Glossary:
Alsace region
anything in quotes is a brand name
1er cru - higher quality (depending on region - on Bordeau it is top level but in most other regions it's below grand cru as in Burgundy
Bandol a place in south of Brance in Provence which makes rose wine, dry. French rose is dry. (Mateus from Portugal is sweet.)
Banyuls - a region
Beaune - a region of Burgundy
Beaumes de venise - an appellation, a defined geographical region with regulations about wine appellation control, meaning controlled production
beaujolais -
blanc - white
Bordeaux - region literally border of water, meaning the sea coast, South West coast and further inland region of France
Bordeaux superieur - better quality than plain Bordeaux
cabernet - grape variety - several similar sounding names such as cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon
brut - dry - used for Champagne
Champagne - region of France
chateau (castle or mansion house - under French rules if you put a picture of a castle or palatial mansion on the label that must be a real place, and the place where you wine is grown or bottled)
Chateux Neuf du Pape makes red and white wine, famous, in southern Rhone near the towns of Avignon and Orange
clos - enclosed or walled vineyard originally although nowadays the walls have fallen but the name survives
Condrieu grows Viognier grape
cote - slope (where wine grows)
coteaux - side (area)
cotes - side (area, slope)
cremant - literally creamy - similar to sparkling but with smaller bubbles made like champagne in the same way but not allowed to be called Champagne which is a region
cru bourgeois - next level up in Bordeau above Bordeau superior (above that are named regions, above those are specifically named villages such as Margaux)
cuvee - a particular wine, might have another brand name for this blend or grape
de - of
du - of the
dom. - domaine
domaine - same as domain or place in English - maker or wine estate (every chateau is a domain but not every domaine has a chateau - it could be farmland without a farmhouse)
fils - son
Jurancon - a pretty town
La - the
La tour vieille - the old tower (adjective after the noun in French)
moulleux - off dry, slightly semi sweet
mousseux -
muscat - a grape variety
muscadet - appelation controlle name of a place - particular stye of wine from a particular grape
NV non vintage no year specified, a blend to ensure consistent quality over the variable years
pays - country
reserva - not part of quality control in France, (but it is in Spain where the terms reserve and grand reserve are for white and reds, which refers to age their rather than the quality although you would not bother to mature it for ages unless it was good quality)
Riesling - a grape variety
rose - pink
rouge - red
sec - dry
sylvaner - a white grape
superieur -
tour - tower
vin - wine
vin de pays - wine of the country of France, in the French control system, the lowest level of quality, not tied to a specific local control, can be sourced from grapes anywhere, used to be called vin de France, now just vin de pays, we would call it table wine or in French vin de table
vieux - old
vielle - old (spelled this way to match a feminine word)
fumee - smoky - gives flint in wine taste
pouilly fuisse is a white wine from south Burgundy, Chardonnay is a grape used in this region where wine is nearly always Chardonnay (unless the small amount of nasty Aligote which is mixed with Cassis to make the mixed drink Kir, named after Canon Kir who is credited with mixing local fruit juice with the nasty wine to make it more palatable - why would you buy Aligote? Because you need it as the mixer. A sweeter wine mixed with the fruit juice is horrid but a kir is wonderful.)
