BACK LABEL Wine Label Decoder For the new wine lover, few things about fine wine are more daunting than the wine-bottle label. All that small print! All those foreign words and terms! But bear in mind that information brings knowledge, and lots of print conveys lots of information. Learn to decode the label, and you've armed yourself with the tools you need to be a savvy consumer. Take a look at the label images above, then follow the red numbers from each label to the related numbers in the text for a quick explanation of every label line. Even though these labels represent five countries with five different sets of labeling regulations, you'll soon see that they all provide the same general information, with only relatively minor differences in format and content. 1. Wine maker or winery: The company or firm that made the wine or, in some cases, the wine's trademark name. 2. Appellation: The country or region where the grapes for this wine were grown.

This may be as broad as "California" or as narrow as a specific vineyard like "Trittenheimer Altärchen." Note, however, that the California wine pictured here lists a more narrow appellation ("El Dorado County") and takes advantage of the option to denote its specific vineyard source ("Wylie-Fenaughty") as well. The German wine also mentions its region ("Mosel-Saar-Ruwer"). In most countries, wine-growing regions ("appellations") are defined by law, and wines made in these regions will carry legal language on the label such as "Appellation Controlée" in France or "Denominazione della Origine Contrallata (DOC)" in Italy. Most regulations allow up to 15 percent of the wine to be made from grapes grown outside the area. 3. Vintage: This is the year in which the grapes were harvested, not the year in which the wine was bottled, which for some wines may be years later. Note that some countries add the local word for "vintage" to the label: "Cosecha" in Spain, "Vendemmia" in Italian.

(Most national wine laws require that at least 85 percent of the wine be harvested in the year of vintage; up to 15 percent may be blended in from other years.) 4. Variety: The specific kind of grapes from which the wine was made. Not all wines disclose varietal content. Most French and Italian wines do not do so, for example, because the wine laws require the wines of each region be made from traditional varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec in Bordeaux, for example; Sangiovese and others in the case of Chianti, and the indigenous grapes Obidiah and Merwah in the offbeat Lebanese white wine from Chateau Musar pictured under "Other." Most countries allow the use of some non-varietal grapes in the blend. In most states of the U.S., for example, only 75 percent of the wine's content must be of the named varietal. In Europe and Australia, the rule is usually 85 percent. 5.

Ripeness: In a tradition known primarily in Germany and, in somewhat different form, Austria, some wines use special terminology to reflect the ripeness of the grapes and the quality of the finished wine. The German wine pictured, for instance, is a "Kabinett," the lowest ripeness level in "Qualitätswein mit Prädikat," the highest quality level. For more information on the German system, read John Trombley's excellent article, Knowing the German Quality System for Wines . Some German wine labels will also show "Trocken" ("Dry") or "Halbtrocken" ("Half Dry") to denote wines vinified to less natural sweetness. 6. Estate bottling and winery information: If the wine is "estate bottled" (made from grapes grown and harvested in the winery's own vineyards), this will be disclosed with language on the label such as the French "Mise en bouteille(s) au Chateau;" the German "Gutsabfüllung"; or the English "estate bottled" or "grown, produced and bottled." 7. Other required information: This may vary widely depending on national regulations.

German wines, for example, carry an "Amptliche Prüfungs Nummer (AP Number)," the serial number it received during official testing (barely visible on the right in the pictured label). French wines may carry their ranking from traditional classifications (such as "Grand Cru" or "Premier Cru" on qualifying Burgundies). The back labels of wines sold in the U.S. are typically decked out with required consumer warnings such as the notorious "Surgeon General's Warning" and notices that the wines contain sulfites. Wine labels also carry small print disclosing the wine's approximate alcoholic content and the size of the bottle, as highlighted on several of the labels photos. Imported wines in the U.S. normally bear the name and other information about the company that imported the wine. 8. Optional information: Additional information that may range from winemaker's notes or detailed analytical and tasting information to advertising hype are often featured on labels, especially the back label. Not to mention the ubiquitous UPC bar code! See? That wasn't so bad, was it? I hope this brief tutorial has made you more comfortable with your wine shopping.

But if you ever run into a label term that you can't figure out, or find a quirky label that doesn't fit these general rules, please feel free to get in touch! Since you are in to wine labelling, you might also find the Seareach web site a good place to visit. They use original Pantone approved inks when they produce their labels. Seareach produce asset tags with barcodes to help with tracking of your wine bottles. To stop bottles being opened without prior notification, they provide tamper-evident security labels . If you try and tamper with a screw top or cork, it becomes instantly visible - which is good for security and your own peace of mind. You can find more information on security printing through the PIRA website in the UK. For more answers to frequently asked wine questions, P. Brugnon Champagne Brut Premier Cru | Wine Info About · Contact · Press · Support · Premium · Privacy Policy · Content Policy · Terms of Use · Merchants · Wineries · Jobs · Sitemap © Vivino 2017 The wine P. Brugnon Champagne Brut Premier Cru price is not official, but is supplied by our +21M user base.

Prices may fluctuate as users are always updating this information through the app, so please make sure to check back regularly. For more details please see our Terms & Conditions. × About Expert Ratings As a Premium user you get unique insight into the opinions of some of the most prominent wine critics with new Expert Ratings. Robert Parker and Wine Enthusiast ratings are shown when available, along with the community ratings, so you can instantly get a complete overview. What is Bourgogne (or Burgundy)? What is Bourgogne (or Burgundy)? The simplest answer is that Bourgogne is wine from the french wine region Bourgogne. (In english we say Burgundy, or if you want to say it like the french, you can say ‘bourGOANyah.’). You can see where it is on the map: Truly, you need a lot more context to really understand the wonder that is Burg. Americans tend to think of wine by its grape, or varietal. We’ll want a glass of Pinot Noir, or Cabernet Sauvignon. In other parts of the world, like France, they tend to think about wine from the context of where it’s from.

You’ll want a Burgundy or a Cotes du Rhone, which are both regions in france who make different kinds of wine. The important thing to understand about French wine is that a wine which has a place name on its label is expected to taste and feel a certain way–it is expected to be typical of wine from that region. Depending on the region, it can also mean that certain traditional components are in place (the type of grape used, the method used to make the wine, the minimum length the wine must be matured for, etc.). The french have a word for this, it’s called terroir, which means something like, “sense of place.” For me terroir is some combination of the tradition of the region, the uniqueness of the very spot of land from which the grapes where grown, and some mixture of the spirit, heart, and mind of the wine maker and his/her family. Some say upon drinking a wine, you can close you eyes and see the very cows, tulips, and oak trees from the very land on which the grapes were born. I think that’s an overly done example of terroir, and those people who say this should stop smoking so much weed.

Terroir isn’t so exact; it’s fleeting and vanishing. To continue… we generally have two kinds of burgundy, red and white. Red burgundy must be made from one of two grapes: Pinot Noir, or Gamay. Generally all red burgundy is made from Pinot Noir, and all Beaujolais (technically a sub-region of Burgundy) is made from Gamay. Let’s leave Beaujolais and Gamay out of this discussion for now (other than to say, don’t bother with Beaujolais Nouveau, go for Cru Beaujolais, but that’s for another time). For white Burgundy, it must be made from one of two grapes: Chardonay and Aligoté (just know that Aligoté is cool, and if you happen to have a chance to try it, do so). Here is where region and varietal become interesting. A 100% chardonay wine from California can taste completely different from a white Burgundy (also 100%) chardonay. You may have heard, or even complained yourself, that California chardonay is heavy, “buttery,” and too oaky.

