French Wine Pronunciation

If you love French wine but hate ordering it, here's a page that can help. This list of French wines and related vocabulary includes sound files to help you pronounce the names of French wines. A la vôtre !

le vin   wine

le vin blanc   white wine

le vin rosé   rosé wine

le vin rouge   red wine

un verre   glass

une bouteille   bottle

une dégustation de vin   wine tasting
   (learn more)


French Wines

Armagnac

Beaujolais nouveau

Bordeaux

Bourgogne   (burgundy)

Cabernet sauvignon

Chablis

Champagne

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Chenin blanc

Cognac

Médoc

Merlot

Muscat

Pinot blanc

Pinot gris

Pinot noir

Pomerol

Pouilly-Fuissé

Sancerre

Sauternes

Sauvignon blanc

Sémillon

St Émilion

Viognier

Vouvray

Go on to page 2 to learn some French wine tasting terms.

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French Expressions

Now that you know how to pronounce French wine and have ordered it, what next? There is a whole science to wine, called oenology, that analyzes everything from making wine to tasting wine. The latter is the most important part for consumers, so here are some terms to help you talk about what you're drinking.

La dégustation de vin, or wine tasting, can be summed up into three steps.

1. La robe - Appearance
Before you take even one sip, look at the wine and consider its color, clarity, and consistency.

Here are some French terms to help you describe what you see.

La couleur - Color
In addition to obvious colors like rouge (red) and blanc (white), you might see

ambré - amber
brun - brown
carmin - crimson
cuivré - coppery
doré - golden
jaunâtre - yellowish
orangé - orangey
paille - straw
pourpre - scarlet
rose saumon - salmon pink
rubis - ruby
verdâtre - greenish
violacé - purplish

And you might want to modify the colors with

clair - light
foncé - dark
pâle - pale
profond - deep

La clarté - Clarity

brillant - brilliant
brumeux - misty
clair - clear
cristallin - crystal-clear
opaque - opaque
un reflet - glint
terne - dull
trouble - muddy

La consistance - Consistency
You'll consider this again in the tasting phase, but while looking, you might notice things like

des bulles - bubbles
des dépôts - sediment
des jambes, larmes - "legs" or "tears"; how the wine flows down the sides of the glass
de la mousse - foam, bubbles

2. Le nez - Smell
After describing the appearance of the wine, it's time to sniff and smell, then discuss les arômes. This is where wine tasters get really creative - the sky (or at least your knowledge of French food vocabulary) is the limit.
If the wine is fruité (fruity) or végétal (vegetal), you might sense fruits and vegetables like agrumes (citrus), fruits rouges (red berries), pamplemousse (grapefruit), artichaut (artichoke), or champignons (mushrooms).
If it's floral (flowery), it might be scented with lavande (lavender), jasmin (jasmine), or violette (violet), whereas if it's nutty (for which there is no generic term in French), it might have un goût de châtaigne, noisette, or noix (a taste of chestnuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts).
A wine can be épicé (spicy), with hints of poivre (pepper), cannelle (cinnamon), or muscade (nutmeg), or it might be herbacé (herbaceous) and taste like réglisse (licorice), thym (thyme), or menthe (mint).
Other possible aromas:

boisé - woody
brûlé - burnt taste
cacao - cocoa
café - coffee
cèdre - cedar
charnu - meaty
chocolat - chocolate
foin - hay
fumé - smoky
médicinal - medicinal
minéral - mineral
musqué - musky
parfumé - fragrant
pin - pine
résiné - resinous
tabac - tobacco
terreux - earthy
thé - tea
vanille - vanilla

At this point, you might also discover that there is un défaut (a flaw). The wine is bad if it smells

bouchonné - corked
mildiousé - mildewed
moisi - moldy, musty
oxydé - oxidized

3. La bouche - Taste
Finally, it's time to taste the wine. Much of the above vocabulary is also useful during this phase, along with

acerbe - tart
acide - acidic
aigre - sour
aigu - sharp
amer - bitter
un arrière-goût - aftertaste

bien équilibré - well balanced
doux - sweet
frais - fresh
fruité - fruity
un goût - taste
la longueur / persistance en bouche - time the flavor remains in your mouth after swallowing
moelleux - sugary
une note - hint
plat - flat
rond - mild
rude - harsh
salé - salty
une saveur - flavor
sec - dry
sucré - sweet

French wine tasting verbs (click for conjugations):

apercevoir - to perceive
avaler - to swallow
boire - to drink
cracher - to spit out
faire tourner le vin dans le verre - to swirl the wine in the glass
incliner - to tilt (the glass)
remarquer - to notice
siroter - to sip
voir - to see

I hope you've enjoyed this introduction to wine tasting terminology. To learn more about the process, see my colleague Stacy Slinkard's article How to Taste Wines at About.com Wine.