Spice / Spicy
A descriptor for wines with an energetic spiciness to their aromas and flavors. It's a catch-all term which could refer to any one of many spices - cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, mace, allspice, and white and black pepper among them. A spicy characteristic can sometimes come from the wine contacting newer oak barrels during aging, but it is more likely to be attributed to the varietal. Gewurztraminer is a grape with a prominent spicy quality, for example.

Split
A bottle of wine that is one-quarter the size of a standard bottle, most commonly encountered with Champagne.

Spritzer
A cold drink typically made with soda water and white wine, spritzers are a commonly requested drink at American bars. While some enophiles may consider it an offensive practice to adulterate wine with soda water, it's a custom that goes back centuries. In the hotter climes of both the New and Old Worlds, it's common to mix a little sparkling water into both white and red wine to create a cooling drink.

Spritzy
A description for wine with a slightly effervescent quality. In French this quality is known as perlant; in Italian it's frizzante.

Spumante / Spumanti (spoo-mahn'-teh / spoo-mahn'-tee)
The Italian term for "sparkling", Spumante (Spumanti is the plural form) refers to fully sparkling wines, whereas wines that offer just a slight effervescence are known as "Frizzante". Historically most sparkling wine in Italy has been produced via the transfer process, but thanks to French influence, increasing numbers are being produced via the Méthode Champenoise, or what the Italians call the "Metodo Classico". In the U.S., Asti Spumante is perhaps the most recognized Italian sparkler but Prosécco is gaining ground.

Steely
A wine tasting term used primarily to describe white wine that is dry and very crisp, with considerable levels of natural acidity. Sometimes this acidity leads to a metallic sensation on one's palate. A prime example of a wine that is often described as "steely" is Chablis, the renowned Burgundy Chardonnay. "Flinty" is often used to describe wines in a similar context.

Steen
The South African name for the Chenin Blanc varietal, which is a popular and widely grown varietal in that country.

Stemmy
A descriptor that's not complimentary. It is applied to wines with harsh, astringent, and bitter plant-like flavors. These "green" flavors are alternately referred to as "stalky", and typically originate from the juice being left in contact with the stems for too long of a period during the vinification process.

Still
Wines that contain no carbon dioxide; they are not effervescent or sparkling.

Strong
Wine tasting descriptor for a wine (usually red) that's big, robust, powerful, and generally high in alcohol.

Structure
The term describes the framework formed by all of a wine's components (alcohol, acid, fruit, tannin, and glycerin) and their proportion to each other.

Sturdy
Descriptor for wines that assert themselves with a full bodied delivery and offer bold, powerful, rich flavors.

Sulfites / Sulfur
Sulfites (also spelled "sulphites") are sulfur-based compounds, like sulfur dioxide, used in the vinification process. Recent years have seen much negative discussion of sulphites, which is unfortunate since they are an integral and valuable part of wine making. For instance, SO2 gas is sprayed on the grapevines to halt fungal growth. Sulfite compounds are also applied to wine barrels to destroy harmful bacteria. To prevent the wine from browning and to thwart the strains of undesirable wild yeast that are naturally on the grapes when they are harvested, sulphites are introduced to the juice before the fermenting process. During the production of certain sweet wines, they're employed to halt fermentation in order prevent the yeast from converting all the sugars into alcohol, which would make for a dry wine. Sulfur gives a large degree of control to the wine maker, and in most cases, the few wines produced completely without it tend to be poor in quality.
However, there are legal limits to the amount of sulphites that are allowed in wine. The effects of too much sulfur in wine can be disastrous to the final product, which is why it is almost always used in small amounts (far lower than the limits established by law), and with great care. Over the past several decades, sulfite use has seen significant declines due to the development of cleaner, more advanced vinification equipment. There are a few individuals who are allergic to sulfites but for the overwhelming majority of people, sulfites in wine pose no health threat.

Supple
A commonly used wine tasting term describing a wine that is soft, smooth and well-balanced. In other words, it's a well-structured wine; one that's probably near, if not at, it's prime.

Sweet
In the wine world, sweet is the opposite of dry. Sweetness in wine comes from any residual sugars that remain in the wine after fermentation is complete. This amount of sugar may range from a hardly perceptible one percent up to more than ten percent, making for intensely sweet wine. The difference between a pleasantly sweet and a sickly sweet flavor in a wine relates directly to the balance between sugar and acid. If there is not enough of an acid balance, the sweetness would be cloying and thus be viewed as a flaw. The label sweet is typically used in regards to a wine's flavor, but some components of a wine may impart a sweet smell, such as intense fruit or the vanilla-like essence that can come from oak, so the term can apply to both flavor and bouquet as well as to the actual residual sugar in wine.

Synthetic Closure
A term used to represent the artificial cork that is becoming increasingly common in the industry worldwide. For more information on the challenges associated with traditional cork see the entry for Screwcaps.

Syrah (see'-rah)
Along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, Syrah is one of the most important red wine grapes around the globe. It's widely grown in France's Rhone Valley, California, South Africa, and Australia where it's called Shiraz, as well as many other locales. Syrah is the most important red wine grape in Australia and its popularity is spreading quickly elsewhere. See Shiraz for more information.