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Wine Glossary: D

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Débourbage (France)
The process of allowing white wine must to settle prior to racking off the wine, thereby reducing the need for fining or filtration.

Dégorgement (France)
Part of the process of making sparkling wine. At this stage the bottle is opened after the neck has been frozen. Out flies a plug of frozen wine, containing the dead yeast from the second fermentation which occurs in bottle. The wine is then topped up - dosage - and resealed. The entire process is explained here: Méthode Champenoise.

Demi-Sec (France)
Medium-dry.

Denominación de Origen (Spain)
A high quality level for Spanish wine. Often abbreviated to DO. The equivalent of the French appellation contrôlée.

Denominação de Origem Controlada (Portugal)
A high quality level for Portuguese wine. Often abbreviated to DOC. The equivalent of the French appellation contrôlée.

Denominación de Origen Calificada (Spain)
The highest quality level for Spanish wine. Often abbreviated to DOC. Rather similar to Italy's DOCG.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata (Italy)
A high quality level for Italian wine. Often abbreviated to DOC. The equivalent of the French appellation contrôlée.

Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (Italy)
The highest quality level for Italian wine. Often abbreviated to DOCG. Only a handful of wines have been promoted to this level. They include Chianti, Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Carmignano.

Destemming
The process of removing the stems/stalks from the grape bunches before fermentation. Unripe stems will result in a green, unripe taste in the wine.

Dolce (Italy)
Sweet.

Domaine (France)
A wine estate.

Dosage (France)
When making a sparkling wine, after dégorgement the wine can be topped up with sugar and wine to reach the desired level of sweetness and flavour. This is dosage. The entire process is documented here: Methode Champenoise.

Double magnum
A large format Bordeaux bottle, equivalent to four standard bottles. In Burgundy and Champagne this size is called a Jeroboam. See my advisory page on wine bottle sizes for more information.

Doux (France)
Sweet.

Downy mildew
A common vine disease favoured by warm, humid conditions. It results in unhealthy leaves and shrivelled fruit. May be controlled with the use of Bordeaux mixture.

Dry
A tasting term. Essentially this is the opposite of sweet, although a wine that tastes dry still contains sugar, perhaps just a few grams per litre. The term 'dry' can also be used to describe the tannins or mouthfeel, when it refers to the dry, puckering sensation the wine imparts.

Dulce (Spain)
Sweet.

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