I can assure you that white burgundy is never buttery (and if it is, it’s because some french businessman is trying to market his chardonay grapes to the American palette). Why is this? Well, the weather is hotter in California, so the grapes have more sugar and less acid. Like, wise the weather is colder in Burgundy, so the grapes have less sugar and more acid. (These factors vary from year to year, depending on the weather). The soils are different with different mineral compounds, the little micro-organisms like yeast and bacteria which secrete different flavor compounds are different, the attitudes and traditions of the wine makers are different–you get the point. In a word, they have different terroirs. That’s the gist, but it gets more involved from here. It’s helpful to say that Burgundy is very place driven. It has many, many sub-regions. And the sub regions have villages, and the villages have vineyard sites.

And even the vineyards themselves have particular areas of soil (say, the middle of a hill) which are known to produce superior grapes from say vines that are twenty feet away–these grapes from these super special plots of land are put into their own special wine, and given a special label, and people pay lots and lots of special money for these amazingly special wines. There is a very rigid system, and a very rigid set of rules which govern how wines fall into the different levels of this hierarchy. This system is known as the AOC (Appellation d'origine controlée) system. The theory is that you can make assumptions on quality and character based on what you know about the wine’s origin (which is clearly marked on the label–by LAW). It breaks down roughly like this: Generic AOC: This is the lowest level, where the grapes could be from anywhere in Burgundy. The label will say either Bourgogne Blanc (white burgundy) or Bourgogne Rouge (red burgundy). The grapes may be from a single vineyard, or they can be mass produced and a mixture of grapes from all over burgundy.

Village level AOC: Examples of village level AOCs that you might see on a label are: Chablis, Côte De Beaune, Mâcon, Gevrey-Chambertin, etc. The law states that wines with these place names on the label must be made with 100% of grapes from within the boundaries of the village/district. These names can either be general areas within Burgundy, or they can be the very small village, such as those up north in the Côte d'Or. The yield of grapes (the liters of juice from pressed grapes per hectare, the equivalent of about 2.5 acres) is required to be lower than in the generic level. The idea here, is that the fewer number of grapes on a vine (called “lower yield”) causes the vine to concentrate its energy and resources on those grapes, resulting in higher quality grapes. Premier Cru AOC (or 1er Cru): This means “first growth,” and speaks to the quality of the grapes.

On the very same hill in Burgundy, you can have generic quality grapes (at the bottom of the hill where all the water runs), village level towards the top of the hill, and Premier/Grand Cru right in the middle. The soil + drainage + sun exposure right in the middle of the hill is the most ideal area for growing superior grapes. (Due to volcanic and tectonic activity millions of years ago, the soil in Burgundy is horizontally striated, such that a piece of soil can vary dramatically in its makeup from a piece of soil just twenty feet away). These superior grapes have historically made the best wines in Burgundy. A Premier Cru wine must include the Village and the Vineyard from where the wine came, for example Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru, Clos St. Jacques. (Gevrey-Chambertin is the village, Clos St. Jacques is the vineyard), and 100% of the grapes must come from within the vineyard boundaries. Naturally, the yield in 1er Cru wines must be lower than the village level AOC.

Grand Cru AOC: In theory, these wines are the best of the best–a wine maker granted the Grand Cru status will use only the best grapes in the vineyard to make his Grand Cru wine. (Only about 3% of the wine produced in Burgundy is of the Grand Cru status). The rules of the Grand Cru AOCs are similar to the 1er Cur, except the yields of the grapes must be even lower than that of the 1er Cru. In theory, the better the AOC, the better the wine. But this isn’t always the case. Generally speaking, the system is reliable, and guarantees you a certain baseline quality of the wine. Sometimes a talented wine maker will go a little rogue, and produce a wine that falls out of the traditional style expect from his region, so that the wine might be “de-classified” from say 1er Cru to Village level. The wine may infact be dramatically superior to wines higher up in AOC and price. Likewise, some of the 1er and Grand Cru statuses are based on historical circumstances.

The people in charge of the winery might have long since stopped trying to make great wine, and are only coasting on the laurels of their name. These wines might be higher in price, but boring and not very good in comparison to their cheaper and less nobel birth siblings. Really when in doubt, ask someone. Burgundy is an amazingly elegant wine. There is so much variety and minutia in Burgundies, that you can spend a life time exploring and learning about the wines. To get started, I suggest, for red Burgundy, trying something from the Village level, something from the Côte de Beaune (pronounced: “Coat day BONE”). It’s cheaper, but still full of character. Expect some fuit, sometimes juicy like cherries (never sugary), sometimes tart. Perhaps a pinch of smoke, and perhaps that element referred to as “forrest floor”–think autumn, mulchy leaves. For White Burgundy, try something from the Mâconnais, (when you go to your wine shop just say “macon”). Expect it to have refreshing, crisp acidity.

They can vary in body, sometimes being creamier with notes of vanilla and a little spice, sometimes crisper, and lighter in body. Sometimes the Macon wines can sneak in a little smoke, and it’s a wonderful complement. You must try some White burgundy, it will change your whole aspect on chardonnay. About I don't update this much anymore; check out my new thing at act0.tumbler.com . My name is Bernard Kravitz. This is a blog about food and wine, and my experiences sharing it with other people. To support my food and wine habit I am the CTO for this amazing company called Watch It . Do you have an idea for something or somewhere that I should eat or drink, and/or someone I should do it with? Hit me up here. For anything else email me here . Understanding Champagne Labels - Grapecollective.com Understanding Champagne Labels by Joyce Lin Published on: 3/28/2016 Spring is finally here, and with that comes weekend getaways, family vacations, warm weather festivites, and of course, Champagne! But be honest - how much attention do you pay to the actual label on that bottle of bubbles?

Grape Collective presents a detailed guide to deciphering a Champagne label. Before we jump into the pool, there are a few basic things you might first want to know about Champagne. Sparkling wine is produced all over the world, but only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can officially be called Champagne. Additionally, all Champagne is made in the traditional method, which means it goes through a secondary fermentation process in the bottle and it requires a minimum of one and a half years to complete its flavor development. In general, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are the three main grape varieties used to produce Champagne. There is sparkling wine produced in other regions of France aside from Champagne, such as Jura, Alsace, Vouvray, Burgundy, and Loire. These wines could be called Cremant de Jura, Cremant de Alsace, or Cremant de Bourgogne. Now that we understand a little more about Champagne, we can move on to reading the actual bottle label. There are a number of terms that appear on the Champagne label: 1. Champagne: This names the wine type and the region. 2.

