aromas Secondary market Tension Tension vs. hardness Spontaneous fermentation & naturalness Stability Stability model Stabilisation vs. manipulation Stability vs. expression Nitrogen supply Nitrogen assimilation Sweetness perception Tartrate precipitation Tartrate stability Temperature perception Tertiary aromas Perception dynamics Water stress Tartaric acid Tartrate crystals Low sulfur Own-rooted Intervention depth Intervention density Intervention limit Trade-off Reversible intervention Additive and subtractive Allocation Négociant & Place de Bordeaux Limestone Drinkability Depth of declaration Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux