Wine Articles - French Wine FAQ

Our guests ask us many questions about wine.  Here are some of the questions we are most frequently asked, with our responses.

• What are "legs"? Are they a sign of quality in a wine?

• Why are wines called by the grape variety in the U.S. and other New World countries, and by the name of the appellation in France?

• What makes the difference between a "good" wine and a "bad" wine? Are there different standards for red and white wines?

• What are the different French bottle sizes and their contents?

• What causes a wine to be "corked"?

• What grape varieties are used in French wines?

• What is an "appellation"?

• Do all wines benefit from being decanted?

• Should I open a wine several hours before serving to let it "breathe"?

• Should I only buy wine from the best vintages?

• What is a "cru" ?

• What's the difference between an AOC wine, a Vin de Pays, and a Table Wine?

• What are the best conditions for storing wine?

• What are the different classifications of sweet wines in France?
  (more to come)

What are "legs"? Are they a sign of quality in a wine?
"Legs" or "tears" are words often used to describe the streaks that appear on the side of your wine glass after you swirl the wine.  Many people feel that the more "legs" are present, the higher the quality of the wine; they even go on about the length and width of the legs and the rate at which they descend.

The presence of "legs" is not in any way a sign of quality.  The appearance of streaks on the side of your glass is an indication of the alcohol content of the wine. For sweet wines, it can also indicate the sugar content.  As you swirl your wine, a thin film of alcohol and water (two major components of wine) are left along the sides of the glass.  The alcohol evaporates more quickly than the water, and tends to move up the side of the glass as it evaporates.  Within a second or two, the pull of gravity makes the alcohol and the water fall back down into the wine.  This is a purely scientific phenomenon, known as the Marangoni effect, and is totally unrelated to the quality of the wine.  You can observe the same effect if you throw some rubbing alcohol into a sink - streaks will form on the sides of the sink and eventually descend into the drain.

The way the glass was washed has a lot to do with the appearance of "legs".  If the glass has been improperly washed, tiny particles along the sides of the glass will create more surface tension and encourage the alcohol and water to stick longer to the sides of the glass.  Inversely, using a dishwashing product with "sheeting action" will break the surface tension of the alcohol and water, so you'll see fewer legs and they'll descend quite rapidly.

You can much more accurately judge the quality of a wine, including its alcohol and its sugar content, by TASTING the wine than by looking at the legs.

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Why are wines called by the grape variety in the U.S. and other New World countries, and by the name of the appellation in France?

In France, the concept of "terroir" is held to be of utmost importance in wine.  "Terroir" refers to the characteristics of the place where the wine is made, namely the soil and topology, the climate (including angle of exposition to the sun), the grape variety planted there, and the winemaking savoir-faire and traditions of the area.  The French feel that this set of characteristics, the terroir, that determines the taste and uniqueness of the wine, not just the grape variety.  For this reason, a wine made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region will produce a different tasting wine than a wine made from Gamay grapes in the Tourraine region of the Loire Valley (taste them both yourself and notice the differences).  The Appellation d'Origine Controlée (A.O.C.) is given to wines that come from a particular "terroir", indicating that they are made in compliance with a set of government-determined rules that codify the characteristics of a particular place.  For example, to be called A.O.C. Sancerre, the wine must come from the area delimited by the government to be called Sancerre because of its soil and climate characteristics, be made only from the grape varieties that are authorized (therefore traditional) for that delimited area, with grapes grown only in that area, and be produced using the traditional viticultural and winemaking techniques of that area, 

The United States adopted the usage of grape varieties to name their wines for several reasons.  First of all, the U.S. does not have as old a winemaking tradition as France, so there were no particular winemaking traditions associated with particular places.  Only in California, where wine has been produced now for over 100 years, are we beginning to see the designation of AVA's (American Viticultural Areas) that correspond to the French appellations, for instance for the Napa Valley and Lodi areas.  Another reason was marketing-oriented: the American public in general did not have a tradition of wine drinking and a knowledge of wine, so it was easier for them to differentiate wines by grape varieties (a very concrete concept), rather than by "terroir" (a more difficult, abstract concept).  Without centuries of winemaking traditions, American grape growers planted many different grape varieities all over the country: for example, one can find Chardonnay on the West Coast in California, in Washington State, and on the East Coast.  To their way of thinking, the place where the grape was planted was not important, it was the grape variety that created the quality and the particular taste.  In France, the great majority of Chardonnay is planted in Burgundy, where centuries of winemaking tradition showed that this grape grown in that "terroir" produced quality wines.  It was the place that made the quality, not just the grape variety, so they called the wines Burgundy, not Chardonnay.