Name of the Champagne House: This gives us the name of the producer. 3. Cuvée: Usually this refers to the best grape juice gently pressed from grapes. In Champagne, the cuvée is the first 2,050 litres of grape juice from 4,000 kg of grapes. 4. Blanc de Blancs: In French, this term literally means “white of whites." It is white Champagne made with 100% white wine grapes, ordinarily Chardonnay grapes but occasionally Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris can be used as blending partners.* 5. Blanc de Noirs: This means “black of whites” in French. It is white Champagne made with black-skinned grapes. Pinot Noir and Pinot Munier are usually the main grapes found in Blanc de Noirs.* * If not specified, then the Champagne is a blend using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. 6. Brut Nature/Extra Brut//Brut/Extra Dry/Sec/Demi-Sec/Doux: These terms denote the sweetness of the Champagne: Brut Nature: Champagne with zero grams of residual sugar per litre.

Extra Brut: Champagne with less than six grams of residual sugar per litre. Brut: Champagne with less than 12 grams of residual sugar per litre. Extra Dry: Champagne with 12 to 17 grams of residual sugar per litre. Sec: Champagne with 17 to 32 grams of residual sugar per litre. Demi-sec: Champagne with 32 to 50 grams of residual sugar per litre. Doux: Champagne with 50 grams or more of residual sugar per litre. 7. Non-Vintage/Vintage: "Non-Vintage" represents a blended grape juice from multiple vintages (mostly from a single year vintage with older vintages) to insure the consistency of the Champagne style. "Vintage" denotes grape juice from a single year vintage. Usually, vintage Champagne will only be produced in a particularly good vintage year. It has to be matured for at east three years before releasing. 8. Grand Cru/Premier Cru: These terms designate the classification of the Champagne vineyards. Grand Cru is the top tier of the classification and Premier Cru is second. 9. VP: Means "Vieillissement Prolonge," which translates to "aging continues." 10.

Type of Champagne Producer: There are several types of Champagne producers, desgingated by the following abbreviations on the label: NM: Stands for "Négociant Manipulant." Most of the major Champagne houses are NM. They buy grapes from the region and produce the wine in the house. RM: Stands for "Récoltant Manipulant," and is known as "Grower Champagne." A grower who owns his own vineyard and produces wine from his own grapes. (However a maximum of 5% of grapes purchased from other vineyards is permitted.) ND: Stands for "Négociant Distributeur," and refers to a wine merchant selling under his own name. To give you a general idea of what Champagne labels looks like, below are several examples with the above terms highlighted. Next time you find yourself shopping for a sparkler, you will understand Champagne labels like an expert! For more basics on Champagne, check out the Grape Collective article 10 Facts You Need To Know About Champagne Go German Wine Label Information German Wine Label Information German Wine Label Information German wine labels are complex but highly informative - they provide more information as standard than those of any other nation.

A single label may indicate (among other things) the producer's name and location, the wine's sweetness, its grape variety, how ripe the grapes were when harvested, the name of the village and vineyard the grapes came from, and whether the wine was bottled at the winery or by a third party. Below is an example label, and below that an overview of German wine classification and terminology. For comprehensive information about the German regions and their wines, see Germany . The four official tiers of German wine quality: Prädikatswein, formerly Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP), is the top tier of German wine quality classification. Because grapes often struggle to ripen in Germany's cool climate, ripeness is used as a key indicator of quality, and is the basis of the Prädikatswein system. To qualify, a wine must be made from grapes with a must weight (ripeness) of over 67 degrees Oechsle . It may then be classified into one of the six official Prädikats: Kabinett is the lightest style, made from grapes harvested at 67-82 Oechsle.

Kabinett wines are most often produced in a dry or medium-dry style. Spätlese means 'late harvest', denoting that (theoretically) the grapes were picked at least a week after the start of harvest, at 76-90 Oechsle. Spätlese wines are slightly richer, more concentrated and typically sweeter than Kabinett. Auslese means 'selected harvest', and is made from ripe grapes (83-100 Oechsle) affected to some degree by botrytis . Auslese wines are traditionally sweet in style, but modern winemaking trends have led to the appearance of dry Auslese Trocken wines, which are naturally powerful and high in alcohol. Beerenauslese (BA) means 'berry selection'. Super-ripe grapes (110-128 Oechsle) remain on the vine and are 'selected' only if affected by botrytis. Sweeter and richer than Auslese, Beerenauslese wines are intensely flavored, golden nectars. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) means 'dry berry selection'.

Grapes are left on the vine until reaching a raisin-like state, with highly concentrated sugars (150-154 Oechsle). Trockenbeerenauslese wine is the sweetest, rarest and most expensive Prädikatswein. Eiswein means ' ice wine ', and indicates that the over-ripe grapes (110-128 Oechsle) were harvested and pressed while frozen. This naturally concentrates both sugars and acids, resulting in lusciously sweet wines which nonetheless have balanced acidity. Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) is Germany's second tier of wine quality classification, and means literally 'quality wine from a specified region'. Almost three-quarters of all German wine is produced in this category. A QbA wine must be made exclusively from grapes grown in one of Germany's 13 official Anbaugebiete (wine regions), of which Mosel is the most famous. Deutscher Landwein means 'German country wine' - equivalent to France's Vin de Pays (and thus the Euro-wide IGP category). Deutscher Wein means simply 'German wine', and provides few guarantees of quality.

Deutscher Wein bears no A.P.Nr quality control number, and is almost always made for the domestic market. In addition to their official quality classification, German wine labels often indicate how dry or sweet the wine is, according to its residual sugar content. The most common terms are trocken (dry - up to 9g/l) and halbtrocken (medium-dry - up to 18g/l). The unofficial term Feinherb is also sometimes used for 'off-dry'. These terms indicate how sweet the wine tastes, and are distinct from the Prädikats (e.g. Kabinett, Spätlese), which indicate the grapes' ripeness levels (must weight) at harvest. VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweinguter) The VDP (The Association of German Quality and Prädikat Wine Estates) is an association of about 200 top German wineries. Membership is voluntary, but requires adherence to strict standards well above those required by German wine law. The VDP's eagle logo Since 1910, the VDP and its black eagle logo have remained an important (yet unofficial) symbol of German wine quality.

The association has created its own wine quality system, based on the vineyard classification terms Grosse Lage and Erste Lage (similar to France's Grand Cru and Premier Cru). Grosse Lage is used only for Germany's very best vineyard sites - small, carefully demarcated areas with clear site-specific characteristics. Yields on these sites are limited to 50hl/ha. Grosses Gewächs denotes a dry wine from a Grosse Lage vineyard. A Grosses Gewächs may be white or red, depending on the vineyard in question. Erste Lage is used for 'first class' vineyards with distinctive characteristics, but which rank just behind Grosse Lage in terms of quality. Yields are limited to 60hl/ha. German Wine Label Terminology Couvreur-Fondeur Brut Premier Cru | Wine Info Couvreur-Fondeur Brut Premier Cru Average rating The Vivino rating is the average rating this wine has received by Vivino's 22 million users. Read more about the Vivino rating here: Vivino Ratings and Are Vivino Ratings Credible? 0.0 Looking for a specific vintage? Show more Find more great wines from France Red Wine Couvreur-Fondeur Avg.

