Definition: Wine acidity - degrees

Descriptions of acidity at different levels: soft, fresh, lively, sharp.

Soft:

From the Latin mollis, originally used to describe a wine in a positive sense as "supple, without harshness", soft has now become a pejorative term. A soft wine is one that lacks acidity, and sometimes tannin, giving it an overly mellow character.

Fresh:

Fresh can refer to a wine served at a low temperature (chilled) or a wine that gives a sensation of "freshness" due to its acidity and low alcohol content. It was one of the most frequently used adjectives in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century, the adjective frisque was also used, combining the ideas of liveliness and freshness. In the 13th century, frisque meant lively, sprightly, vivacious; and fraîche was spelled fresche. Frisque is a "contraction" of frique en fresche.

Lively:

A lively wine has a more pronounced acidity than a fresh wine, but less than a nervous wine.

Nervous:

In ancient times, people already talked about the nerves of wine, and Plutarch advised against filtering because it "cuts the nerves". A wine that has nerve (19th century) or is nervous has a very dominant acidity. Some authors define nervousness as the combination of a certain alcoholic strength and sustained acidity. You will notice that depending on the acidity of the wine, we will choose the term that corresponds to our level of perception. Not forgetting that the actual amount of acidity may or may not be consistent with our individual perception. But these words can help you express your personal feelings, and you are undoubtedly the only judge of these.