The Roman legions certainly brought vines into France Already in Roman times the cool northern Burgundy region had been identified as ideally suited to production of fine quality wines. and the warmer southern regions ideally suited for lesser quality, but higher quantity of wine. With wines being made in France for a few thousand years, the French have developed an entire vocabulary used to describe wines. Many of their terms are used world wide by wine growers and wine writers. Below is a list of terms you may have come across and which may have puzzled or intimidated you. Now your days of puzzlement or intimidation are over ! . You can even drop a few fancy terms into your own conversation. Enjoy !
The first terms are concerned with how a wine looks at first glance:
Le Voir. seeing. La Robe. refers to the general way the wine comes across to the viewer from 4 visual aspects: Limpidité. limpidity or clarity Brillant brilliance Teintes colors Viscosité viscosity or surface tension.
Limpidity can be further qualified as follows: claire light faible weak légère slight faneé faded tendre delicate pure clear net clean cristalline crystal clear diaphane transparent chatoyante iridescent bien habillee well dressed mal habillee poorly dressed foncée dark terne dull vive vivid riche rich chargée too colored voilée cloudy louche cloudy borrue murky plombée livid bleuatre off color, bluish grisatre off color, greyish tuilée off color, brick like opalescent resembling an opal
Here's a range of tints for white, red and rosé wines: Vins blancs white wines jaune clair light yellow jaune serin canary yellow jaune d'or golden jaune paille straw colored jaune ambré amber colored
Vins rouges red wines rubis ruby red franc red grenat garnet pourpre crimson violacé purple
Vins rosés rosé wines oeil-de-perdrix brilliant pale red rosé vif brilliant pink pelure d'oignon onion skin pink tuile tile like pink faible pale pink gris palest pink
More important than appearance is smell. Below are some terms associated with the odor of wine
Odors are often divided into two categories, which are not easily distinguished: A. L'arôme fragrance B. Le Bouquet bouquet
The following terms are often used to describe odor fruité with the odor of different fruits, not merely grapes. floral with the odor of flowers framboisé suggesting raspberries fin refined parfumé perfumed truffé full delure wide awake subtil subtle riche rich il a du nez has "nose" il a du panache has style court insufficient vulgaire dime store scent ingrat unpleasant eteint faded flétri withered éventé flat désagréable unpalatable il sent le mercaptan repellent fétide rotten egg odor
Getting down to the taste, there are only four tastes the human tongue can respond to: doux or sucré sweetness salé saltiness l'acide acidity l'amer bitterness
Other terms used to describe the taste of wine: léger light moelleux mellow huileux oily, slick thermique hot with alcohol fort strong chaud warm avoir du feu with fire capiteux goes to the head spiriteux stronger than normal vineux normal for wine étoffé full bodied généreux strong racé a thoroughbred fortifié with added alcohol mou soft pauvre poor plat flat flasque flabby maché over exposed , evaporated de la chair has meat on the bones charnu solid, meaty corsé full bodied ferme firm de la mâche seems chewable puissant powerful gras fat musclé robust nourri well fed vigoreux vigorous maigre meager étriqué skimpy mince thin efflanqué lanky mal bâti poorly made décharné scrawny creux empty coulant flowing friand appetizing fondu mellow glissant smooth rond well balanced gouleyant glutton making fourré fur lined velouté velvety souple supple enjoué sprightly savoreux with gusto chantant singing suave bland plein de sève full of sap aigrelet sourish aigre sour dur harsh rude rough mordant biting grossier coarse commun everyday rustre unpolished muet says nothing piquant tartly tickling piqué excessively acid passé too old usé exhausted rance rancid tourné turned to vinegar madérisé oxidized
Bon Appetit.