Rating: 3.7 (7 ratings) Champagne · France Most popular wines from Couvreur-Fondeur The experts weigh in on what regions ruled in 2016 and the trends that were all hype and no substance. NEWS 'Tis the season for Cabernet, and there's an awesome option at every price point. NEWS From luxury splurge to party bottle, the perfect sparkler for you is here. The vivino app Take a photo of any wine & get ratings, prices and user reviews instantly. Get the vivino app for iOS or Android About · Contact · Press · Support · Premium · Privacy Policy · Content Policy · Terms of Use · Merchants · Wineries · Jobs · Sitemap © Vivino 2017 The wine Brut Premier Cru price is not official, but is supplied by our +21M user base. Prices may fluctuate as users are always updating this information through the app, so please make sure to check back regularly. For more details please see our Terms & Conditions. × About Expert Ratings As a Premium user you get unique insight into the opinions of some of the most prominent wine critics with new Expert Ratings.

Robert Parker and Wine Enthusiast ratings are shown when available, along with the community ratings, so you can instantly get a complete overview. Glossary of Terms | | As with any wine, champagne has a special vocabulary, often employing highly technical terms. Some terms have the same meaning as elsewhere in the wine world, but a few are specific to champagne. This is a personally compiled glossary of some terms that you might encounter. (Copyright 2009 ChampagneGuide.net via Peter Liem) Agrafe—Literally means "staple" (as in Swingline); in Champagne, this is a large metal clip used to secure the cork before capsules were invented, typically during the second fermentation and aging in bottle. A bottle secured with this clip is said to be agrafé. Assemblage—The blend, both in terms of the blend of different grape varieties or the blend of different base wines for a particular champagne. Autolysis—The chemical reactions caused by the breaking down of yeast cells through an enzymatic process, which occurs when a wine is left in contact with the lees over a long period of time.

Autolysis is one of the fundamental processes in the making of champagne, as it imparts particular types of flavor complexity and textural finesse that can be achieved in no other way, and this is one of the main reasons for champagne's long aging on the lees in bottle after the second fermentation. See Lees Aging. Bague Carré—A square lip on the mouth of a bottle, used to secure the agrafe. A bague carré indicates that the champagne was bottled with cork for its second fermentation. Bague Couronne—A thin, rounded lip, seen on the tops of most champagne bottles. The bague couronne secures the crown capsule in place for the second fermentation. Balthazar—A 12-liter bottle, holding 16 standard bottles of champagne. Barrique—The most common size of wooden barrel, almost always made of oak. In Champagne, barriques are historically 205 liters in size, although today many producers use old 228-liter barriques purchased from Burgundy. Larger barrels are generally referred to as demi-muids, while large casks are called foudres.

Base Wine—A still wine, or vin clair, usually fermented to roughly 11 degrees of alcohol, used as a component in the blending of champagne. Champagne is generally blended from many different base wines, sometimes hundreds. Bâtonnage—The stirring of the lees, generally performed with wines aging in barrel, although it can also be done in tank. The lees are stirred to put them in suspension, giving greater richness to the wine. This practice is common in Burgundy, but controversial in Champagne—some producers enjoy the greater depth and power that it brings, while others feel that it's not appropriate for the intrinsically delicate nature of champagne, imparting too much richness and detracting from the balance of the wine. Biodynamics—A philosophy of viticulture that not only practices organic methods, eschewing chemical and synthetic treatments, but that also seeks to improve the quality and harmony of the ecosystem through the use of homeopathic preparations and tisanes, as well as through aligning vineyard and cellar work with lunar and cosmic calendars.

Biodynamics is highly controversial: its proponents believe that its unique practices bring a vineyard's ecosystem closer into harmony with the natural world, resulting in a healthier biodiversity and naturally superior grapes, while its critics dismiss its arcane and esoteric methods as superstitious, occult-ish and blatantly anti-scientific. Regardless, many of the great wines of the world are made from biodynamically-grown vines, including those of renowned producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Leroy and Domaine Leflaive in Burgundy, Domaine Huet and Domaine de l'Ecu in the Loire and Marcel Deiss and Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace. Biodynamics is attracting a limited but increasingly more vocal following in Champagne, with many producers both large and small beginning to experiment with its methods, and well-known champagne estates that are entirely biodynamic include Larmandier-Bernier, David Léclapart, Vouette et Sorbée and Françoise Bedel. Not all estates that are devoted to biodynamic viticulture are officially certified as such, but for those that are, the primary organization for biodynamic certification in France is Demeter.

Blanc de Blancs—A champagne made exclusively from white grapes, which almost always means that it's 100 percent chardonnay. However, champagne made from other white grapes, such as pinot blanc, arbanne or petit meslier, is also entitled to this designation, although these are very rare. Blanc de Noirs—A champagne made exclusively from red grapes. It can be 100 percent pinot noir, 100 percent pinot meunier, or a blend of the two varieties. Note that the term blanc de noirs is sometimes used in the New World to designate pink sparkling wines, but in Champagne a blanc de noirs is a sparkling white wine. Botrytis—Grape rot, which in terms of wine can come in both desirable and undesirable forms, although in Champagne it is never desirable. Botrytis cinerea (often referred to as "noble rot") is the desirable form for making sweet wines in many regions of the world. In Champagne, any sort of botrytis is generally detrimental to the character and finesse of the wine, and it is avoided wherever possible.

Brut—The most common style of champagne, containing anywhere between 0-15 grams per liter of dosage. Note that wines of between 0-6 g./l. can also be called Extra Brut. Wines that contain no dosage at all are almost always called Brut Nature or Non-Dosé rather than simply Brut. Brut Nature—A champagne bottled without any dosage. Also called Non-Dosé or Brut Zéro. Brut Sans Année (BSA)—Meaning "non-vintage brut", BSA is a term commonly used in France to specifically designate a house's entry-level, non-vintage champagne (not an upper-tier non-vintage blend or a prestige cuvée blended from multiple vintages). Capsule, or Crown Cap—A metal capsule, as found on beer bottles, which is commonly used today to seal a bottle during the second fermentation and aging on the lees, and replaced with a cork after being removed in the process known as disgorgement. It's illegal to sell champagne bottled with a crown cap, although sparkling wine producers in the New World have successfully experimented with this as an alternative closure, in an effort to avoid cork taint.

Champagne—The Champagne region is a strictly defined area of France, encompassing 634 villages in five different départements: the Aisne, Aube, Haute-Marne, Marne and Seine-et-Marne. However, the viticultural appellation is even more restricted, and only 318 of these villages have the right to produce the wine called champagne. Champagne, the wine, can only come from Champagne, the region, and in the European Union, as well as in those countries who have agreed to reciprocal arrangements with the E.U., the use of the word champagne to refer to any other products is strictly forbidden. Unfortunately, in other places in the world, including the United States, the term champagne is still sometimes used to refer generically to any sparkling wine. As an aside, in this guide I use a capital C to designate the region of Champagne, while I indicate the wine of champagne in lowercase. Chaptalisation, or Chaptalization—The adding of sugar to grape must in order to raise its degree of potential alcohol. The process is named for Jean-Antoine Chaptal, a chemist who advocated this practice during the time of Napoleon.

