French
Wine Labels Explained
Reading
and decoding wine labels can present problems for even the most dedicated
English-speaking oenophiles, especially when it comes to bottles of French
wine. You can learn a lot from the label on a bottle of wine and in order to
de-mystify the most commonly used terminology we’ve compiled, with the help of
some French-speaking friends, the following glossary to explain the most common
terms that you’re likely to see on your bottle of Château Margaux.
France is one of the most highly regarded wine
producing countries in the world and its long history with wine has resulted in
an arcane wine classification system. A little knowledge and understanding of
the terminology used on the labels helps bigly.
- Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) - statement of geographical origin and guaranteed minimum quality of a wine. The area can be very big or very small.
- Blanc - White.
- Blanc de Blancs - White
wine made exclusively from white grapes.
- Blanc de Noirs - White
wine made from black grapes with the pressed juice having minimal skin
contact extracting little to no color.
- Biologique - Organic
wine.
- Bourgogne - Wine
from the Burgundy region.
- Brut- Dry sparkling
wine from e.g. Champagne.
- Cave - Wine
cellar, literally "cave".
- Chai (Élevé dans
nos chais) -
Wine store above ground (matured/raised in our wine store).
- Château - Wine estate, the
literal meaning is "castle", the English equivalent is mansion.
- Coopérative - A
co-operative or syndicate of wine growers who use a production facility.
- Côte (plural
Coteaux) -
Sloping hillside vineyard(s).
- Clos - an
enclosed or walled vineyard. Founded hundreds of years ago by Cistercian
monks.
- Crémant - Outside
of the Champagne region - a sparkling wine. Within Champagne - softer
sparkling wine.
- Cru - Literal
translation is "growth" referring to a vineyard area. It denotes
a specific status, most notably in Bordeaux and Burgundy but also used
elsewhere in France.
- Cru Bourgeois - Good
quality, middle ranking wines from Bordeaux not included in the original
1855 classification.
- Cru Classé - Classed
growth or classified vineyard, the basis of the 1855 classification in
Bordeaux.
- Cuvee - A
specific blend or lot of wine.
- Demi-sec -
Medium-dry. In Champagne, usually a wine that is medium-sweet.
- Domaine - Wine
estate, most famously used in Burgundy.
- Doux (vin doux)
- Sweet (sweet wine).
- Élevé en Fûts de
Chêne-
wine aged in oak barrels before bottling.
- Liquoreux - Sweet
wine term that is reserved for the richest dessert wines.
- Grand Cru - Literal
translation is "great growth". The highest quality and most
prestigious wines.
- Méthode Traditionelle -
Sparkling wine made by the traditional method used in Champagne.
- Millésime - Vintage.
- Mis en bouteille
au château/domaine - Wine bottled at the estate where the grapes
were grown, harvested and fermented.
- Moelleux - Sweet
wine that can range from slightly sweet to very rich.
- Négociant - A wine
merchant who buys either grapes or pressed juice to make into wine or already
made wine to sell under its own brand name.
- Premier Cru - First
growth. The second tier of wines, below those designated Grand Cru, in
Burgundy while Premier Grand Cru Classé is the very top wines of the left
bank of Bordeaux.
- Proprietaries - Owner of
a wine estate or vineyard.
- Resultant - A grape
grower.
- Récoltant-Manipulant - A grower
who processes his own grapes into wine. The letters RM on the bottle will
denote this.
- Rouge (vin
Rouge) -
Red (red wine).
- Sélection de
Grains Nobles -
A sweet wine made from grapes affected by Botrytis Cinerea known as noble
rot.
- Supérieur - Wine
with a higher level of alcohol by volume than the minimum required for the
appellation and is due to increased ripeness of the grapes.
- Sur Lie - Wine
aged on its lees (dead yeast cells) which imparts an extra depth and
richness to the flavor.
- Vendange - Harvest.
- Vendange Tardive - Late
harvest, extra ripe grapes.
- Vieilles Vignes - Old
vines.
- Vigneron - Vine
grower.
- Viticulteur - Grape
grower.
- Vignoble - Vineyard.
- Vin - Wine.
- Vin Blanc - White
wine.
- Vin Rouge - Red
wine.
- Vin Rosé - Pink
wine, traditionally made from black grapes which are only allowed a short
time in contact with the skins to bleed some color into the juice. A more
modern and commercial method creates rosé wines by adding a little red
wine to white. Many pink champagnes use this method.
Stop by the blog often for wine tips, news, and tasting notices.
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