However, attitudes are changing in both the New World countries and in France.  Weary of being bound by strict traditions and rules, winemakers in some French wine regions, especially Languedoc, are planting non-traditional grape varieties for that region (like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay) and making interesting wines with them.  Since these wines are made with unauthorized grape varieties, they cannot be called by the names of the standard appellations of the region, and are therefore called by the grape variety, like in the New World countries, and become Vin de Pays, not A.O.C.

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What makes the difference between a "good" wine and a "bad" wine? Are there different standards for red and white wines?

Let's first define the terms "good" and "bad".  "Bad" is a technical term used by wine professionals to denote a wine that either has a defect or has been poorly made and therefore is of poor quality. Wine drinkers may judge a wine "bad" if the taste of the wine doesn't correspond to their personal taste, but that's not a "bad" wine, it's just a wine they don't like. Here's what constitutes a "bad" red or white wine to our way of thinking:

- Red: any defect makes the wine "bad" (red or white): if the bottle is corked, or has a bottle sickness, or tastes like vinegar, or smells very musty, or has been exposed to the air and become oxidized or "madeirised" (smells like sweet madeira wine). Other than that, for red wine, a bad wine can be one that has tannins that are aggressive and very coarse, harsh or rough, and dry out the mouth.  This should not be confused with red wines that have very strong tannins when they're very young (like many Médoc or Haut-Médoc wines from Bordeaux), making them practically undrinkable. The tannins in those wines can be strong but also very fine and elegant; with aging, those tannins will get softer and more pleasant. But tannins that are aggressive and rough or coarse are the result of overpressing the grapes, or keeping the wine too long in oak casks, or other factors that reflect poor management of the vinification process, and will not get better with aging. Some red wines can be rather acid tasting - if it's too much, the flavors of the wine are no longer balanced, a sign of poor quality (also can be a sign of using grapes that weren't mature enough, or poor control of the vinification process). Finally, a good red wine should have a good concentration of fruit - you shouldn't feel like you're drinking flavored water.  If the wine seems diluted, then it's not a good quality wine. Sediment in the bottle is normal for older red wines, and not a sign of bad quality.  We also expect red wines to be aromatic; we tend to expect a certain level of aromatic complexity in red wines, especially those from Bordeaux and Burgundy.  If the wine is not aromatic, or has very simple aromas, that can be a sign of lesser quality (although you have to know the typicity of the appellation to be able to judge accurately; a Côtes du Rhône wine can have fairly simple aromas and be a perfectly fine wine).

- White: the quality we look for in most dry white wines is the freshness that comes from a lively acidity.  In certain white wines like white Burgundies, a certain roundness in the mouth is expected in quality wines (although some bone-dry white wines will not have this and still be quite good). White wines should also be aromatic and well-balanced. If you taste a white wine and you're overpowered by its acidity, it's not balanced, so that's a sign of poor quality. On the other hand, a white wine that doesn't have much acidity will seem flat and uninteresting. Balance is the key in all wines. Some dry white wines can be slightly effervescent - this is normal and not a sign of bad quality. If you see some crystals around the opening of a white wine bottle, or in the wine, this is also normal and not a sign of bad quality.  White dessert wines should be very aromatic, and have a good level of acidity to balance the sweetness, otherwise they become cloying.  Rosé wines are judged by the same criteria as white wines.  They may have a slight astringence that is normal, since the wine is left in contact with red grape skins for a short time and a small amount of tannins in the skins seeps into the wine.

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Chart reprinted by permission of Michel Laroche SA, producer of fine French wines. 
Visit their web site at: http://www.michellaroche.com/uk/homepage/indexns.html

What causes a wine to be "corked"?
We say that a wine is "corked" ("bouchonné" in French) when it has a characteristic musty, moldy, corky smell (some compare it to wet cardboard) that dominates and virtually cancels out any other aromas in the wine. Experts say that approximately 5% of all wine bottles have this defect. Obviously this is an undesirable occurrence, one that should prompt the buyer to send back the bottle either to the restaurant or to the shop where it was purchased. But what really causes this phenonemon ?

