Acidity
The fresh sensation that makes your mouth water. It can balance a rich wine and help it pair with fatty food.
Learn more ↗FRANCE VINS ✦ Explore
Wine glossary
Useful terms for reading labels, understanding winemaking and describing what you taste.
Alcoholic fermentation
Yeasts transform juice sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Remaining sugar contributes sweetness.
Learn more ↗Appellation
A designation tied to a geographic origin and production rules. The exact rules differ by country and appellation.
Learn more ↗Blend
A combination of wines or grape varieties to create a particular style. Its composition depends on the wine and producer.
Learn more ↗Body
The sense of weight and volume of wine in the mouth. Light, medium and full describe style, not quality.
Learn more ↗Decanting
Pouring wine into a decanter. It may aerate the wine or separate sediment; fragile wines call for care.
Learn more ↗Dosage
Adding expedition liqueur after disgorgement in traditional-method wines. It contributes to final sugar level.
Learn more ↗Dry
A wine in which sweetness is not dominant. A dry wine can still taste fruity: fruit flavour and sugar are different.
Learn more ↗En primeur purchase
Buying before final delivery. Check schedule, taxes, volume and future fees; not the same as a nouveau wine.
Learn more ↗Fortification
Addition of grape-derived alcohol. During fermentation it can stop the process and retain sugar, as in some vins doux naturels.
Learn more ↗Grape variety
A vine variety grown for its grapes. The same variety can make different wines depending on place and winemaking choices.
Learn more ↗Lees
Sediment including yeast after fermentation. Lees maturation can affect texture and aromas.
Learn more ↗Maceration
Juice contact with skins, extracting colour, aromas and tannins. Duration and grape change the result.
Learn more ↗Malolactic conversion
Bacterial conversion of malic to lactic acid. It softens acidity and differs from alcoholic fermentation.
Learn more ↗Maturation
The period and conditions between fermentation and bottling. Vessel and duration can influence the final style.
Learn more ↗Orange wine
White made with prolonged skin contact. A method, not orange flavour or organic certification.
Learn more ↗Oxidation
Change related to oxygen. Desired in some styles, it can become unwanted in an open bottle.
Learn more ↗PDO / AOC
Protected origin and specifications. AOC is a traditional French wine term, not a taste score.
Learn more ↗PGI
Protected geographical indication with its own rules. Wine harvest and production take place in the area.
Learn more ↗Sparkling wine
Wine containing carbon dioxide that forms bubbles when opened and poured. Production methods and styles vary.
Learn more ↗Tannins
Compounds that create a drying or gripping feeling on the gums, especially in reds. Their intensity and texture vary.
Learn more ↗Terroir
The conditions of a place, including climate, terrain and soil, interacting with human practices. It means more than soil alone.
Learn more ↗Topping up
Adding wine to replace vessel losses and reduce air space. Topped-up Savagnin differs from yeast-veil ageing.
Learn more ↗Vintage
The year the grapes were harvested, as shown on the bottle. It gives context, while producer and storage also matter.
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