Chef de Cave—The cellarmaster, who is typically the person in charge of the winemaking team at a négociant house. In the New World this person might be called a "winemaker", but in many champagne houses the winemaking team is large, involving multiple winemakers, and the chef de cave is the one who heads the group and provides overall direction. Clos—A term historically used to refer to a vineyard surrounded by walls, although the walls may or may not still be present today. A clos designates a special and prestigious site, and some well-known clos in Champagne include Clos des Goisses, Clos du Mesnil and Clos du Moulin. Coeur de Cuvée—Literally, "the heart of the first pressing".

The cuvée refers to the first 2,050 liters from a 4,000-kilogram press, and the coeur de cuvée is the highest-quality portion of juice from the middle of the pressing, excluding the first and last portions pressed (a concept not unlike discarding the "heads" and "tails" in the distillation of spirits, although here the differences in quality are not as dramatic, and the first and last portions are of perfectly acceptable quality to be used for making champagne). Cold-Stabilization—The deliberate chilling of a base wine before bottling, in order to cause tartrate crystals to precipitate so that they don't form later in the bottle. This is widely practiced in Champagne, as in other regions of the world, but some producers avoid it as it's seen to be an unneccessary manipulation of the wine, and any tartrate crystals that might eventually appear in a bottle are perfectly harmless. Cooperative—The cooperative plays an important role in Champagne, vinifying the grapes of its members' vineyards. The resulting champagnes may be sold under a cooperative label, marked as CM, or coopérative-manipulant.

They may also be distributed to the cooperative's members for sale under their own labels, in which case they are labeled RC, or récoltant-coopérative. (Through a loophole, some of these are eligible to be labeled as RM, récoltant-manipulant, but this is a deceitful practice and hopefully will be discontinued.) However, the majority of the wine produced by Champagne's cooperatives is sold to négociants, whether as grape must, still wines or even finished champagnes. Of the cooperatives that make and sell wines under their own label, Mailly Grand Cru is undoubtedly the finest in quality. Cork—The most common material used to close a bottle, and mandatory in Champagne for finished wines. Champagne corks are constructed differently from regular corks used for still wines, as they are composed of separate sections: the main body, called the manche, is made of agglomerated cork, while the miroir consists of between one and three discs of natural cork, affixed to the bottom portion that comes into contact with the wine.

Champagne corks are larger than regular corks—up to 48mm high and 31mm in diameter—and are highly compressed when they are inserted into the bottle, reduced in diameter to only 17mm. This provides for a tight seal, allowing them to retain the carbon dioxide in the bottle. Corked, or Corky—An all-too-common wine flaw due to the presence of TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) in the cork, which imparts a musty, unpleasant aroma. There are various degrees of corkiness, ranging from blatantly offensive and undrinkable to barely perceptible. The most insidious form of cork taint, however, is where the wine's flavors are dampened and diminished but no overt corky smell is perceived. A corky wine is flawed, and generally speaking, any good restaurant, retailer or producer should replace the bottle. Note that bits of cork that happen to fall into a wine do not make a wine corky.

Coulure—Often called "shatter" in English, this is a failure of the grapes to develop after flowering, reducing the yield or even eliminating it completely, if the flowers fail to pollinate and the grapes don't set. Like millerandage, this can happen due to a cool and rainy period of flowering. Crémant—A style of sparkling wine made at a slightly lower pressure than traditional champagne, usually 3.5 to 4 atmospheres instead of the standard six. This term is now used for sparkling wines in other parts of France but has been banned in Champagne itself, although several producers continue to make this style of wine under different names. Cuvée—In the wine world, the word cuvée generally refers to a blend of wines. In Champagne it also has another, very specific meaning: during pressing, the cuvée is the first 2,050 liters of juice from a 4,000-kilogram press, which represents the finest portion of the pressing. Débourbage—A settling of the juice after pressing to remove solid particles such as skins and pips before fermentation.

Demi-Muid—A large wooden barrel, usually oak, and usually 500- to 600-liters in size, as opposed to 205- or 225-liter barriques. Some Champagne producers prefer this size of barrel for its greater ratio of wine to wood. Demi-Sec—A relatively sweet style of champagne, containing a dosage of between 33 and 50 grams of sugar per liter. Disgorgement, or Dégorgement—The process of removing the yeast sediments after fermentation and aging in bottle. The sediment must be collected in the neck of the bottle through riddling, whether manually or through the use of a gyropalette. Typically, the bottle of the neck is then frozen to collect the sediment into a solid mass, and then this mass is ejected when the capsule is removed. Some growers, however, still disgorge bottles without using the freezing technique. Dosage—Sugar added to champagne after disgorgement, either through a liqueur d'expédition, which is a solution of cane or beet sugar and wine, or MCR, concentrated and rectified grape must.

The dosage is usually a crucial component of champagne, as it balances the naturally high acidity of the wine and plays an important role in the aging process. The level of dosage determines the category of champagne (i.e. Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Demi-Sec, etc.), and the majority of champagnes today are dosed as brut, between 0-15 grams of sugar per liter, with an average dosage in Champagne estimated at around 10-12 grams. Doux—This is the sweetest of the official categories of champagne, used to refer to wines with a dosage of over 50 grams per liter. While this was the most common style of champagne in the 18th and 19th centuries, it's virtually nonexistent today, although a notable example in modern times is Doyard's La Libertine. En Foule—Literally, "in a crowd". The old, pre-phylloxera method of planting vines in Champagne by the system of provignage, or layering, in which vines would be propagated by burying branches of adjacent vines in the ground, creating a high-density, rather haphazard array of plants quite unlike the neat and orderly rows of today.

In modern times, Bollinger continues this practice in two small parcels in Aÿ, from which they make a champagne called Vieilles Vignes Françaises. Estate-Bottled Champagne—Champagne produced and bottled by the same company who grew the grapes. This is generally the same as grower champagne, but not necessarily: for example, Louis Roederer's vintage wines all come from their own vineyards, and can be considered as estate-bottled champagnes. Extra Brut—An Extra Brut champagne must contain no more than six grams of sugar per liter. It can sometimes contain none at all, and in these cases some producers prefer to label their wines as Brut Nature or Non-Dosé. On the other hand, champagnes between 0-6 g./l. of dosage also qualify for the Brut designation, although most producers will label them as Extra Brut rather than Brut. Extra Sec, or Extra Dry—A champagne with a dosage level of between 12 and 20 grams of sugar per liter. Fermentation—In wine, the conversion of sugar into alcohol by yeasts.

Champagne undergoes two fermentations: the first undertaken in tank or barrel to create a light, white still wine; and the second taking place after this wine is bottled together with a small quantity of yeast and sugar, in order to create its sparkle. A by-product of the fermentation process is carbonic gas, which is responsible for giving champagne its bubbles during this second fermentation. Filtration—A process used to remove suspended particles in a wine. Most wines are filtered before bottling, not only in Champagne but elsewhere in the world. However, some producers choose not to filter as they believe that it removes character from the wine. Fining—A clarification of wine by the addition of a physical agent, such as bentonite or egg whites, that removes solid matter. Foudre—A large wooden cask, usually oak, ranging in size from several hundred liters to several thousand. Smaller barrels of 200 to 300 liters are generally called barriques or pièces, while medium-sized casks of 500 or 600 liters are referred to as demi-muids.

