Domaine: Meaning "estate", it is a property in Burgundy where vines
are grown and wine produced.
Domaine-bottled: The Burgundian equivalent of château-bottled
in Bordeaux.
Dosage: The addition of a solution of sugar syrup, sometimes mixed with wine,
to sparkling wines to increase their sweetness. Champagnes are very
high in acidity so a certain amount of added sugar is needed for balance
even in the drier styles. The amount of dosage determines the wines
final sweetness designation which can be extra brut (the driest),
brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec or doux (the sweetest).
Double
magnum: Bottle used in Bordeaux equivalent to 4 standard
bottles (3 litres, 102 US fl oz., 106.2 UK fl. oz.).
Doux: Sweet.
French Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
E
Eau-de-vie: Meaning literally "water of life", it is a French term applied
to distilled spirits such as brandy.
élevage: Meaning literally "bringing up" or "raising",
refers to all the stages of wine production between fermentation and
bottling; referring to a winemaker's nurturing love and guiding hand,
the term is normally used only in connection with well-made wines.
En
primeur: Refers to wine sold before bottling as futures.
Generally this practice is limited to investment wines.
Encépagement: A winemaking term referring to the relative proportions
of grape varieties making up a particular blend.
France Wine Terms- Dallas Bartenders
G
Gazéifié: Carbonated, as some sparkling wine.
Goût
de terroir: Literally "taste of the soil",
it refers to an earthy taste in wine and should not be confused with
terroir.
Grand
cru: Meaning "great growth"; this term recognizes
the superiority of particular vineyards, but its specific meaning
varies greatly from region to region.
Grand
Vin: Meaning "great wine"; used in Bordeaux
to distinguish the primary wine of a château from any secondary
wines produced. In Alsace it refers to wine of more than 11% alcohol.
H
Haut: Meaning "high", this word is frequently
seen on French wine labels, as in Haut-Poitou or Haut-Médoc,
and refers not to a qualitative difference, but to a relative geographic
location, either further north or above in altitude.
French Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
I
Institut
National des Appellations d'Origine: Abbreviated to
INAO, the French organization which administers the Appellation d'Origine
Contrôlée and Vin Délimité de Qualité
Supérieure systems, accounting for nearly half the annual production
of wine in France. Established in 1935, it was the first national
regulating body for wine, and the AOC became a model for similar systems
in other countries. The INAO puts great emphasis on the regional distinctions
of its different wines (see terroir) while downplaying varietal origins
(to the point of disallowing mention of grape varieties on labels).
Some critics, in France and elsewhere, argue that the organization
should focus less on particulars of provenance and more on quality.
France Wine Terms- Dallas Bartenders
M
Marc: The French term for pomace, the residue of skins seeds and pulp left
after pressing white wine grapes, or after fermenting red wine grapes.
Also, a distilled spirit made from this residue, the French equivalent
of the Italian grappa.
Méthode
Champenoise: The method, developed in France's Champagne
region, by which the finest sparkling wine is traditionally made.
An expensive and time-consuming process, it results in complex, exciting
wines with a delicate effervescence that would be unattainable through
more industrial techniques. Initially, still wines are blended to
arrive at the particular style of the winemaker or house, then sugar
and special yeasts are added and the wine is bottled and stoppered.
Méthode
classique, Méthode traditionelle or Méthode traditionelle
classique: French Terms equivalent to méthode
champenoise approved for wine labels by the European Union.
French Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
Millerandage: An abnormal vine condition caused by cool weather at the flowering
stage that results in grapes of greatly differing size within the
same bunch. There is some evidence that in some varieties smaller
grapes produce better wines, so this condition is not always undesireable.
Millésime: Year or vintage.
Mis(e)
en bouteille: French Bottled, as in "mise en
bouteille au château", meaning château-bottled. On
wine labels certain specific phrases like this are guarantees of a
wine's authenticity.
Mistelle: A fortified wine made from grape juice to which alcohol is added before
any fermentation can take place.
France Wine Terms- Dallas Bartenders
Moelleux: From "moelle", meaning bone marrow, this
word means soft or mellow and refers to a rich, medium sweet white
wine.
Mousse: Meaning "foam", this word is used to describe the effervescence
of a sparkling wine.
Mousseux: Meaning "foamy", it is the French term for
sparkling wine.
Mutage: The French term for a technique for arresting or averting fermentation
by means of the addition of sulphur dioxide or alcohol. Employed in
the making of vin doux naturel and vin de liqueur, it is the same
method used in making port, though this term is not used in Portugal.
France Wine Terms- Dallas Bartenders
N
Négociant: Meaning "merchant", in the wine trade refers to wine merchants
who buy wine from various sources and blend and bottle it to sell
under their own label. They play a key role in Burgundy where some
négociants, such as Louis Latour and Bouchard Père et
Fils, have earned reputations for consistent quality in a region at
times fraught with inconsistency.
Négociant-éleveur: An expansion of the involvement of négociants, this term refers
to those who oversee all aspects of the wine-making process from harvest
and fermentation through to bottling.
Nouveau: Meaning "new", this refers to a particular style of red
wine that is fresh, youthful and fruity and designed to be ready to
drink within weeks of harvest. Nouveau wines will rarely improve with
age, but will instead lose much of their appeal if kept too long.
French Wine Glossary- Dallas Bartenders
P
Passerillage: A technique whereby grapes are left on the vines to overripen and
dry (without noble rot), concentrating the sugar and resulting in
a rich, sweet wine.
Perlant: A wine that is very slightly sparkling.
Pétillant: Lightly sparkling wine. Between perlant and mousseux.
Petit
Château: A Bordeaux term referring not to the
acreage of a château but to its fame and the price of its wine.
These are the thousands of properties throughout Bordeaux that are
not Crus Classés and are relatively unknown. Many of them produce
excellent wines and bargains can be found at a fraction of the cost
of their more famous neighbours.
France Wine Terms- Dallas Bartenders
Pièce: An oak barrel used in Burgundy similar in size to the Bordeaux barrique.
Pipe: From the Portuguese "pipa", this is the traditional large,
elongated barrel used in producing port as well as madeira.
Pourriture
noble: Meaning "noble rot", this is the
French name for the benevolent manifestation of Botyritis cinerea.
Premier
cru: Meaning "first growth", this is a designation
given to a cru that is considered to be of the highest order. In Sauternes
and St-Émilion, there is also a higher designation called premier
grand cru. In Burgundy, the high status of the premier cru classification
is superseded only by that of "grand cru".
