;Cap: The layer of grape skins that are forced by rising
carbon dioxide gas to the top of the fermentation vessel during
cuvaison. ;Carbonic acid: Carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the water content of wine. It is a
volatile acid that held in
equilibrium with the dissolved carbon dioxide gas and can not be isolated in a pure form. ;Carbonic gas: A natural by product of the fermentation process in which yeast cells convert
sugar into nearly equal parts alcohol and carbonic gas. While a small amount stays presence in the wine as carbonic acid, most of the gas will rise to the surface of the fermentation vessel and attempt to escape into the air. If the fermentation vessel is closed (such as a sealed
wine bottle used to make
sparkling wine), the gas will dissolve into the wine and when released will make the wine sparkling. ;Carbonic maceration: A winemaking practice of fermenting whole grapes that have not been crushed. This intracellular fermentation (as opposed to the traditional extracellular fermentation of wine yeast) tends to produce fruity, deeply colored red wines with low tannins. ;Casein: A
fining agent derived from a
milk protein. ;Cask: A wood barrel or storage vessel, often made from
oak, that is used in winemaking for fermentation and/or aging. ;Cask-strength: A term sometimes seen in Cognac production (but more often associated with grain spirits) to denote a Cognac that has not been watered down to reduce its alcohol level. Like whiskeys these Cognacs will usually be unfiltered and with a high
alcohol proof over 40% ABV. ;Casse: An unwanted haze in wine caused by various unstable compounds (such as proteins or excess copper from previous finings) that can develop into a wine fault if not corrected before bottling. ;Charmat method : Sparkling wine production method where the
secondary fermentation takes place in a tank as opposed to the
traditional method where it takes place in the individual wine bottle that the consumer eventually purchases. ;Chauffe-vin: An optional attachment to the Cognac still that heats the wine prior to the first distillation. ;
Cellaring:To age wine for the purpose of improvement or
storage. ;Centrifugal force filtration: The process of separating unwanted particles (such as dead yeast cells or fining agents) from the wine by use of centrifugal force. ;Ceramic filtration : A filtration process of the wine that utilizes
perlite and is able to fine the wine to an ultrafine degree. ;
Chaptalization : A
winemaking process where sugar is added to the
must to increase the alcohol content in the fermented wine. This is often done when grapes have not ripened adequately. ;Charmat process : The Charmat or
bulk process is a method where
sparkling wines receive their
secondary fermentation in large tanks, rather than individual bottles as seen in
Méthode champenoise. ;Clarification: A
winemaking process involving the
fining and
filtration of wine to remove suspended solids and reduce
turbidity. ;Col de cygnet :The swan's neck shaped portion of a
pot still used in Cognac production that transports the vapors from the pot to the
condenser. ;
Cold stabilization: A
winemaking process where wine is chilled to near freezing temperatures for several weeks to encourage the
precipitation of
tartrate crystals. ;Compte :Classification system used in the
Armagnac and
Cognac region based on the age of the spirit ranging from 00 for a newly distilled spirit to 2 for a VS ("Very Special"), 4 for a VSOP Reserve, 6 for a Napoleon XO (extra old) and 10 for the longest aged XO. Congeners that are produced throughout the winemaking process from fermentation through maturation and even distillation for spirits such as a Cognac. These compounds include
aldehydes,
esters and
ketones which can influence the
aroma and flavor of wine. ;Cork: A
wine bottle stopper made from the thick outer bark of the
cork oak tree. ;Cork taint: A type of
wine fault describing undesirable aromas and flavors in wine often attributed to
mold growth on
chlorine bleached
corks. ;Coupage: A custom of "enormous antiquity" of mixing a little good wine with much bad wine and calling it good. "The result of this operation is that the best qualities of the good are destroyed without a trace." ;Courbe de fermentation: French term for plotting the temperature and must density/sugar levels of an individual vat or tank of fermenting must to track its progress from the initiation of fermentation to dryness. ;Crossflow filtration: A highspeed form of
microfiltration that has the wine flow across a membrane filter rather than through it. ;Crown-cap: A
beer bottle cap used as a temporary closure for a sparkling wine as it undergoes a
secondary fermentation. ;Crush: After
harvest, and prior to pressing, grape are "crushed" or broken up so that the juice is released and allowed to
macerate with the skins prior to and during fermentation. In
viticultural terms, "Crush" is used as a synonym for harvest time. ;Cryoextraction: A mechanical means of concentrating the grape must (and such increasing sugar concentration) by chilling the must until its water content freezes into ice crystals that are then removed. This production method is used to make so called "ice box wines" in a style similar to
ice wines which are produced by the grapes naturally freezing on the vine before harvest. ;Cut: A blending term used to refer to either blending a wine with one distinct characteristic (such as high acidity) into a wine that currently dominated by the opposite characteristic (such as low acidity). It can also mean blending a red wine with a white wine in order to make a rosé. Cutting may also refer to the illegal practice of diluting a wine with water. The French term
tailles or "cut" refers to the point during pressing when the quality of the grape juices degrades. The first
tailles is the
free-run juice followed by successive pressing. ;Cuve: A large vat used for fermentation. ;Cuve Close: Alternative name for the
Charmat method of
sparkling wine production. ;Cuvée: A wine blended from several vats or batches, or from a selected vat. Also used in Champagne to denote the juice from the first pressing of a batch of grapes. ==D==