Grand Cru—In Champagne, a term referring to villages classified at 100-percent on the old and now non-existent échelle des crus, which was a classification used to determine the pricing of grapes. There are 17 grand cru villages in Champagne—Ambonnay, Avize, Aÿ, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly, Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sur-Marne, Verzenay and Verzy—and although the échelle des crus has been abolished, the terms grand cru and premier cru are still officially used, and these villages continue to enjoy a high level of prestige. Note that in Champagne, the term grand cru indicates a classification by village, and not by vineyard, as in Burgundy. In order to label a wine as grand cru, it must be sourced entirely from vineyards in grand cru villages. In addition, pinot noir and chardonnay are the only two grapes eligible for grand cru status, and while other varieties may be planted in grand cru villages, they are not entitled to the grand cru designation.

Grande Marque—In Champagne, this was a term used for the members of the Syndicat des Grandes Marques, a prestigious organization composed of many of Champagne's most famous houses. The Syndicat was disbanded in 1997, but the term grande marque continues to be used to refer to those brands, particularly in the United Kingdom. Grower Champagne—Champagne grown and bottled by a single estate, from their own vines. A grower champagne is not necessarily intrinsically superior or inferior to one made by a négociant, but today, the best grower champagnes are increasingly diverging in character from traditional champagnes, offering a distinctly different type of experience. Gyropalette—A mechanical device used in place of riddling, to collect the yeast sediments in the neck of the bottle in preparation for disgorgement. Gyropalettes have made this process much faster, with no resulting loss in quality. Almost all champagne producers, large and small, use gyropalettes today, although some still riddle bottles by hand, either to preserve tradition or to accomodate oddly-shaped bottles that don't stack neatly in the cage of a gyropalette.

Jeroboam—In Champagne, a three-liter bottle, equivalent to four standard bottles of champagne. Normally, this is the largest size of bottle that champagne is fermented in (larger sizes are made by transversage, or the decanting of finished wine from multiple smaller bottles). Note that in Bordeaux, a three-liter bottle is referred to as a double magnum, and a jeroboam is a 4.5-liter bottle of wine. Lees Aging—The lees are the deposits of spent yeast cells leftover after fermentation. Lees are nourishing and potentially beneficial, imparting a particular character to the wine and functioning as a natural antioxidant. Before bottling, the base wine for champagne is sometimes aged on its fine lees, those leftover from the initial fermentation. However, lees aging in Champagne generally refers to the aging of the wine in bottle, where the yeast cells left over from the second fermentation are trapped inside the bottle until the bottle is disgorged.

This period of aging on the lees is fundamental to the creation of champagne's inimitable character, and a minimum amount of time on the lees is imposed by law—15 months for non-vintage champagnes and three years for vintage-dated ones, although in practice the period of lees aging is usually much longer at the better houses. Lieu-Dit—A named parcel of vines, such as Les Crayères in Ambonnay or Terres de Noël in Oger. (In Burgundy, think of named vineyards such as Les Amoureuses in Chambolle-Musigny or Les Pucelles in Puligny-Montrachet, and you get the idea.) It's estimated that there are over 84,000 different lieux-dits in Champagne. Liqueur d’Expédition—The blend of sugar and wine added to champagne as dosage, just after disgorgement. Either cane or beet sugar is normally used, and the wine can be young or old, depending on the producer's preference. Liqueur de Tirage—The solution added at bottling to induce the second fermentation, composed of wine, yeast and sugar.

As a general rule, four grams of sugar per liter of wine will produce one atmosphere of pressure; the standard measurement in champagne is 24 grams of sugar, which produces roughly six atmospheres, although a little may be lost at disgorgement. Lutte Raisonnée—Literally, a "reasoned struggle", meaning a middle path between conventional, chemically-dependent viticulture and strictly organic farming. In the wet, cold and northerly region of Champagne, strictly organic farming can often represent too great of a risk for many growers, especially with the constantly looming danger of mildew. In theory, lutte raisonnée means seeking to decrease the use of synthetic herbicides and pesticides, or even to eliminate them completely, while reserving the right to treat the vines with synthetic products in times of dire need, such as in the vicious mildew and oidium attacks of 2007 and 2008. In practice, it encompasses a wide range of philosophies, ranging from the virtually organic to the virtually conventional, and whether or not one's need is really dire is subject to interpretation.

As Aurélien Laherte of Champagne Laherte Frères dryly notes, "Tous le monde a raison"—everybody has "reason", and everybody thinks they're right. All the same, lutte raisonnée is rapidly becoming an accepted standard in Champagne, and in truth, the lutte raisonnée movement has been responsible for the overall decrease in synthetic herbicides and pesticides in the region, which is a good thing. Although most growers work without any sort of externally implemented controls or standards, there is a group called Ampelos, which several champagne producers belong to and which certifies the viticultural practices of its members. Described by one of these, Laurent Champs of Champagne Vilmart, as "lutte integrée raisonnée contrôlée," or an integrated, reasoned and controlled method of viticulture, it outlines strict guidelines as to what methods may and may not be practiced, following a heavily organic regime while allowing for certain exceptions against grave maladies such as excessive mildew and oidium. Magnum—A bottle containing 1.5 liters of wine, considered by many champagne producers and aficionados to be the ideal format for aging champagne.

Malolactic—Often called malolactic fermentation, it is strictly speaking not a fermentation, but rather a conversion of sharp, malic acidity to softer, creamier lactic acidity. It's widely practiced in Champagne to balance the high acidity levels found in the region, although some producers choose to block it in order to retain the firm, lively structure of the malic acidity. Informally, malolactic is often shortened to simply malo in both English and French, especially in conversation. MCR (Moût concentré et rectifié)—Concentrated and rectified grape must, increasingly preferred by many small growers for the dosage, instead of the traditional liqueur d'expédition. Those in favor of it cite its greater neutrality and freshness, its convenience, and the fact that it's made from grapes instead of beets or sugarcane; those against it note that it's made from grapes originating in the Languedoc or even farther away, making a mockery of the idea of terroir, and some also question its neutrality, claiming that it does in fact impart a particular texture and flavor to the wine.

Méthode Champenoise—The old name for the traditional method of making champagne, banned by the European Union in 1985 as a concession to protecting the Champagne appellation. Méthode Traditionelle—The traditional method of making champagne or sparkling wine, involving a second fermentation in bottle. This is the officially-approved term today in the European Union for sparkling wines made by the champagne method. Methuselah—A six-liter bottle, holding eight standard bottles of champagne. Micro-Terroir Champagne—A champagne from a restricted area: either a monocru champagne (from a single village) or a mono-parcelle champagne (from a single vineyard). Millerandage—A condition created by cool weather during flowering, causing berries to set improperly in grape bunches. The affected bunches develop berries of different sizes that mature at different rates. This is commonly viewed as a problem, as it reduces yields, but a grower can also use it to his or her advantage as the berries that remain tend to be highly concentrated in flavor. Millésime—A vintage year or a vintage wine. A champagne must be declared as a vintage wine at harvest in order to be able to say Millésime on the label.

