Still wine
/stɪl waɪn/
A still wine is a non-sparkling wine bottled with no significant carbonation, typically at or near normal atmospheric pressure. It represents the standard style of wine—red, white, or rosé—that is produced without an intentional secondary fermentation in a sealed vessel to create bubbles, and can range from very dry to lusciously sweet.
Examples
- A Chablis from Burgundy is a still white wine: dry, non-sparkling, and bottled without deliberate carbonation.
- A classic red Bordeaux blend served with dinner is a still wine, distinct from sparkling styles like Champagne or Cava.
- Sauternes and Tokaji Aszú are still sweet wines, rich and dessert-like but without the fizz of sparkling dessert wines.
Etymology
The expression "still wine" derives from the English adjective "still," meaning motionless, calm, or quiet, a sense that dates back to Old English *stil(l)* ("quiet, gentle, silent"), cognate with Old High German *still* and Old Norse *stilla* ("to make calm"). In wine, "still" came to describe wine that is "quiet" in the glass—lacking visible bubbles or effervescence—by contrast with "sparkling" or "fizzy" wines. The collocation "still wine" appears in English wine writing at least by the 18th–19th centuries, especially in contrast to Champagne and other effervescent styles, and parallels terms in other languages such as French *vin tranquille*, Italian *vino fermo*, and Spanish *vino tranquilo*.