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Bottle of 9 litres capacity (twelve 75cl bottles).
(tast.) Said of a wine that is smooth and unctuous without rough tannins. A desirable quality in red burgundies, Volnay for example.
Describes chardonnay whites which have mellowness, body and good acid structure. The mellowness and acidity are guarantees of its keeping properties.
- (1) From the skins of black grapes come the colour and desirable tannins extracted during vatting. Something like 80% of aromas and their precursor molecules also derive from the skins. (2) Film formed on the unprotected surface of a wine by the action of oxydative yeasts.
A term applied to the tannins in a red wine. As a wine ages, the tannins integrate into the wine and their taste improves. They become rounded and softer, they ‘melt’ into the wine. This results in a less astringent wine. It particularly applies to big wines that are made to be drunk after lengthy ageing.
In the Bourgogne winegrowing region, sparkling AOC Crémant de Bourgogne wines are made in white and rosé versions. See also méthode traditionelle.
Any wine which is not sparkling/effervescent.
(tast.) Quality found in a wine made from well-ripened grapes and rich in good tannins.
Used in wine-growing and wine making as a sterilant. It takes three forms. (1) Powdered sulphur (flowers of sulphur) is used in fungicide sprays in the vineyards (sulfatage); (2) sulphur dioxide (SO2) is used to kill off undesirable organisms in the wine (sulfitage); (3) (mêchage).
(tast.) Pleasingly smooth and with an absence of rough tannins.