Champagne and Sparkling Wine
Glossary M
Maceration
The period in the vinification process involving extraction of color and other phenolics (tannins, flavor compounds, etc.) from the grape skins while they are in contact with the grape juice and fermenting wine. Winemakers may extend the maceration after the fermentation ends for additional extraction.
Magnum
A large bottle containing the equivalent of 2 standard bottles (1.5 Liters).
Malolactic fermentation
The process occurring after primary fermentation where strong malic (green apple like) acids are converted to softer lactic (milk like) acids. It is not an actual fermentation but a conversion brought on by the introduction of lactic acid bacteria.
Methode Champenoise
The traditional method of sparkling wine production indicating fully fermented still wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the same bottle in which it will be marketed and that the secondary fermentation was brought about by the addition of a mixture of yeast and sugar after the primary fermentation of the still wine was completed. In the European Union, the term ‘methode champenoise’ is not allowed to be used on any wine label except champagne. (French)
Mid palate
The middle top portion of the tongue.
Millésime
Vintage year/wine. (French)
Minerality
difficult term to explain, minerality is used to describe inorganic characteristics experienced on the palate and/or nose. It is often described as the taste of wet rocks, rain in the forest or on concrete, the smell and taste of the ocean, salinity, flintiness, etc. Wine may sometimes reflect minerals present in vineyard soils.
Mousse
Effervescence or ‘fizziness’ in sparkling wine. (French)
Muselet
The wire cage or muzzle holding the cork in place on a bottle of champagne (French).
Mytik - See Daim Mytik
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