Note that the word Millésime simply means that the wine comes from a single vintage, and strictly speaking, has nothing to do with its level of quality. Monocru—A champagne made from grapes grown entirely in a single village. Muselet, Plaque de Muselet—The muselet is the wire cage that holds a champagne cork in place, while the plaque de muselet is the metal disc affixed to the top of the cork, that usually has some sort of design unique to the producer or to the particular cuvée. There is a massively obsessive demand for these little discs among a certain cult of collectors, concentrated particularly in France and Belgium (if you don't believe me, see this site ). Old or rare versions can fetch tens or even hundreds of euros. Mytik Diamant—A new type of cork stopper produced by Oeneo, in which cork bark is pulverized into particles, treated against TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) under a process of compressed and heated carbon dioxide similar to that used for decaffeinating coffee, and agglomerated together again with a special glue.

Mytik Diamant corks contain at least 70 percent of cork material, and are guaranteed against cork taint. It remains to be seen how these will affect the long-term aging of a champagne, but many champagne producers, both négociants and growers alike, have embraced the Mytik cork, and have reported great success against TCA taint. Nebuchadnezzar—A 15-liter bottle, holding 20 standard bottles of champagne. Négoce—A term used to collectively refer to négociants, as in, "I sold my grapes to the négoce this year." Négociant—A champagne producer that bottles and markets champagne using grapes purchased from other growers. This reflects the traditional structure in Champagne that has existed for hundreds of years, whereby growers would own vineyards and grow grapes, selling them to négociants who would make the wine. A négociant may own vineyards as well, and in fact, some négociant houses own hundreds of hectares of vines, but they don't make wine exclusively from their own vineyards.

Today more growers are bottling their own wines, but the vast majority of champagne continues to be produced by négociant houses. Wines made by a négociant are labeled as NM, or négociant-manipulant. Non-Dosé—A champagne released without any dosage. Also called Brut Zéro or Brut Nature. Non-Vintage Champagne—A term used to refer to wines blended from multiple years. Non-vintage champagnes can be made at many different levels of quality: a non-vintage brut is generally a producer's basic, entry-level champagne, but many producers, especially grower-estates, have an upper-level non-vintage wine that is made from a stricter selection and is generally of higher quality than their basic non-vintage champagne.

(A good example is Vilmart, whose Grande Réserve is their basic, non-vintage brut, but who also makes the Grand Cellier, an upper-tier champagne that is also a blend of multiple years.) In addition, some producers even make prestige cuvées blended from multiple years, such as Laurent Perrier's Grand Siècle or Alfred Gratien's Cuvée Paradis, and these should not be confused with those houses' entry-level, non-vintage champagnes. Organic Viticulture—Viticulture practiced without the use of any synthetic products, whether pesticides, herbicides or treatments against maladies such as mildew. In Champagne, organic viticulture is often viewed with skepticism, as the region's northerly latitude and wet weather present distinct challenges, particularly when it comes to combatting mildew. A common criticism in the region as well of strictly organic viticulture is in its use of copper: copper is the prescribed treatment against mildew if one eschews synthetic products, but its critics say that copper's toxicity is much higher than that of certain synthetic materials, causing greater ecological damage. Despite all of this, organic viticulture is steadily gaining a greater following in the region, especially among the younger generation of growers.

Perhaps even more significant is that many more high-quality growers have adopted largely organic methods of working even if they haven't embraced it all the way, meaning that they are using less synthetic products in general. Organic growers may be certified by organizations such as Ecocert, and this is usually indicated on the bottle, as with the wines of Georges Laval or Françoise Bedel. As with other wine regions in the world, however, not all organic producers in Champagne are certified. This is not necessarily because they are cheating—some producers don't want to be pigeonholed as being organic, preferring to be known for the quality of their wines rather than for simply working organically. Others don't see certification as significant, noting that it represents only a lowest common denominator and doesn't necessarily correspond to the way that they work themselves. "The problem with certification is that it's a negative way of thinking," says Pierre Larmandier of Larmandier-Bernier, who farms biodynamically in addition to being organic.

"It focuses on what you don't do rather than the opposite." Perpetual Blend—A system of storing reserve wines by blending them together in a single cuvée that is constantly replenished by wine from the new harvest, thus eventually creating a complex, multi-vintage blend that will always include a small percentage of wine from every year added to it. The concept is similar to a solera, except that a solera involves multiple tiers or scales of wine, called criaderas, that are used to replenish each other, whereas a perpetual blend utilizes only a single cuvée. Phylloxera—Phylloxera vastatrix is a vine louse that is thought to have originated in eastern North America, but has since spread around the world, beginning in the middle of the nineteenth-century. It attacks the roots of the vine, destroying the root system and depriving the vine of its ability to intake nutrients and water. The affected plant will eventually wither and die, and must be uprooted. Phylloxera arrived in Champagne in 1890, devastating its vineyards, and today the only solution is to graft vines onto phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks.

A few producers in Champagne have small plots of ungrafted vines, but this is extremely rare. Poignetage—The act of shaking the bottles during lees aging, to put the lees in suspension and prevent them from sticking to the sides of the glass. It can also be done after disgorgement, to more evenly distribute the liqueur d'expédition. Post-Disgorgement Aging—Champagne is aged for much longer in the cellar than most wines of the world are, but it's generally consumed upon release, shortly after disgorgement. Top-quality producers try to hold their champagnes after disgorgement for at least six months before release, as the wines need time to recover from the physical shock of the act, but champagne almost always benefits from additional aging beyond this, and the wise consumer will reserve a place in his or her cellar to store champagne alongside the still wines. Even basic, non-vintage bruts can often improve with another year of aging, while vintage champagnes can sometimes continue to evolve for decades.

It should be noted, too, that aging before disgorgement and aging after disgorgement achieve different results, as the wines exist in different environments: before disgorgement, the wine is in a largely anaerobic environment, as the lees are natural antioxidants. As Jean-Hervé Chiquet of Champagne Jacquesson says, "Lees aging gives maturation and complexity in a much less oxidative way than aging after disgorgement." The act of disgorging introduces oxygen into the wine and removes the presence of the lees, inaugurating a new stage in the wine's development and allowing it to eventually progress towards the mellow, biscuity richness that uniquely characterizes old champagne. Premier Cru—In Champagne, where classifications have been carried out by village and not by vineyard, this refers to a village that would have been rated between 90 and 99 percent on the old échelle des crus: that is to say, it would have received between 90 and 99 percent of the fixed price for grapes in that harvest.

There are 43 premier cru villages in Champagne, all of which are located in the Marne département, and these include two villages, Chouilly and Tours-sur-Marne, that are rated as grand cru for only one variety. (Chouilly is rated as 100 percent for chardonnay but only 95 percent for pinot noir, while Tours-sur-Marne is rated 100 percent for pinot noir and 90 percent for chardonnay.) Prestige Cuvée—A prestige cuvée, sometimes also called a tête de cuvée, represents the most meticulously selected, most expensive, and presumably the highest quality champagne in a house's range. Well-known prestige cuvées include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Pol Roger's Sir Winston Churchill and Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne, while the first prestige cuvée of all was Dom Pérignon, launched by Moët & Chandon in 1936. Rebêche—The final pressing of the grapes, following the cuvée (the first 2,050 liters) and the taille (the next 500 liters).

