Reading and decoding wine labels can present problems for any but the most dedicated English speaking vinophiles especially when it comes to bottles of French wine. Much can be learned from the label on a bottle of wine and in order to de-mystify the most commonly used terminology The Cardinal's Cellar has compiled the following glossary in order to explain the most common terms that you are likely to see on French wine bottles. France is the most highly regarded wine producing country in the world and its long vinous history has resulted in a rather arcane wine classification system. A little knowledge and understanding of the terminology used on labels helps to inform one's enjoyment of a good bottle.
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) - statement of geographical origin and guaranteed minimum quality of a wine. The area can be quite vast or very small. To use Burgundy as an example, AOC Bourgogne Blanc covers wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris from a vineyard area covering 29,500 hectares. By contrast the AOC La Romanée Grand Cru must be made exclusively from Pinot Noir and covers a single vineyard site of 0.84 hectares.
- 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 thereby extracting little to no colour.
- (Vin) Biologique - Organic wine.
- (Vin de) 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 manor house or 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. Many were founded hundreds of years ago by Cistercian monks. Famous examples include Clos de Vougeot in the Côte de Nuits of Burgundy, Krug's Clos du Mesnil in the Côte de Blancs, Champagne and Clos des Papes in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône.
- Crémant - Outside of the Champagne region it denotes a sparkling wine. Within Champagne a softer sparkling wine e.g. Mumm's Crémant de Cramant a single vineyard Chardonnay now re-named Mumm de Cramant.
- Cru - Literal translation is "growth" referring to a delimited 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 but note that in Champagne this will usually denote a wine that is medium-sweet and popular served with dessert in France.
- 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 and most luscious dessert wines.
- Grand Cru - Literal translation is "great growth". The highest quality and most prestigious wines of e.g. Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace.
- Méthode Traditionnelle - Sparkling wine made by the traditional method used in Champagne. Labour and time intensive, the bubbles are formed by the secondary fermentation in bottle.
- Millésime - Vintage.
- Mis en bouteille au château/domaine - Wine bottled at the estate where the grapes were grown, harvested and fermented into wine.
- Moelleux - Sweet wine that can range from slightly sweet to very rich.
- Négociant - A wine merchant who buys in either grapes or pressed juice to make into wine or even ready made wine itself to sell under its own brand name. Some examples can be very good.
- Premier Cru - First growth. The second tier of wines, below those designated Grand Cru, in Burgundy while Premier Grand Cru Classés are the very top wines of the left bank of Bordeaux.
- Propriétaire - Owner of a wine estate or vineyard.
- Récoltant - A grape grower.
- Récoltant-Manipulant - A grower who processes his own grapes into wine. Now widespread in the Champagne region due to the rise of grower-Champagnes - 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 otherwise known as noble rot (pourriture noble). The term originated in Alsace but is also used in the Loire region.
- 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 flavour. Stirred from time to time to enhance this effect.
- Vendange - Harvest.
- Vendange Tardive - Late harvest, denoting extra ripe grapes.
- Vieilles Vignes - Old vines. Older vines are less sappy producing smaller, more concentrated grapes which make intensely flavoured wine.
- 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 colour 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 although some, such as the highly lauded Laurent Perrier Rosé among others, is made employing the original method.
