What you sense in the glass: tasting vocabulary
The nose is simply what you smell when you bring the glass to your face. An open nose means the aromas come forward clearly on the first sniff. A closed nose means the wine seems almost silent — like it is holding back. This is common in young wines that need either time in the cellar or a few minutes of air in the glass.
Aromas are grouped into three families. Primary aromas come from the grape itself: fresh fruit, flowers, herbs. Secondary aromas develop during fermentation: yeast, brioche, some more elaborate fruity notes. Tertiary aromas — also called the bouquet — emerge with age: leather, forest floor, truffle, tobacco, soft spice. When a tasting note mentions all three, it is mapping where a wine has been and where it is going.
In the mouth, the attack is the first sensation when the wine hits your palate. The mid-palate is what happens next. The finish — also called length — is what lingers after you swallow. The longer it lasts, the more complex the wine usually is. Length is sometimes measured in caudalies: one caudalie equals one second of aromatic persistence after swallowing.
Tannins deserve their own paragraph. They are natural compounds found mainly in red wines, drawn from grape skins, seeds, and sometimes from oak barrels. They create that drying, slightly grippy feeling on your gums and tongue. Silky tannins are smooth and integrated. Tight or astringent tannins mean the wine is young, or simply high in structure, and will benefit from time — or from a dish with some fat to soften the edges.
Balance is probably the most important word in this entire glossary. A balanced wine is one where acidity, residual sugar, alcohol, and tannins hold each other in check without any single element dominating. That is what a good wine is aiming for, every time.
Vineyard and cellar: understanding where flavour comes from
Terroir is probably the most widely known French wine term outside France — and the most misunderstood. It is not a secret ingredient. It is not mysticism. It is the combination of soil, subsoil, topography, local microclimate, and the orientation of a specific plot of land. Two rows of vines planted 200 metres apart can produce noticeably different wines. That is terroir.
The millésime — the vintage — is the year the grapes were harvested. A good vintage does not guarantee a good wine, but it raises the odds. In Burgundy, a warm, sunny year like 2015 or 2019 produces very ripe grapes and tends to give generous, concentrated wines. A difficult year like 2021 in Bordeaux — hit by frost and uneven weather — demanded more skill from the winemaker, but in careful hands it can produce wines with remarkable freshness and precision.
Élevage refers to the period between fermentation and bottling, during which the wine matures and develops. It can rest in stainless steel tanks, concrete vats, new oak barrels, or older barrels used many times before. The newer the oak, the more it marks the wine: vanilla, toast, spice. Older barrels allow a slow, gentle exchange with oxygen — called micro-oxygenation — without contributing obvious woody flavours. The choice of vessel is one of the clearest stylistic decisions a winemaker makes.
Maceration matters most for red wines and orange wines. It is the time the grape skins spend in contact with the juice after crushing. The longer the maceration, the more the wine extracts colour, tannins, and skin-derived aromas. For some French reds built to age, maceration can last several weeks to build the structure needed for long cellaring.
Yield — expressed in hectolitres per hectare — measures how much wine a given area of vineyard produces. A low yield, often required by appellation rules, means each vine produces fewer grapes, which are typically more concentrated in flavour. It is one of the most direct levers of quality a grower controls.
Appellations, classifications, and labels: reading without getting lost
The AOC — Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée — is the French regulatory framework that defines, for each wine region, which grape varieties are permitted, how much wine can be produced per hectare, what winemaking methods are allowed, and the exact geographic boundaries of the zone. Think of it as a legally enforced rulebook for each region, not a simple quality stamp: a wine can carry an AOC and still disappoint. Since 2012, the equivalent European designation is AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée). In practice, both terms appear on labels and mean the same thing.
Below the AOC tier, IGP wines (Indication Géographique Protégée — Protected Geographical Indication) give producers more flexibility on grape varieties and methods. This is where you often find original, accessible wines — sometimes made by producers who want freedom from the strict rules of a neighbouring appellation. Many of the best wines under €15 carry an IGP designation.
The cépage is the grape variety. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah for reds. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier for whites. Unlike wines from the New World — Australia, California, Argentina — French labels rarely name the grape variety. The convention is to name the appellation, not the grape. Knowing which varieties dominate each region helps you anticipate the style of wine in your glass.
A classement is an official or historical ranking of estates or individual plots by quality level. The most famous is the 1855 Bordeaux Classification, which divides the châteaux of the Médoc into five tiers, from Premier Cru Classé down to Cinquième Cru Classé. In Burgundy, it is the land itself that is ranked — Régionale, Villages, Premier Cru, Grand Cru — moving from the broadest and most accessible to the most specific and most sought-after. These classifications are useful reference points, not absolute verdicts.
