;C.A. : Abbreviation seen on
Spanish wine labels meaning
Cooperativa Agrícola or local
co-operative. ;
Cane pruning : Cane pruning is when one or two canes from a vine's previous year's growth are cut back to six to fifteen buds which will be the coming growing season's grape producers. ;
Cantina :
Italian term for winery. ;Cantina Sociale : Italian term for a co-operative ;
Cap Classique :
South African wine term for a
sparkling wine made according to the
traditional method ;
Capsule : The plastic or foil that covers the
cork and part of the neck of a
wine bottle. ;
Carbonic maceration : Whole, uncrushed grapes are fermented in a sealed vat containing a layer of carbon dioxide. This results in fruity, soft and distinct red wines. These wines have little tannin and are immediately drinkable. This is the method used throughout France's Beaujolais region. ; Cascina : Italian term for a farmhouse or wine estate ; Cask :A wood barrel or storage vessel, often made from
oak, that is used in winemaking for fermentation and/or aging ; Casta : Portuguese term for a grape variety ; Caudalie : Unit of the persistence of the wine's finish in seconds. Derived from the word caudal (tail). A wine can have a caudalie of 8 or more seconds. ; Cava : Spanish term for a sparkling wine made according to the traditional method ;
Cave : See
wine cave ;Cellar door : The area of the winery where
point of sale purchases occur. This can be a tasting room or a separate sales area. ;
Cépage : French term for
grape variety. When it appears on a wine label it will usually refer to the varieties used to make the wine. ; Cerasuolo : Italian term for a cherry-pink colored wine ;
Chacha :Georgian term for grape marc and stalks – in Georgian,
chacha also refers to the spirits distilled thereof. ;
Chai :A wine shed, or other
storage place above ground, used for storing
casks, common in Bordeaux. Usually different types of wine are kept in separate sheds. The person in charge of vinification and ageing of all wine made at an estate, or the
chais of a
négociant, is titled a
Maître de Chai. The New World counterpart to the chai may be called the barrel hall. ;
Champagne flute : A piece of
stemware having a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl on top. ;
Chaptalization : The practice of adding sugar (from
sugar beets or
sugarcanes) to the grape
must prior to fermenting, to compensate for low sugar content/potential alcohol in the grapes. ;
Château : Generally a
winery in
Bordeaux, although the term is sometimes used for wineries in other parts of the world, such as the
Barossa Valley. ;Château Cardboard :
New Zealand term for inexpensive box wine. ;Chiaretto : Italian term for a very pale or light colored rosé ;
Clairet : A French term for a wine that falls between the range of a light red wine and a dark
rosé ;
Claret :
British name for
Bordeaux wine. Is also a
semi-generic term for a red wine in similar style to that of
Bordeaux. ; Classic : German classification category for dry wine ;Classico : An Italian term for the historical or "classic" center of a wine region — sometimes located in the heart of a DOC. ;
Cleanskin : In Australia, wine bottled without a commercial label, usually sold cheaply in bulk quantities. ;
Climat : French term for
Lieu-dit used in Burgundy for a single plot of land located within a vineyard that has its own name and demonstrated
terroir. ;
Clos : French term for what was historically a vineyard whose boundaries were delineated by a walled enclosure. Commonly associated with vineyards in the
Burgundy wine region such as the Grand Cru vineyard
Clos de Vougeot. ;
Coates Law of Maturity : A principle relating to the
aging ability of wine that states that a wine will remain at its peak (or optimal) drinking quality for as long as it took to reach the point of maturity. For example, if a wine is drinking at its peak at 1 year of age, it will continue drinking at its peak for another year. ; Colheita : Portuguese term for a harvest ;Commercial wine : A mass-produced wine aimed for a wide market of consumers made according to a set formula, year after year. These wines tend to emphasize broad appeal and easy drinkability rather than
terroir or craftsmanship. ;Commune :A small wine-growing region that surrounds a village ;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 :Additional alcohols and aldehydes present in wine apart from ethanol, also known as
fusel alcohols. ;Consorzio :Italian term for a trade organization of wine producers. Often members of individual consorzio will have their wines packaged with a specific neck label that identifies their membership in the consorzio. ;
Cooperative :Winemaking organization that is jointly owned by a number of growers who pool their resources and vineyards to produce wine under one label ;
Cordon training : A method of
vine training. Unlike
cane pruning where the trunk itself is the only permanent, inflexible piece of the vine, cordon trained vines have one or two woody arms extending from the top of the trunk. These are then spur pruned. ;
Corkscrew : A tool, comprising a pointed metallic
helix attached to a handle, for drawing
Corks from bottles. ;Côtes : French term for the hillside or slopes of one contiguous hill region. ;Coteaux : French term for the hillside or slopes of a hill region that is not contiguous. ;
Country wine : A quality level intermediate between
table wine and
quality wine, which in France is known as
vin de pays and in Italy as
Indicazione Geografica Tipica (
IGT) . Also a synonym for
Fruit wine. ;
Crémant : French sparkling wine not made in Champagne region. ;Crianza : Spanish aging designation. For red wines a wine needs to be aged at least 6 months in oak (in
Rioja and
Ribera del Duero it is 12 months in oak) and a total of 24 months before release. For Spanish whites there is no minimum oak aging but a Crianza designated wines needs to be kept at the winery for at least 18 months after harvest before being released to the market ;
Cru : A French term that literally means "growth". May refer to a vineyard or a winery. ; Cru Artisan : Bordeaux estate classification below that of Cru Bourgeois ;
Cru Bourgeois : A classification of
Bordeaux wine estates in the
Medoc that were not part of the originally
1855 Bordeaux classification. ;Cru Classé : A French term for an officially classified vineyard or winery. ;C.S. : An Italian abbreviation for
Cantina Sociale that appears on wine labels denoting that the wine has been made by a local cooperative. ;
Cult wines : Wines for which committed buyers will pay large sums of money because of their desirability and rarity. ;
Cuvaison : The French term for the period of time during
alcoholic fermentation when the wine is in contact with the solid matter such as skin, pips, stalks, in order to extract colour, flavour and
tannin. See also
maceration. ;
Cuvée : French term, meaning vat or tank. On wine labels it is used to denote wine of a specific blend or batch. ;Cuverie : French term, along with
cuvier that refers to the building or room where fermentation takes place. Essentially, the room, building, grange, barn, garage or shed, or other building, used for "making wine." When the grapes are first picked, they arrive at the cuverie. ;C.V. : Abbreviation for the French term
Coopérative de Vignerons that may appear on wine labels to denote that the wine has been made by a local cooperative. ==D==