Chaptalisation: is sweetening, or the addition of sugar to the must before fermentaszione, in order to increase the alcohol content of wine. Theoretically, it should be tolerated in a transaction vintages ungenerous; in fact it is an established practice. Too bad that is not obvious to the lack of structure of the wine, but only add alcohol. In France it is allowed the use of rectified concentrated must, as in Italy, or of simple sucrose. The name comes from Jean Antoine Chaptal, who developed this technique.
Classement: the classement are a craze in the history of French wine. Their main purpose is to establish a hierarchy and a system of stable values, especially in a commercial key, id linked to the sale price of the wine. The classement by far the most famous is that of Bordeaux established in 1855 at the request of Napoleon III in view of the universal exhibition in Paris, and reserved to the chateau best known and appreciated. The union of the courtier at the bag of Bordeaux drew up a classification based on the reputation of the properties and the average price of their wines over the last 200 years; were established five classes of merit, from the premier cru cru cinquième, limited to the crus of Medoc and Sauternes (with the exception of Chateau Haut Brion, Pessac). In the decades following the classement were established in Saint Emilion and the Medoc Cru Bourgeois and Artisan. In Burgundy the official classification in fact coincides with the appellation controlée of 1935, which legally sanctioned the presence of grand cru, premier cru and village appellation in other climat.
Climat: term linked to Burgundy, but sometimes also used elsewhere. Indicates that the single cru vineyard plot considered as an entity in itself. This identity can be microgeographic (linked to geology, soil science, the local microclimate), historical (as the vineyard was limited in time) but also winemaking (when the winemaker chooses to isolate this identity in terms of production , giving rise to a wine made only from grapes of that parcel). The correspondence between the vineyard and wine is at the base of premier and grand cru Burgundy: in this case it is sanctioned by addirirttura riconoscimeto of an appellation of origin to HOC.
Courtier: it is a historical figure in the world of French wine, in particular in the sale of bulk wine, including that of lata quality and prestige. It is an intermediary, a sort of broker, appointed to facilitate negotiations between buyer and seller, in this case between producer and retailer. In Bordeaux the courtier has for centuries had such a force to influence the destination of the wines, and consequently also their price, by leveraging supply and demand. It was the very first court to manage the 1855 clasement.
Cru: is a synonym of climat, but is used more widely throughout France. If climat is a term linked to a very limited vineyard surface, cru is a more ambiguous word, because it can refer to very different areas of extension: the vineyard of very few hectares in Burgundy, as well as the entire surface of a municipality of Champagne or even an average-large appellation of origin in the Beaujolais.
Cuvée: word very used but equally ambiguous, since it has more meanings. 1. Strictly speaking, the cuvée is the quantity of wine contained in a tub (cuve), 2. but generally this term is used to name a version of a wine: whether it is a name of pure fantasy, of a denomination of origin, of a vineyard or of the definition of a typology (reserve, vieilles vignes, etc ...) each of these wines identifiable by a label that makes it recognizable. 3. The term is however used in some cases to talk about the assembly of id provenineza wines or different types, in this case the cuvé and is the mixture of different batches of wine.