FAQ — 518
Browse, filter, or search our FAQ database.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A wine's finish (or length) is how long its flavours linger on your palate after you swallow. It's measured in caudalies — basically, one caudalie equals one second. A great wine can hang around for 10-12 seconds or more, while an everyday bottle fades after 2-4 seconds.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
Red wine stains teeth because of chromogens (color pigments from anthocyanins) and tannins that bind to tooth enamel. The wine's acidity temporarily opens enamel pores, letting pigments seep in.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A tannic wine is one where you really feel the tannins, those natural compounds from grape skins, seeds, and stems that create a drying, gripping sensation in your mouth. Think of the feeling when you drink strong black tea. Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, and Tannat are famously tannic grapes.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A good wine is recognized by its balance between acidity, alcohol, tannins (for reds), and residual sugar. It shows notable length on the palate (flavors persist after tasting), aromatic complexity, and a clean finish.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A cuvée refers to a specific batch of wine from a particular selection of grapes, plots, or barrels. In Champagne, the term historically means the first press juice (the purest 2,050 liters from 4,000 kg of grapes), considered the highest quality.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A 'vin de pays' is a French wine classification that sits between basic table wine and the strict AOC/AOP appellations. Since 2009, it's officially called IGP (Protected Geographical Indication). These wines must come from a specific region but follow looser rules — giving winemakers more creative freedom. The Pays d'Oc in southern France is by far the biggest, producing over 6 million hectolitres per year.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
That little tingle in certain wines comes from dissolved carbon dioxide (CO₂) left over from fermentation. Sometimes it's totally intentional — winemakers bottle early to trap a bit of fizz, giving the wine a fresh, lively feel. Muscadet sur lie, Vinho Verde, and many young whites are known for this. Other times, it's accidental (a hint of refermentation in the bottle), which can be a flaw — or a happy surprise.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
The 'nose' of a wine is simply what it smells like. Wine professionals break it into three layers: primary aromas from the grape itself (fruits, flowers), secondary aromas from fermentation (bread, butter, yoghurt), and tertiary aromas from ageing (leather, tobacco, earth). A single wine can contain over 800 different aromatic compounds — which is why smelling wine before you sip it reveals so much.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
Still wine is flat — no bubbles. Sparkling wine is fizzy. The difference comes down to carbon dioxide: still wines let the CO₂ escape during winemaking, while sparkling wines deliberately trap it through a second fermentation, either in the bottle (traditional method, like Champagne) or in a pressurised tank (Charmat method, like Prosecco). The pressure ranges from about 1 bar (lightly fizzy) to 6 bars (full-on sparkle).
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A blend is a wine made from multiple grape varieties, vineyard plots, or vintages combined to create a more complex and balanced flavor profile. It's the dominant practice in Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon + Merlot + Cabernet Franc) and Champagne.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A single-varietal wine is made from just one grape variety. It lets that grape's personality shine through without blending. Under EU law, a wine can be labelled as a single variety if at least 85% comes from that grape. Regions like Burgundy (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay), Alsace (Riesling, Gewurztraminer), and much of the New World are famous for this approach.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
Mouthfeel is the physical sensation wine creates in your mouth — its weight, texture, and body. It's the difference between skimmed milk and double cream. A full mouthfeel comes from alcohol, glycerol, tannins, and dissolved solids working together. When a wine fills your mouth with rich, velvety texture, that's impressive mouthfeel.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
To organize a wine tasting at home, plan 5-8 wines around a theme (region, grape variety, vintage), provide proper tasting glasses, water, and neutral bread. Serve wines from lightest to fullest-bodied at appropriate temperatures.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
Wine changes flavour over time because of slow chemical reactions happening inside the bottle. Tannins link together and soften. Bright fruit aromas fade into earthy, leathery, truffle-like notes. Colour shifts from purple to brick-red (for reds) or from pale gold to amber (for whites). These changes happen through controlled oxidation, molecular rearrangement, and ester breakdown — all driven by time and temperature.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
There are roughly 10,000 known grape varieties in the Vitis vinifera family, but only about 1,370 are actually used to make wine commercially. Even more striking: just 13 varieties account for a third of the world's vineyards. Cabernet Sauvignon leads the pack, planted on over 340,000 hectares globally.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
A varietal wine is one that's labelled and marketed by grape name — Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Grigio — rather than by region or appellation. This approach was pioneered by New World countries (Australia, California, Chile) and has become the dominant way most people shop for wine. It's straightforward: see the grape name, know roughly what to expect.
Bases et dégustation·Informational
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to grape juice before or during fermentation to boost the wine's final alcohol level. It's named after the French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal, who promoted it in 1801. It's legal in cooler wine regions (Burgundy, Champagne, Germany) where grapes sometimes struggle to ripen fully, but banned in warmer regions (southern France, Italy, Spain) where nature provides enough sugar.
Conservation et service·Informational
A 20-year-old wine can be absolutely delicious, but only if it was built to last and stored properly. Big reds with firm tannins, fine sweet wines, and top-tier whites with high acidity are the usual survivors. A simple table wine from 2006, though? Probably past its prime.
Conservation et service·Informational
If the bottle has a natural cork, store it on its side. This keeps the cork moist so it stays expanded and airtight. A dried-out cork shrinks, lets air in, and your wine oxidises. Screw-cap bottles? Store them however you like — upright is fine.
Conservation et service·Informational
Technically you can refreeze wine, but you really shouldn't drink it afterwards. Each freeze-thaw cycle destroys aroma compounds and flattens the texture. If you've thawed wine once, either drink it that day or use it for cooking, that's where frozen wine actually shines.