The French have been selling wine for hundreds of years. After that long, they have gotten very good at it. I have only been buying wine for 40 years, but I have learned a few things, too.

Doug Tunnell and I were out on The Deschutes River last summer. One of the things we talked about was the words and phrases the French often use to describe their new wines that stir consumers to buy. Below is a tongue-in-cheek description of a few. Add your own if this sounds familiar.

We periodically hear that a particular offering is a “vin de garde.” The term connoted a bottle aging gracefully to reach perfection in years to come. It is also true that this can mean hard, unyielding wine with high acidity or tannin — or both — and shallow fruit. As I look back, this term seems to have been designed to sell wine now with no recriminations for 20 years, while the wine is sleeping. Buyer beware. 1988 red burgundies were widely touted as “vin de garde”. I have been “garde”ing some of these for nearing 20 years. Many are still hard, sour, and shallow.

The 1978 Bordeaux were described as “miracle” wines. The term connotes “magic” wines of outstanding quality. In the 30 years since, it is clear that the “miracle” of 1978 was the such negative conditions during the growing season provided even decent wines. Be wary of “miracles”.

A number of vintages and wines have been described as “classique”. When I think of a “classic”, I am reminded of something that has stood the test of time and stands out from the crowd. A number of the “classique” burgundies I have drunk were just the reverse of this. Run of the mill wines that were made just as badly as predecessors were made 40 years before. The term can create a “classic” case of over promise and under-delivery.

Over the years many wines have been described as “rustique”. Be careful when you see this description. We Americans prized rugged individuality, and “rustic” can connote this. It can also cannote old-style honesty or a “diamond in the rough”. When used to describe French wine, it usually indicates a flawed wine with off smells and tastes akin to barnyard.

Similar to “rustique” is “animale”. This description can connote raw power. It is designed to do just that. But remember: “animale” also encompasses wet cat hair and cow manure! These mental pictures are quite different from raw power!

Now and then I have seen “petillante” used to describe a wine. More than once, I have thought this was an attempt to describe a charming wine that had many good points, but was just too immature to drink in the near future. Now, when I see the term, I envision a wine with some flaw that may — or may not — abate in the future.

A final term for this rant is “grippe”. Most veteran tasters — especially of pinot noir wines — know that great wines need to make a strong mid-palate impression. “Grippe” is the word used to sell a wine’s correct structure of fruit, tannin and acidity. All too often, what “grips” us is the imbalance of tannin and acidity that is present. When you read about “grippe”, grip your wallet. If the wine really does have “grippe” it will cost you dearly! If it doesn’t have “grippe” you will pay less — but still too much given the wine itself. To paraphrase another expression “there is no free ‘grippe’.”

Paul Fortino

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am and is filed under BUILDING. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.