Glossary of Tasting Wine(N-P)

Nose: Tasting term used to indicate the aroma and bouquet of a wine.

Nouveau: Light, fruity red wine bottled and sold as soon as possible after fermentation, meant to be drunk up quickly. Applies mostly to Beaujolais.

Nutty: Used to describe oxidized wines. Often a flaw, but when it's close to an oaky flavor it can be a plus. 

Oaky: Tasting term indicating the presence of oak flavour on the nose or palate, typically a smell of freshly sawn wood, or vanilla. Well-integrated oak may not be detectable, giving added complexity without dominating the flavour. Excessive oakiness is considered a fault by many wine lovers.

Off-Dry: Indicates a slightly sweet wine in which sugar is barely perceptible; usually contains 0.6 percent to 1.4 percent residual sugar.

Oxidized: Tasting term indicating that the wine has suffered from contact with air, resulting in browning in white wines, loss of fruit and freshness, and possibly a high level of volatile acidity.

Palate: Tasting term used to indicate the range of sensations detected in the mouth (rather than on the nose). Also, a competent taster may be said to have a good palate. 

Pasty, doughy: Term applied to some very heavily colored wines rich in dry extract.

Peak: Technically speaking, the period of time that a wine is at its most complex, having developed bottle bouquet without yet diminishing or fading.

Perfumed: Tasting term used to describe an attractive, delicate floral or fruity aroma.

Petrolly: Tasting term used to describe an oily smell which is typical of fine, aged Riesling.

Pharmaceutical taste: Unpleasant taste sometimes acquired by wines stored near odoriferous chemicals. 

Phenolics: Tannins, color pigments and flavor compounds originating in the skins, seeds and stems of grapes. Phenolics, which are antioxidants, are more prevalent in red wines than in whites.

Plateau: The time during which a wine is at its peak. 

Potent: Intense and powerful.

Pricked: Term applied to wines spoiled by acetic acid bacteria.

Pruny: Having the flavor of overripe, dried-out grapes. Can add complexity in the right dose.

Puckery: Describes highly tannic and very dry wines.

Pungent: Having a powerful, assertive smell linked to a high level of volatile acidity.

Putrid: Term applied to a wine having a foul nauseating odour of organic decomposition.