French Wine Glossary

AGING -- Maturation of the wine. The aging of the wine is at first very active in casks in the producer's cellars. It continues at a much slower pace in the bottle.

Properly controlled aging makes the wine mellow and supple. Excessive aging results in the "passing out" of the wine. Only greater wines may gain by aging for decades. Most other wines are at their best when young - from one to five years, depending on the region of origin and the conditions of the vintage.

AROMA -- The scent of a wine. The aroma of red wines improves by contact with the air. To get the full aroma of a red wine the bottle is opened one hour before serving and the wine is swirled in the glass before tasting.

BODY – The density or consistency of a wine. Its “weight”.

Light-bodied wines go best with delicately flavored foods; full-bodied wines with foods of stronger flavor, or highly spiced.

When more than one wine is served during the same meal the light-bodied ones are served first and the fuller bodied last.

BOUQUET --  Same as aroma.

BRUT -- Maximum of dryness

CHILL -- To cool the wine prior to serving it. This is done by letting the bottle stand for one hour in the refrigerator or about 25 minutes in an ice-bucket. Too low a temperature is not advisable because it would freeze the aroma and flavor of the wine.

CLARET -- True claret is red Bordeaux wine

DRY -- Opposite of sweet. The dry wines are served before the sweet ones.

FRUITY -- Quality of a wine in which the aroma and flavor of the grape are recognizable.

LABEL -The "credentials" of a wine.

By law the label gives:

1. The name of the wine which is, most of the time, the place of
   origin or sometimes a proprietary name; 

2. The exact place, or at least the country of origin;

The mention "Appellation d'Origine" or "Appellation Contrôlée" or "V.D.Q.S.", if the wine is entitled to any one of them;

3. Mention that the bottling was done by the owner of the
   vineyard if such is the case;

4. Name of the shipper;

5. Name of the importer;

6. Alcoholic content of the wine;

7. Volume content of the bottle;

8. Vintage, if any.

Bottles of Bordeaux may also bear a seal bearing "Qualité Approuvée par ADEB" meaning that the wine has passed the special test of quality set up by the Association pour le Développement de l'Exportation du Vin de Bordeaux (ADEB).

MISE EN BOUTEILLE – Bottling. When these words appear on a label they are followed by an indication of who did the bottling. Any one of the following expressions means that the wine has been produced, aged and bottled in the same estate: "Mis en bouteille au Chateau" : "Mise de la Propriéte" ; "Mis en bouteille par le Propriétaire" ;

“Mise du Domaine” ; ”Mis en bouteille au Domaine”.

MEDIUM DRY -- Slightly sweet.

NON-VINTAGE WINES -- Wines blended from several vintages in order to obtain high standard-quality. Only non-vintage wines can be the same in quality from year to year.

ROOM TEMPERATURE -- the temperature at which red wines are usually served, between 60° and 65°F.

Older and greater red wines are better at room temperature. Other red wines (particularly young ones) are often preferred when slightly cool.  

Wine is never brought to room temperature by abrupt "warming". which would spoil it. but it is left to stand for a few hours in the dining room.

ROSE -- pink wine. Drunk chilled

SEDIMENT -- Deposit which results from aging in the bottle. Sediment does not harm the wine in any way. It is very often an indication that the wine is a greater and older one.

A bottle of wine showing sediment should be left to rest upright until the sediment has dropped to the bottom of the bottle. It should then either be decanted or poured carefully in order to allow only clear wine to pass into the glass.

Most wines do not contain sediment and. therefore, do not require any special handling.

SWEET -- Pleasant taste characteristic of sugar. French table wines, even when very sweet, are never sugary or syrupy because the sweetness comes from the fermentation of the sweet grape juice and not from addition of sugar.

VINTAGE -- The year of the harvest from which a specific wine was made. French law controls that only true vintage dates are mentioned on bottles of wine.

VINTAGE-CHART -- List of vintages with grading of quality for each one. Vintage charts may be reliable as a general indication of quality for the majority of the wines made during a certain year. They are completely useless as a guide to the Quality of any specific wine.
 

Other Regional Wines

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