Why is it said that French red wine is the best? Recently, I suddenly got interested in French red wine, so I collected and compiled the information as follows. I don’t dare to keep it to myself, but I hope it can inspire others and get some advice from experts.
Let’s start with the wine label:
『Wine Label』
How to identify wine? Let’s learn to read the label on the wine bottle first (I should have posted an example picture to illustrate, but first of all, I don’t know how to paste pictures, and secondly, I heard that stickers require a lot of MP, and I only have 26 MP, so everyone should make do with it) ). The wine label is also called "etiquette" (French, meaning license), just like people's resumes. Just as there is a saying among people who know wine well that "you can tell the taste just by looking at the label," the label does indeed reveal information about the taste (characteristics) of the wine. Generally, the label will usually indicate: the year of grape harvest, the name of the wine (named after the place of origin or the name of the winery (Chateau)), the country or place of production, the name of the manor, the name of the producer (wine maker), and the capacity. , alcohol concentration...etc. Labels come in various styles depending on the designer's design, so the location where the data is written is also different.
Harvest year → The weather of the year will affect the quality of the grape harvest. Production area → The quality of a bottle of wine is determined by the geological conditions of the place of origin. A.O.C → Designated excellent production area A.O.C. legal name, wine in the castle →Mis EnBoteille Au Chateau, signed by the winemaker → has a higher level of guarantee for the quality of the wine
APPELLATION CONTROLEE Certificate of origin area management, usually the place name is added to these two words, that is, the name of the place of origin (often designated as the regional name of the AOC wine producing area). For example: APPELLATION BORDEAUX CONTROLEE or APPELLATION MARGAUX CONTROLEE, which means AOC wine from Bordeaux and Margot.
MIS EN BOUTEILLE means "bottling". BOUTEILLE is followed by the words of the winery, wine merchant or company, original producer, wine kiln, etc. Wine bottled at the winery is of the best quality and is called "winehouse original wine".
NEGOCIANT A wine broker, also known as a "wine merchant". Wine merchants will enter into contracts with wine growers to purchase wine, and then the wine will be sold as original wine or separately blended and bottled. In English, wine merchants are called SHIPPER GRAND CRU CLASSE, the classification of excellent wines. The Medoc region, Greve region, Saint-Emilion region and Sauternes region in Bordeaux produce wines with the name of the chateau, and the recognized excellent wines will be marked with GRAND CRU CLASSE.
The smaller the scope of the production area indicated by AOC, the higher the grade. French wines, with the exception of Alsace, are all named after the place of origin. The smaller the scope of indicating the production place name, the higher the level. For example, wines with the same AOC grade labeled with a regional name such as Murdoch are higher quality than those labeled with a regional name such as Bordeaux. If the wine has the name of the village, it is one level higher; if it is from Bordeaux and has the name of the winery, it is even more high-end. If in addition to the winery name and the GRAND CRU classification label, it is the highest-grade wine.
"French wine is divided into the following categories according to the wine law and its quality"
A.O.C. Wine is a general name for wines named after wines from designated fine production areas. This kind of wine is specific to the place of origin. (Regions, villages, vineyards, etc.) have very detailed restrictions, and there are about 400 designated areas. The marking method is such as APPELLATION ROMANEE CONTI CONTROLEE, and the ROMANEE CONTI between APPELLATION and CONTROLEE is the name of the winery.
Vin De Pays (regional table wine) is a high-quality designated wine brewed in a designated place of origin. It will not be upgraded to AOC wine for the time being.
There are fewer restrictions than those stipulated by the A.O.C., and the prices are more reasonable. If you look around, you may be able to find quite good quality wine!
Vin De Table (daily table wine, divided into three levels) 1, Vin de Table Francais (high-end, only blended with French grapes) 2, Melange de Vins de differentsPays de Communaute Europeenne (intermediate, blended Wines produced in European Union countries) 3. Vin otenu en France a Partir de Raisins Reolten (low-grade, not limited to grape varieties, brewed in France) The deliciousness depends entirely on the skill of the producer, and there is no hierarchy.
『How to preserve wine』
The most taboo thing about preserving wine is strong changes in temperature. If it is at room temperature when you buy it in the store, you only need to store it at room temperature at home. Just below. If you want to drink chilled wine, just freeze it before drinking. If you store wine in the refrigerator, it is only suitable to store it in a vegetable room where the temperature changes are small. The most ideal and long-term storage environment is to maintain a constant temperature between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius, a humidity between 65% and 80%, and keep it dark. Generally, wine is placed in the basement. Keep it clean to prevent other odors from seeping into the wine.
『Aberration』
Because red wine is called a vital liquid, it is because red wine contains tannic acid (Tannic Acid), which is formed when tannic acid comes into contact with the air. The changes produced are very rich. The best way to distinguish the changes in a bottle of wine is to pour 2 cups for the first time after opening the bottle. Drink one cup first and leave the other cup until the end. You can feel it clearly. The change time of each bottle of wine is different, maybe 10 minutes, maybe half an hour, maybe two hours later. How to send