In practically all of Spain, a beverage known as “Sangria” is made with chopped oranges and lemons, wine, and ice to serve it very cold at the table or in between meals during the stifling summer heat. While Sangria is incredibly refreshing and delicious, it frequently contains more alcohol than Read more…
You will often hear French people talking about some wines being referred to as “vins mousseux”. It is a catch-all term for all sparkling wines, regardless of production method. This includes sparkling wines made through the Ancestral method, the traditional method (“méthode champenoise”) and tank method sparklings…
“Macération pelliculaire” is a French expression that designates the prefermentation maceration of white grapes, a process also known as “skin contact” in English. Skin contact in white wine making is generally deliberately avoided to prevent tannin and color extraction. This is accomplished by removing the juice from the skins as Read more…
Since the word “Clos” in French means “enclosure,” any vineyard referred to as a Clos should be enclosed, by a wall in most cases. However, it is also used elsewhere. Burgundy is probably where this term is most prevalent. For their single-vineyard wines, some producers of the Priorat appellation located in Spain have Read more…
The French phrase “sur souches” literally translates to “on the stumps” or, in the case of buying a future crop of wine, “on the vine.” The Bordeaux trade has occasionally purchased futures in a crop before it was even harvested during periods of especially strong sales.
“Passing the Porto” refers to the old custom that requires Porto wine, in particular a decanter of vintage Porto, to be passed from the right to the left of a dining table. It is considered one of the most beloved traditions in the wine industry. No real satisfying explanation of Read more…
The French term “passerillage” refers to the process of drying, shriveling (see the définition of “flétri” here), or raisining grapes on the vine in order to concentrate their sugar content. It serves as an alternative to wine with high sugars from botrytis (where the noble rot plays a crucial role Read more…
Up until a specific time of the year, typically set by local habits, the “right of banvin” allowed the lord to sell his own wine before that of his vassals (the time during which the sale of wines other than those belonging to the lord were banned varied greatly from Read more…
French wine terminology for “medium-sweet” wines is “Demi-Sec.” Demi-Sec wines are sweeter than “Sec” wines but less sweet than wines labelled as “Mouelleux” or “Doux”. Specifically Chenin Blanc wines from the French wine areas of Anjou, Saumur, and Touraine as well as some sparkling wines (champagnes, crémants) are referred to Read more…
When making sparkling wine using the traditional method (méthode Champenoise), bottles may be kept after the second fermentation is finished but before they are disgorged. They can be kept on their necks, upside down, so that the lees stay in the bottle’s neck (“sur pointe”) (which makes the disgorgement process Read more…
EN 
FR 
IT 
ES 
PT 
DE 
JA 
ZH 
KO 
HI 
TH 
VI 
PL 
NL 
EL 
RO 
HU 
CS 
SK 
UK 
SV 
FI 
NB 
DA 
LT 
ET 
LV 
BG 
SL 
TR 
ID 
TL 
MS 
KM