10 essential wine terms you probably don't know

A little wine vocabulary for connoisseurs! Ampelography, botrytis, chaptalization... test your knowledge and understand what you're drinking with these ten surprising yet essential terms.

Ampelography

This is the science of grape varieties, their identification and classification, but also their study, for the conservation of old varieties, for example, or the improvement of existing ones, or even those to come.

Botrytis

Otherwise known as "noble rot", botrytis cinerea is a tiny fungus that develops on berries, usually in warm, humid weather. Botrytis brings a concentration of sugars to the berry, as well as a certain freshness, and is the source of Sauternes and Loire sweet wines, for example.

Chaptalization

The action of adding sugar to grape must comes from Monsieur Chaptal, a 19th-century chemist, and increases the alcohol content of the wine. Its use is regulated in France, but unfortunately chaptalization is not banned everywhere.

Empyreumatic

This strange adjective refers to a type of aroma in wine tasting, with roasted, grilled, tobacco, leather and smoky notes...

Lightning

Imagine a big, big barrel! A foudre is a large wooden barrel equivalent to several barrels, varying in size from region to region, that can hold several dozen hectoliters of wine.

Ouillage

When the wine evaporates, it's time to replace the evaporated part with wine from the same source, a bit like topping up, to avoid oxidation.

Pre-phylloxera

This term is used when referring to vines or plants that existed before the appearance of phylloxera, in other words, that were resistant to this aphid.this term is used when referring to vines or plants that existed before the appearance of phylloxera, i.e. that were resistant to this aphid that totally ravaged and devastated French vineyards in the 19th century.

Clonal selection

The winemaker chooses a single strain to reproduce it identically. This is a lengthy process, lasting several years, to avoid any disease in the clones and meet the desired objectives.

Massal selection

This method consists in identifying and selecting a quantity of plants according to precise criteria, such as variety, age or variety of variety.age or disease resistance, and harvesting the wood to create new plants.massal selection is often, but not always, carried out on old vines, in order to preserve their heritage.

Muted wine

Mutage, the process of adding alcohol to a wine during fermentation, is found, for example, in vins doux naturels, such as maury or banyuls, and also in liqueur wines, such as pineau des Charentes.