There is a great deal of controversy as to the real origin of the corked defect in wine. Many people believe that it is caused by a poor quality cork, but in reality, even the highest quality cork can be affected. Some people have gone so far as to attribute the smell of moldy cork in the wine to the fact that the wine was laid on its side and « absorbed » the taste and smell of its cork!  In the majority of cases, cork taint is caused by the presence of powerful molecules called 2-4-6 trichloranisoles (TCA) that contaminate either the cork or the wine itself before it’s bottled. These molecules are created by a chemical reaction between the molds in cork and wood (after all, cork is a type of wood) and chlorine (used to bleach corks, and often used to clean the floors of winemaking facilities) or other chemical contaminants including pesticides and chemicals used to treat wood present in wineries (like wooden storage palets or exposed beams). One teaspoon of the stuff is potent enough to destroy all the wine produced in the U.S., and one affected cork packaged with thousands of others could contaminate the whole batch. Trichloranisole molecules are so strong that they can penetrate through 5 centimeters of concrete, and through the walls of most wine fermentation vats, so it is possible for wine to already be « corked » before it ever makes it into the bottle ! Many enologists feel that actual contamination of the cork occurs in only 20% of all cases. Recent efforts to eliminate the use of chlorine in bleaching corks (using hydrogen pyroxide instead) and in cleaning winery facilities, and the elimination of exposed wood in the winemaking facility have somewhat reduced the number of cases of corked bottles.

What grape varieties are used in French wines?
In France, it's not always easy to know what grape variety is used in the wines.  The grape variety is rarely indicated on the label; one notable exception is in Alsace.  For the other regions, here is a guide that can help.  For each region, the major and minor grape varieties are indicated; the minor grape varieties are in parentheses.

What is an "appellation"?
The French term "appellation" is actually a shortened form of the term Appellation d'Origine Controlée (A.O.C.).  It refers to a geographic area that has been defined and delimited by the French government agency called the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (I.N.A.O.).  This agency creates an A.O.C. upon request from winemakers who contend that their geographical area has a common climate, soil characteristics, grape variety(ies) and winemaking traditions and practices.  These features make up what the French call terroir, which is thought to produce wines with a common "typicity" (common organoleptic, or taste and smell, characteristics).  After researching the history, traditions, geography and terroir of the area in question, if the I.N.A.O. agrees with the winemakers, it will define the geographic borders of this area and give it a name (appellation literally means name).  The name of the appellation is usually the traditional name of the area, village or "lieu-dit" (district of a village).  The agency then creates a law in which they list the rules of production that must be followed in order to earn the right to put that appellation on a wine label with "A.O.C." (the government stamp of approval) next to it.  100% of the grapes used for an A.O.C. wine must originate from the geographical area designated by the I.N.A.O. for that appellation.  A vineyard located outside the geographic area of an appellation can never produce wines with that appellation on the label.

Since the A.O.C. is associated with quality by the consumer (and therefore higher prices), winemakers in that area have a vested interest in adhering to the strict rules and regulations of the appellation.  The goal of the I.N.A.O. is to preserve traditional winemaking practices and traditional names, so the consumer knows when he buys an A.O.C. Hermitage wine, for example, that it will have distinctive and recognizable characteristics.  This is part of preserving the French national heritage, which is a major preoccupation of the French government (and the reason we still have so many historic and beautiful sites to visit in France).

It's important to remember that an appellation is a geographical area defined by the I.N.A.O., which may not be the same area as that of the village bearing the same name.  For example, the geographical area of the town of Bourgeuil in the Loire Valley are not the same as the geographical area of the appellation of Bourgeuil, since these two geographical areas were not defined by the same government agency, one being administrative, the other viti-vinicultural !  The geographical area of the appellation Chateauneuf-du-Pape extends well beyond the area of the village of the same name, into several other towns and villages.

While A.O.C. wines are generally better quality than non-A.O.C. wines, the A.O.C. distinction does not guarantee quality.  There is enough room left in the rules for poor viticultural and winemaking practices to continue, and they do.  There are plenty of bad A.O.C. wines.  However, strict limitations on yield and other rules help maintain a basic level of quality - it is always up to the individual winemaker to go the rest of the way to achieve a high quality product.

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Do all wines benefit from being decanted?
No.  Generally, the wines that benefit most from decantation (pouring wine from the bottle into a carafe) are younger wines. The reason is that the act of decanting the wine also aerates the wine.  In a young white wine, aeration can bring out aromas in a wine that  would otherwise be "closed" and unexpressive.  In a young red wine, aeration can take the edge off of tannins that could otherwise be too agressive, as in a young left bank (majority Cabernet Sauvignon) Bordeaux wine. 

With older wines, one needs to be more careful.  Overexposure to the air can cause rapid oxidation of a fragile, older wine, effectively killing it and rendering it undrinkable. What constitutes an older wine?  It depends on the wine: for a premier grand cru classé Bordeaux or a Grand Cru Burgundy, old could be 40 or 50 years; for a generic Burgundy or a Bordeaux Supérieur, it could be old at 10 years, even less.  Better to err on the side of caution, open and decant (if you must)  just before serving.  