By law, the rébeche cannot be used in champagne production, and is generally sent to be distilled. Récoltant-Coopérateur (RC)—A producer who grows grapes and gives them to a local cooperative, who in turn makes the champagne and gives a portion, in bottles, back to the grower. The grower then sells the champagne under his or her own label, marked as RC. Récoltant-Manipulant (RM)—A producer who grows grapes and makes champagne exclusively from their own vines, although an RM is legally allowed to augment their grape production with purchases of up to five percent of their harvest. See Grower Champagne. Rehoboam—In Champagne, a 4.5-liter bottle, holding six standard bottles of champagne. Remuage, or Riddling—A complex process involving both the turning and tilting of bottles in an upright rack, to collect the sediment at the neck of the bottle in preparation for disgorgement. Antoine de Müller, cellarmaster for Veuve Clicquot in the early 19th century, is credited with inventing the riddling rack in 1816.

Today, riddling by hand is still practiced, but it is increasingly becoming replaced by the gyropalette, a mechanical device that accomplishes the task in a much shorter amount of time. Reserve Wine—Older wines that are blended with the current harvest to make a non-vintage champagne. Smaller growers usually keep reserve wines from the last one or two vintages, while some négociants have large stocks of reserves dating back for decades. Louis Roederer, Bollinger and Krug are among those houses famous for maintaining an impressively vast collection of reserve wines. Riddling—See Remuage. Rosé Champagne—A pink version of champagne, most often made by the blending of a little red wine with normally vinified white wine. Champagne is the only appellation in France that is allowed to blend red and white wine together. Rosé champagne can also be made with the saignée method, which involves macerating the juice on the grape skins in order to impart color. Saignée—Literally, a "bleeding". In Champagne, a process of making rosé champagne in which color is derived from maceration on the skins rather than by the blending of red wine.

A saignée tends to produce rosés that are darker in color and more pungent in aroma in their youth. Advocates of the saignée method prefer it for its bold fruitiness and its naturally achieved character, which they sometimes feel is more authentic than blending red and white wine together. Critics of saignée rosé say that it can lack finesse, and also that its production is irregular, unable to be consistently reproduced from year to year. Salmanazar—A nine-liter bottle, holding 12 standard bottles of champagne. Sec—In French, this literally means dry, but in Champagne it refers to a champagne with a dosage level of between 17 and 35 grams of sugar per liter. Sexual Confusion—Well, hopefully this isn't too rampant among humans in the region. Confusion sexuelle refers to a treatment against the grape moth, in which small packets of synthetic pheromones are distributed among the vines to confound the male moths and prevent them from mating. This is considered to be a much more eco-friendly solution than alternative ones, which involve the spraying of vines with various chemical products, and thus it's gaining more widespread use in vineyard regions across France, including Champagne.

Single-Vineyard Champagne—A champagne that is made entirely from a single parcel of vines, as opposed to being blended from many different vineyards, as the vast majority of champagnes are. Solera—Strictly speaking, the solera method is a system of fractional blending, used in Jerez for the production of sherry. It involves a complex system of blending various criaderas, which contain wines of different ages, with the bottled wine coming from the last stage, the solera itself, which is the oldest level of the blend. In Champagne, Anselme Selosse of Champagne Jacques Selosse employs a true solera for his Substance, but the word solera is also sometimes used to refer to a less complex system of perpetual blending, whereby a single tank is used for the storage and blending of multiple vintages of wine, continually replenished by the new harvest. See Perpetual Blend. Sparkling Wine—While this might be perceived as snobbery, I believe that this is the correct term for any wines of an effervescent nature that are made outside of the Champagne region of France.

This should not be viewed as pejorative, but simply as proper nomenclature: the word Champagne refers to a geographically delimited appellation, just as Bordeaux refers to wines from a region in southwest France and Napa Valley refers to a region in northern California, and to use the term Champagne for sparkling wines made in California is akin to labeling a Central Coast merlot as Bordeaux. Happily, no quality producer of sparkling wine anywhere outside of Champagne continues to call their wine champagne, as it would only serve to detract from their image, and today it's only the Korbels of the world that persist in this practice. Sur Latte—The storing of bottles stacked on their sides, which is the most space-efficient method of storing champagne in the cellar. This is the way that champagnes are stored during the second fermentation and aging in the bottle, before they are put into riddling racks to prepare them for disgorgement. Sur Pointe—The storing of bottles upside down, on their necks. Bottles are held this way after riddling, while waiting to be disgorged, and are usually put into crates or cages to hold them in place.

This method may also be used for the long-term storage of undisgorged bottles that still contain sediment, to concentrate the sediment in the neck so that the lees have a minimal continuing effect on the wine. Some say that wine keeps better when left undisgorged and stored this way, staying fresher for a longer period of time. Others prefer to disgorge wines normally before long-term storage. In order to drink a bottle that is stored sur pointe, it must first be manually disgorged, in a process called disgorgement à la volée. Taille—In the vineyard, the word taille refers to the pruning of the vines. In a Champagne cellar, however, taille also refers to the second pressing of the grapes, composed of 500 liters of juice directly after the initial pressing of 2,050 liters, called the cuvée. The taille is generally considered to be inferior to the cuvée, but some producers choose to use a small quantity of taille for its fruitiness and its lower acidity. Tartrate Crystals—A precipitation of tartaric acid that occurs at low temperatures.

Tartrate crystals look similar to sugar crystals and are completely harmless, with no detrimental effect to either the wine or the wine drinker. However, in an effort to spare the consumer the sight of such things, most champagnes undergo a process of cold-stabilization, which forces the crystals to precipitate before bottling. TCA—The common abbreviation of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, the chemical compound that is the primary cause of cork taint. See Corked. Terroir—Famously untranslatable, the French concept of terroir refers to the identity and character of a particular place, taking into account the influence of all possible factors, from soil to slope to climate and anything else that could possibly have an effect on the plant in that particular place. It's well-known, and easily observable, that two adjacent vineyards cultivated by the same grower can produce remarkably different wines, and the cause of this can be attributed to the differences in terroir between each of them. Terroir is often talked about in terms of soil, but it is not a concept restricted to soil, and soil is only one component among many that make up the overall picture of a terroir.

Similarly, terroir is often talked about in very narrowly site-specific terms: the terroir of a particular vineyard, or even a particular parcel within a vineyard. However, the concept of terroir can be thought about both microscopically and macroscopically, and while the idea of two individual vineyards having different terroirs is certainly valid, one can also talk about the general terroir of the region of Champagne, for example, as having unique characteristics and properties that are expressed in its wines, making them different and distinguishable from sparkling wines made in other regions. Tête de Cuvée—See Prestige Cuvée. Tirage—The act of bottling. In Champagne, it's often customary to refer to non-vintage wines by the year of bottling rather than the year of harvest. For example, "tirage 2005" means that the wine was bottled in 2005, and the base vintage is most likely 2004. Transversage—The decanting of wine from one bottle into another, used to make champagne in very small bottles (187ml) or very large ones (greater than three liters).

This is because the second fermentation in bottle is less regular in these sizes. Ungrafted Vines—Vines on their original rootstocks, which are very rare in Champagne due to widespread phylloxera (the vast majority of European vines are grafted onto American rootstocks). Also known in French as franc de pied.

Question: On a wine label what does Premier Cru mean
Answer: First growth