On the label, «Mis en bouteille au château» or «au domaine» — bottled at the château or estate — means the producer vinified and bottled the wine themselves, without selling it in bulk to a négociant (a merchant who blends and bottles wines sourced from multiple growers). It is a guarantee of traceability, not automatically of superior quality, but it is an honest point of reference.
Wine styles and specific methods: the terms that keep coming up
A dry wine contains no perceptible residual sugar — in practice, fewer than 4 grams per litre. A demi-sec (off-dry) wine sits between 4 and 12 grams. A moelleux (medium-sweet) wine ranges from 12 to 45 grams. A liquoreux (luscious or dessert-style) wine exceeds 45 grams, sometimes by a wide margin. For French white wines, this spectrum runs from bone-dry Muscadet from the Loire Valley to the opulent, botrytis-affected Sauternes of Bordeaux.
When a red grape is pressed quickly and the skins are removed before they colour the juice, the result is a rosé or, in some cases, a blanc de noirs — a white wine made from red grapes, a term most common in Champagne, where Pinot Noir is vinified without skin contact to produce a pale, white sparkling wine. The méthode champenoise — now called méthode traditionnelle when used outside the Champagne region — refers to a second fermentation that takes place inside the sealed bottle, creating the bubbles naturally. It is the foundation of all France's great sparkling wines. Among the best-value Champagnes, lesser-known houses often offer the most honest quality-to-price ratio.
A vin nature — natural wine — is made with minimal intervention in the cellar: little or no added sulphur, only indigenous (naturally occurring) yeasts rather than commercial yeasts added by the winemaker, no chaptalization (adding sugar to boost alcohol), and no fining agents to clarify the wine. There is no strict official certification for natural wine in France, which makes the term hard to use as an absolute guarantee. It reflects a commitment from the producer to step back and let the grapes speak — and results vary considerably from one bottle to the next.
Biodynamic viticulture goes further than certified organic farming. It treats the vineyard as a living ecosystem, incorporating a lunar calendar to guide pruning, harvesting, and bottling, along with plant- and mineral-based preparations applied to the soil and vines. Some of France's most respected producers work this way. Certified organic viticulture, by contrast, simply prohibits synthetic pesticides and herbicides — that is the regulatory definition, nothing more and nothing less.
Finally, sulphur — SO2 — is a natural preservative used in winemaking since antiquity. It protects wine from oxidation and unwanted bacteria. The label mention contains sulfites is legally required across the European Union on any wine containing 10 mg/l or more. Natural wines typically contain far less added SO2, which some drinkers seek out for reasons of sensitivity or personal taste preference.
Common questions
What is the difference between a tannic wine and an acidic wine?
Tannins create a drying, grippy sensation on your gums and tongue — the feeling you get from strong tea or from biting into a grape skin. It is typical of red wines like Cahors, made from Malbec, or a young Bordeaux. Acidity triggers salivation and a sense of freshness or brightness; you feel it mainly on the sides of your tongue. A wine can be both tannic and acidic at the same time, or one without the other.
What does it mean when a wine is described as 'closed'?
A closed wine releases very little aroma on the nose or flavour in the mouth, as if it is holding everything in reserve. This often happens with young wines that have significant aging potential, or with bottles opened before they are ready. The fix is to decant the wine for 30 to 60 minutes to give it air, or simply to leave the bottles in the cellar for a few more years.
Premier Cru or Grand Cru — which is higher?
It depends on the region, which is part of what makes French wine labels confusing. In Burgundy, Grand Cru sits above Premier Cru — it is the highest level of the classification, applied to specific plots of land rather than to whole villages. But in Bordeaux, the top category in Saint-Émilion's classification is Premier Grand Cru Classé, which sits above Grand Cru Classé. The terminology is not consistent across regions and cannot be compared directly.
Is sulphur in wine actually a health problem?
Sulphites can trigger reactions in a small number of people with genuine sensitivity, but the vast majority of wine drinkers tolerate the doses used in winemaking without any issue. The headaches often blamed on sulphur are more commonly caused by alcohol itself or by histamines present in red wines. Interestingly, red wines often contain less added SO2 than whites and rosés, since tannins provide some natural protection against oxidation.
Where can I find wines with clear tasting notes that match the terms I just learned?
Vinatis is a solid reference: their product pages are detailed and the descriptions stay accessible without tipping into excessive jargon. It is a practical way to cross-reference the terms you have just learned with real, buyable wines — prices are in euros, and the site ships across Europe.