Blanc de Blancs
Meaning "white from white" in French, this term denotes white wines made exclusively from white grapes. The phrase originated in Champagne country to describe wine made entirely from the Chardonnay varietal. Traditionally, Champagne is made via a blend of white Chardonnay grapes and red Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes.

Blanc de Noirs
In French, the phrase means "white from black" and denotes white wines made entirely from red (black) grapes, usually Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. The phrase is used mainly to describe Champagne and sparkling wines.

Blanco (Spain)
White (wines).

Blending
Science and chemistry are important to the final blend of a wine but, ultimately, wine-making is an art and the winemaker's gift for tasting determines the final proportions. The winemaker adds a bit of this, and a bit more of that, until the end result equals that winemaker's ideal of perfection.

Blending can be done in a few ways:

• Some wines are blends of the same color grapes. In the case of red Bordeaux, for instance, a winemaker uses any combination of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, or Petit Verdot grapes depending on what characteristics of those varietals the maker is seeking for the wine.
• Some wines are made by blending red and white grapes together. Chianti, Cote Rotie, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and Champagne come to mind. Rosé Champagne often owes its pink color to the red Pinot Noir grapes that were added to the blend.

Wines that have been made separately, called "lots", are sometimes blended together so even wines made from just one variety of grape can be blended. Winemakers may make different lots simply because they have too many grapes to fit into a single barrel or tank. They may then blend the lots together for convenience or for consistency.

Blind Tasting
A method designed to insure impartial judgment of a wine by tasting it without knowing what it is. The idea is to remove all preconceptions and prejudices from the mind of the judge(s) so that the wine can be evaluated solely on its quality.

Blush
"Blush" is a registered trademark describing rosé wines. They are most commonly made by preventing the skins from staying in prolonged contact with the juice, so only a pink hue is imparted into the wine. White Zinfandel, a blush wine popular in the U.S., uses the descriptive word "white" in front of the name of the red grape that provides its slightly pink color.

Bodega (boh-day'-gah)
Spanish for "warehouse" especially when used for the storage of wine. It has come to mean a winery or an above ground facility for storing wine.

Body
A tasting term referring to "mouth feel" - how weighty a wine feels in the mouth. A light-bodied wine would feel less heavy and have flavors that are less concentrated while a full-bodied wine would feel heavier and definitely be more concentrated. If a wine feels similar to the way water feels in your mouth, it's light-bodied. If it feels similar to whole milk, it's full-bodied.

Bordeaux (bore-doe)
Bordeaux is one of France's largest cities as well as one of the leading wine regions in the world; it is dotted with over 7,000 chateaux in the area. The term is also used to refer to the wines made in the region. More than 215,000 acres of vineyards grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes for the red wines and Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes for their whites, producing some 35 million cases of wine every year. Bordeaux wines are some of the finest in the world with both wines and wineries garnering critical accolades: Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Margaux, and Chateau Petrus, among them. Some much heralded areas within Bordeaux include Pomerol, Medoc, St. Emilion, and Sauternes where France's most renowned dessert wine is produced.

Botrytis Cinerea (bo-trie'-tiss sin-eh-ray'-ah)
A mold that contributes to the production of many of the greatest dessert wines in the world. The mold removes the water from grapes by creating tiny lesions in the grape skins. As a result, the fruit has a much higher ratio of sugar to water thereby creating sweet wines. The French appreciatively call the mold Pourriture Noble - or "noble rot". But the same Botrytis mold is unwelcome when it attacks grapes earmarked for dry wines. Then the pesky mold is called "gray rot."

Bouquet
A tasting term describing the complex aromas that better wines develop as they age. Young wines indeed have aroma, but not the complexity of aromas called bouquet.

Bourgeuil (boor-guh'y)
A town located in the Loire Valley of France known for its historic towns and villages, its many chateaux and its fine wines, including Bourgeuil, a red wine made in the region from the Cabernet Franc varietal.

Bourgogne (boor-gon'-yah)
The French term for Burgundy, a wine producing region in east central France. The fertile Yonne and Saone river valleys are in the heart of the region. Their wines, especially those of the celebrated Cote d'Or ("Golden Slope"), are among the world's most distinguished. Red Bourgognes are produced using Pinot Noir grapes while Chardonnay grapes are used to produce white Bourgognes.

Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains (boor-gon'-yah pahss too gran)
A red wine from the south of Burgundy made from Pinot Noir and Gamay grapes. A winemaker must use at least 33% Pinot Noir grapes to create the blend which is rarely exported to the U.S.

Branco (Portugal)
White in Portuguese.

Brut
A term designating dry Champagne or sparkling white wine - as opposed to a sweet (sec) or semi-sweet one (semi-sec).

Buttery
A term used when tasting to describe a smooth texture and deep flavor. Think of the feel and flavor of butter at room temperature. It's generally used to describe white wines that are aged in oak such as Chardonnay and white Burgundy.