Tonight, you’ve got a wine tasting at your local wine shop and you’re a bit stressed… You’re afraid you won’t understand the jargon of the apprentice oenologists who, on the spot, will put all their energy into the description, perhaps false, of the wines the wine shop will offer them.

Don’t worry, we’ve put together a reminder of 9 expressions often heard in the world of wine.

This wine has a brilliant colour

The robe of a wine poetically refers to its visual appearance: its color, brilliance and clarity. A “robe éclatante” is a brightly colored robe that often dresses a young wine, and generally northern wines that have not received too much sun. Older wines have a duller, tile-like color, tending towards brown for example. Wines from the south that have received a lot of sunshine have very dark, almost black, colors.

This wine is closed

A closed wine is one whose aromas cannot be properly perceived when smelled. If at first nose, the aromas are discreet, or even non-existent, then it’s best to wait a little while for the wine to reveal all its aromas. It can also be decanted.

This wine has legs

When you swirl your wine in your glass, you can see droplets along the sides. These droplets are called “wine tears” and their thick, dense consistency generally indicates a generous wine with a high alcohol content… in short, a wine with legs!

The attack is frank

When you taste a wine, there are three phases: the attack, the middle and the finish. the attack corresponds to the moment when the glass comes into contact with the glass and the first drops of wine enter the mouth. This is when the first aromas are released. If the wine is intense at this point, the attack is said to be frank. It corresponds to tannic wines or wines with a high alcohol content.

A well-balanced wine

There are four families of taste perceptions: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. In wine, we generally find sweetness in the alcohol and fructose of the fruit, acidity in the aromas of lemon, apple and vinegar, bitterness in the tannins, and saltiness in the mineral salts. A balanced wine is one in which none of these sensations dominates the other. For example, a well-balanced red wine will have a perfect balance between acidity, tannins and sweetness.

The nose has a floral bouquet

A bouquet is the set of aromas released by a wine and perceived by the nose. Wines can reveal an infinite number of aromas that can be classified into several categories. Oenologist Richard Pfister has classified wine aromas into 8 categories: animal smells, woody smells, mineral smells, empyreumatic smells, spicy smells, floral smells, fruity smells, vegetable smells, lactic smells and smells revealing a defect. In short, we are talking about a floral bouquet when the wine we taste has floral aromas on the nose.

This wine is long

We’re going to take a look at the wine’s finish, the third and final stage when tasting a wine. The finish corresponds to the last flavors and impressions you have of the wine once you’ve put your glass down. A wine with length is one whose aromas and character will leave their mark on your palate for several seconds, or even more than ten seconds. For example, an astringent wine (which dries out the mouth) will leave the mouth feeling dry for many seconds after tasting. A long-lasting Beaujolais will leave delicious fruity aromas on the palate.

This wine is supple

A supple wine is one that is easy to drink. On the palate, it flows remarkably well and is very drinkable. Gouleyant wines are generally low in tannin (which adds bitterness and body) and low in acidity (acidity makes the wine more unpleasant to drink).

A gourmet wine

A gourmand wine is similar to a supple wine. It’s not necessarily as easy to drink, but it flatters our senses and invites us to drink it as soon as possible. Gourmet wines are often the wines of friends, table wines that are drunk without moderation in bistros or around a barbecue and a good piece of grilled beef.