The A to Zs of Wine: Letters W, X, Y & Z

Editor’s note: This is the last article in a series about wine terminology from A to Z.

AS FRANK SINATRA famously sang, “And now the end is here.”

I started writing this occasional series of stories about wine words from A to Z in January 2022.

For those of you who have been reading along every few months, hope you have enjoyed learning about everything from Amarone (a type of Italian wine) to tannat (a type of red wine grape popular in Uruguay).

For the rest of you, it’s not too late to jump on the wine word bandwagon and learn about wine-related words for some of the most obscure letters in the alphabet. And yes, I’m talking about you, X and Z! So here we go. This is it. The last story in the A to Z wine word series. Hope you enjoy.

Letter W

• Wine: Hey, it counts, right? The word “wine” starts with the letter W. So this word definitely counts in my book. However, I’m not going to go overboard and include every obvious phrase that starts with the word “wine,” such as “wine rack” or “wine label.”

• Wine of Origin: I included this particular phrase since it’s a bit more unusual than say “wine region” or “wine tasting.” Wine of Origin (often abbreviated as WO) is a phrase used in South Africa to describe where a particular wine comes from in South Africa. Popular wine grapes that start with W

In a 1,242-page-long book called “Wine Grapes” about every possible known grape, there’s literally only one listed that starts with the letter W, which you can read about below and which I will freely admit I have never heard of in my life.

• Wurzer: Give anyone who has ever heard of this grape a standing applause. According to “Wines

Grapes” by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and Jose Vouillamoz, this obscure white wine grape found mostly in Germany is a crossbred between muller-thurgau and savagnin rose grapes created in 1932. You can also find 15 acres of this wine in England and four rows (yes, you read that right) of wurzer grapes in New Zealand. Who knew?

Popular wine regions that start with W

• Wachau: Well-established, wine-growing region in Austria best known for its dry white wines, especially ones made with gruner veltliner or riesling grapes.

• Washington: This is a bit of a stretch since the state of Washington isn’t exactly a wine region. But they do make a lot of great wines in many parts of this state nestled in the Pacific Northwest.

• Western Australia: Like the state of Washington, Western Australia’s a bit of a stretch since it’s such a large area. However, this part of Australia definitely has many great wine-growing regions, including the Swan Valley, the Margaret River region and the Great Southern wine region.

Letter X

• Xylem: I bet you thought I couldn’t find a wine word that starts with the letter X. Neither did I.

Xylem is the wood-like tissue in a vine that transports water from the vine’s roots to its leaves.

Popular wine grapes that start with X

• Xarello: There are

Spain’s Catalan region.

• Xinomavro: Red wine grape that’s widely planted throughout Greece and which produces dark, dense, delicious red wines.

• Xynisteri: White wine grape that’s the most popular white grape grown in Cyprus. In fact, nearly 1 out of 4 wines in Cyprus are made using Xynisteri grapes. Popular wine regions that start with X

I did my best but I could not find a single wine region that starts with the letter X. You can’t win them all.

LETTER Y

• Yeast: The organism that helps convert sugar in wine into alcohol during the wine-making process.

• Yield: The amount of grapes produced by a particular vineyard.

Popular wine grapes that start with Y three grapes listed in the book “Wine Grapes” that start with the letter X. This particular white wine grape is mostly used to make still and sparkling white wines in

• Yamabudo: Like the letter X, there are three wine grapes that start with the letter Y, according to “Wine Grapes.” This particular red wine grape comes from Japan, where there are more than 300 acres of yamabudo

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