the official approval of a wine for its respective appellation. This is based on an analysis and tasting test, carried out between November and April immediately following the harvest.
Argilo-calcaire
clay-limestone soil
Assemblage
the process of amalgamating the contents of various vats or casks to unify the wine and make a single cuvėe for bottling. This can take place at any time after vinification, but usually occurs at racking or just before bottling. This is also the moment when the conscientious grower will weed out any sub-standard casks.
Baguette
the principal fruiting cane(s) that remain after pruning.
Ban de vendange
the official proclamation of the start of harvest decided by the local INAO committee. Growers who pick before this date are liable to certain vinification restrictions.
Base elements
nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. These are the essential active soil ingredients to support plant life. They are not the same as trace elements.
Bâtonnage
the traditional practice of stirring white wines to ensure even distribution of the lees through the liquid. Its frequency and extent vary from domaine to domaine.
Biologique
la culture biologique is organic viticulture.
Botrytis
a fungus which attacks grapes and rots them. It appears in both dry and damp forms and is never desirable in red grapes. In white grapes a touch of damp rot may add quality to a dry wine. The taste of rot, in either form, is ineradicable.
Bourbe
the heavy, less desirable lees.
Buttage
traditional practice of ploughing up the soil around roots of vines to protect them from winter frosts. Now largely discontinued.
Carbonic maceration
a system of fermentation in which whole, uncrushed grapes are fermented in the absence of air. Colour is extracted without tannin, so the wine is supple and drinkable early. Much Beaujolais and bulk table wine is made this way.
Cėpage
grape variety
Chapeau
the cap of solids – skins, pips and stalks- which forms at the top of a vat of fermenting red juice, held up by escaping CO2 gas. If not kept moist this cap rapidly dries out and sours the entire vat. Pigėage both performs this function and also ensures maximum contact between liquid and solids, thereby maximum extraction.
Chaptalisation
the addition of sugar to fermenting must to correct a natural deficiency and thus bring the alcohol level up to the legal minimum. Introduced by Chaptal in 1801, the process is not designed to increase sweetness. The method and amount of chaptalisation are subject to legal control.
Charpente
literally ‘carpentry’: tasting-term, used to signify structure. Up to a point, the more charpente the wine has the better.
Chlorosis
vine disease caused principally by excess calcium in the soil in which leaves turn yellow and stop photosynthesis through lack of chlorophyll. Inappropriate rootstock is a principal cause.
Climat
vineyard site. In the Côte d’Or, climats usually have names-Les Cras ect
On my first trip up to Johannesburg in a decade, I was treated to a fantastic meal at this classy, neighbourhood establishment. The location for this gem is rather low-key,…
the official approval of a wine for its respective appellation. This is based on an analysis and tasting test, carried out between November and April immediately following the harvest.
On my first trip up to Johannesburg in a decade, I was treated to a fantastic meal at this classy, neighbourhood establishment. The location for this gem is rather low-key,… 