Savennieres (sah-ven-yehr)
Nestled in the Anjou area of the Loire Valley, this French town is famous for outstanding white wines made from Chenin Blanc grapes. In contrast to other wines of the Anjou area, Savennieres' wines are invariably dry.

Savigny-les-Beaune (sah-vee-n'yee leh bone)
In the north of the Cote de Beaune region in Burgundy, France, this small village produces an abundance of light, high quality, reasonably priced red wines.

Schloss (shloss)
Meaning "castle" in German, the term is used similarly to "chateau" in France, indicating a vineyard or estate on a wine label.

Schloss Johannisberg (shloss yo-hah'-niss berg)
Probably the most well-known German wine producing estate. Its heritage dates to the 12th century when an abbey on its grounds was dedicated to St. John the Baptist; thus, the estate became known as Johannisberg, meaning "John's Mountain". In the early 18th century, Schloss Johannisberg became the first vineyard to record planting Riesling grapes exclusively. In 1775, there was an accidental delay in the harvesting of the grapes and, as a result, the sweetening effect of the Botrytis Cinerea fungus on grapes was discovered. The term Spatlese, meaning "late harvest" was later used to describe wines purposely picked later to create the same effect.

Screwcaps
Screwcaps, as well as synthetic corks, are increasingly popular, modern alternatives to using the centuries old practice of bottling wine with cork. These alternatives are gaining in popularity due to several problems that exist with oak corks. First, there's the question of supply; the world's supply of cork oak trees isn't infinite and demand continues to increase, causing the price to increase as well. Second, oak cork contains trichloroanisole (TCA) and other chemicals that can cause a wine to become flawed with "corked" smells and flavors. A "corked" bottle is harmless, but aesthetically it can detract greatly from one's enjoyment of a wine. Estimates are that the problem occurs in approximately 5 percent of all bottles corked with oak. A 2007 study in Bordeaux discovered that compared to traditional and synthetic corks, screwcaps create a better seal against oxygen. This provides greater protection against damaging oxidization and theoretically should allow wines sealed with screwcaps to withstand longer periods of aging without spoiling.

Sec (France)
The French word for "dry," the term thus connotes a dry wine, which is the opposite of a sweet wine.

Secco (seck'-o) (Italy)
Italian for "dry", it's the equivalent of "sec" in French - wines without a perceptible amount of residual sugars.

Sediment
During the wine making process, tiny particulates fall to the bottom of the tank or barrel. The wine is then removed from this sediment by "racking", in which the wine is moved to a new container while leaving the sediment behind in the old one. Typically the wine is clear when bottled but occasionally particles remain and are commonly referred to as "clouds" or "haze". Over time, grainy deposits in the form of tannin and naturally occurring coloring compounds will sometimes precipitate out of a wine that was clear when bottled and settle at the bottom or the side of the bottle, depending on how it's been stored. This explains why a wine becomes less tannic and its color lightens with age. Decanting wine is useful not just for allowing it to breathe; it also provides an opportunity to separate the wine from the sediment so that the wine can be enjoyed and the sediment discarded.

Sekt (zekt)
The commonly used German name for their Qualitätschaumwein ("quality sparkling wine"). This is Germany's official category for sparkling wine, which is derived from a variety of grapes, including Riesling, Rulander, and Weisburgunder. Germany produces about 25 million cases per year. Sekt is also produced in Austria and the Czech Republic.

Semillon (seh-mee-yohn)
Prevalent in France's Bordeaux region, Semillon is a white wine varietal that's often found in a blend with Sauvignon Blanc, a unique combination responsible for the region's dry white wines and their famed sweet dessert wines from Sauternes. The grape is also abundant in the New World, particularly Australia, where it is the most important white grape varietal.

Seyval Blanc (say-val blahnc)
A French hybrid grape that's a cross between a native grape of North America and a classic European grape, it is resistant to cold weather. It's gained favor in England, Canada, and New York State where conditions for growing grapes can be less than ideal. It's responsible for many good dry and off dry wines, as well as some of Canada's renowned ice wines.

Sharp
A tasting term describing a wine in which the acids are too strong or quite unbalanced.

Sherry
One of the three most famous fortified wines (along with Madeira and Port), Sherry is produced near the Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera. A wide spectrum of colors, sweetness, flavors, and quality can be found in Sherry, but there are basically two types: Fino and Oloroso. The main things separating the two are a yeast called "flor" and the alcohol level. Flor is only found in Fino style wines, which must be lower in alcohol than Oloroso at 15.5% maximum. Oloroso wines can contain alcohol levels up to 18%. All sherry barrels leave about one-sixth of the space at the top empty, which allows the wine to oxidize. Oloroso sherries aren't covered by a protective layer of flor so the oxidation is even greater, creating a color that ranges from a dark golden to a dark brown. It also gives it a rich and distinctively nut-like and raisin-like character. Oloroso sherry undergoes more extensive aging and, not surprisingly, is generally more expensive than Fino.

Shiraz (shee-raz)
Shiraz is the name used in Australia for the Syrah varietal, and it is that nation's most important red wine grape. Syrah was a widely planted grape varietal in the southern areas of France by the Middle Ages and Australia's Shiraz can trace its heritage to France, via South Africa. Fortunately for the Old and New Wine Worlds, the vines left France for South Africa before the dual scourges of phylloxera and oidium in the late 1800's. As the French were recovering from the catastrophe, they chose new clones of the grape varietals they had planted before. So the Syrah that was taken to Australia from South Africa is actually from an older clone than what is planted today throughout the majority of the Rhone Valley of France. The possibility that Australian Shiraz descends from a divergent clone may validate its different name.