Another reason people decant red wine is to separate out the sediment at the bottom of the bottle.  Sediment in red wine is perfectly normal, the result of the binding together of tannins and pigment that then precipitates and falls to the bottom of the bottle.  A little sediment in your glass won't harm you.  Again, if you prefer to decant, with older wines do so just before serving.  Let the bottle stand upright for an hour prior to serving to allow the sediment to settle to the bottom of the bottle, then be sure to move the bottle as little as possible as you decant.  There is a method by which you can keep sediment in the bottom of the bottle without decanting: bring each glass up to the wine bottle, tilting the wine bottle only enough to let a thin stream of wine come out.

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Should I open a wine several hours before serving to let it "breathe"?
First of all, not all wines benefit from contact with the air.  As I discussed above in the question on decanting, older wines can become oxidized and undrinkable if left to "breathe" too long before drinking.  But let's define what "letting a wine breathe" actually means.  Most people uncork a wine bottle and let it sit upright, uncorked, to "let it breathe".  In reality, with the wine still in the bottle, there is only a tiny surface area of the wine that is actually in contact with the air, so little to no aeration occurs.  To really let the wine breathe, you have to either serve the wine (each time you tilt the bottle, more of the wine comes in contact with the air), or decant it into a carafe.  Decanting can be particularly beneficial for young wines (see decanting, above).

Should I only buy wine from the best vintages?

When buying French wines, many people rely on vintage charts to tell them what were the "best" years.  Then they buy only wines from these years.  In reality, you're missing out if you buy only the so-called "best" years.  To understand why, let's look at what makes a year good or not.  It's a matter of weather: the weather has to be hot, sunny and dry in the last part of the growing season, roughly August and September, to bring grapes to full maturity and keep rot and fungus from growing and damaging the grapes.  But the winegrower and the winemaker also contribute to making the best, or the worst, of the existing conditions and harvest.  Even in the "best" years, some winemakers will work better than others, producing better quality wine than their neighbors.  The existence of microclimates within a wine region can cause some areas to produce extremely well while others produce less well.  It is therefore too simplistic to think that a "great" year is great everywhere in a region (especially in such a vast region like Bordeaux), and consistently great from one estate to another.  That's why the vintage charts are really only good as a basic guideline.

Usually, the great years are those that can be aged, and in fact, need to be aged to be appreciated.  So what does one drink while waiting for those great wines to reach their optimum maturity?  How about a "lesser" year!  Just because there are "great" years, that doesn't mean that all the other years were terrible.  They may also have been excellent, but perhaps the aging potential is less great, so they'll be ready to drink sooner.  Of course, the final reason to not only buy the great years has to do with the realities of one's pocketbook.  Most of us can't afford to drink only 1990 Château Lafite Rothschild all the time.  A good tactic is to buy the "lesser" years (I prefer to say "less great") of the major chateaus, and the best years of the second or third tier estates.  In some places in France, like the Southern Rhône Valley, nearly every year is a good year - the weather is so sunny, dry and hot in August and September that the wines are consistently good from year to year, so you don't have to worry so much about vintage (except perhaps for 2002, due to unusual catastrophic flooding that devastated much of this year's grape harvest).  When years are problematic, modern oenology (wine science) is able to correct most of the ill effects and enable winemakers to produce good (if not great) wine.

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What is a "cru" ?
The French word "cru" denotes a specific, delimited terroir or production area that has been singled out for its quality.  For example, in the Rhône Valley viticultural region, we refer to the 13 communal appellations (the highest level of quality in that region - among them Côte Rôti and Gigondas) as the "crus" of the Rhône Valley, since these appellations are considered to have the best quality terroirs.   In some cases, the word "cru" refers to a vineyard of exceptional quality which is given a particular status according to a system of classification, as in the Grand Crus and Premiers Crus of Burgundy (in specified lieux-dits or climats), or the Grand Crus of Alsace. In the case of the Bordelais, the property of a particular classified chateau is referred to as a cru.  In Champagne, the word "cru" is applied to whole villages and their vineyards, classified as Cru, Premier Cru or Grand Cru.

What's the difference between an AOC wine, a Vin de Pays, and a Table Wine?
The French government has defined four levels of quality for French wine production:

• Vin de Table (Table Wine - represents 14% of the total production of French wine):  this is the lowest level of quality, in other words, ordinary French table wine.  The grapes used to make these wines can come from anywhere in France.  These wines are made with the highest yields of any French wine, and the fewest rules of production.  The only geographical reference on the label is "France", and there is neither a vintage nor a grape variety indicated.

• Vin de Pays (Country Wine - represents 31% of the total production):  Grapes used for producing these wines come from a specific but large viticultural area (usually larger than VDQS or AOC) other than the standard wine regions.  For example, Vin de Pays d'Oc (covering much of Provence and Languedoc) or Vin de Pays de la Loire (covering much of the Loire Valley).

• VDQS - Vin de Qualité Supérieur (Superior Quality Wine - represents 1% of the total production): this level of wine is quickly disappearing, as more winemakers choose to make either Vin de Pays or AOC wines.  Refers to wines made in one of the less famous, standard wine regions (like the Southwest, or Provence).

• AOC - Appellation d'Origine Controlée (Name with a Controlled Origin - represents 54% of the total production):  Wines that are made in a specific, delimited area within a standard wine region.  The label will have the name of the place where the wine was made (and where 100% of the grapes originated), with the mention below that name "Appellation (name of place) Controlée".  This is the highest level of quality, with the strictest production rules and the lowest yields.

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What are the best conditions for storing wine?
For optimal aging potential, wines must be stored under ideal conditions (or as ideal as possible). An ideal cellar or storage space should have the following five characteristics:

• It should be DARK:  light makes wine age more quickly.  Excessive exposure to light can even produce an undesirable taste in the wine.  Of course, you'll need to be able to find your way when you're in your cellar, so you'll need some kind of light source.  Simple low-level incandescent lighting is fine - candlelight is even better (and more romantic!).  Make sure the lights do not shine directly on the wine, and are located next to the wine (the heat they throw off can "cook" your wine if left on for too long).  Be sure to turn off the lights when you leave!

• It should be HUMID: to keep corks from drying out (which can lead to seepage and oxidation), your cellar should ideally have between 80% and 90% humidity. Putting gravel on the floor will keep you from walking in the puddles that can form from the humidity. Be aware that in a very humid cellar, the labels of your prized wines may get moldy or deteriorated. To avoid having them slip off when they rub against other bottles, make sure when you stack your bottles that the labels do not touch each other.

• It should have a CONSTANT TEMPERATURE: ideal cellar temperature for optimal (slow, consistent) aging is 12-13°C (around 53-55°F).  If you can't keep your cellar that cool, at least shoot for a CONSTANT temperature that is as close to those ideal temperatures as possible.  Large fluctuations in temperature make wine age prematurely, as do hot temperatures which, if hot enough, can "cook" your wines and ruin them.

• It should be FREE OF VIBRATIONS: don't place your washing machine on the same wall as your 1982 Mouton Rothschild.  Vibration will stir up sediment and prematurely age your wine.

• It should be FREE OF ODORS: don't locate your cellar next to your garage.  The odors of gasoline can easily penetrate into the cellar, through the corks (yes, even with the capsule on) and into the wine. Don't store garlicky sausage or other strong-smelling foods in your cellar for the same reason.

If your cellar or storage space does not have ideal humidity or temperature, there are many air conditioning/humidifier units available for sale that work quite well.  If you are unable to reproduce these conditions successfully in your particular situation, opt for storing your wine in one of the many wine refrigerators (armoires) that are available.  They will keep your wine at the optimal, constant temperature and humidity.

What are the different classifications of sweet wines in France?
There are four terms used to describe the amount of sugar in French wines:  Sec (Dry: less than 4g of residual sugar per litre), Demi-Sec (Off-Dry: 4-20g/litre), Moelleux (Sweet: 20-45g/litre) and Liquoreux (Very Sweet, or "like a Liqueur": more than 45g/litre). The Germans also have a system they use to describe the amount of sugar in their sweet wines (from slightly sweet to very sweet): Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese.  When we speak about sugar, we're not talking about table sugar that has been added into the wine; we're talking about residual sugar, that is, the grape sugar that is naturally left in the wine after the fermentation process is completed.  During fermentation, grape sugars are converted by yeast into alcohol.  If the fermentation process is stopped by the winemaker before all the grape sugar is converted into alcohol, or if the fermentation stops by itself (if the grapes are over-ripe and have so much sugar that the yeast die before they can convert it all to alcohol), the sugar that has not been converted into alcohol remains in the wine - we call that remaining sugar the "residual" sugar.  The "Noble Rot" (botrytis cinerea) that attacks grapes under certain specific climactic conditions and concentrates the sugars, produces wines with a great deal of residual sugar (liquoreux).

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