See a term on a wine label you don't recognize but can't seem to find a definition for in the dictionary? You might find it here. From A-Z, it's a simple guide to some common and obscure terms related to beverage alcohol.
Haut Armagnac, to the east of the Tenareze and Bas Armagnac, is predominantly chalky -- and although it is chalk content which determines the finest cognacs, here the brandy is of a harsher type and never appears on the market, except as a basis for liqueurs, an important part of the Armagnac business.
The first and last parts of a distillation which contain too many impurities and are separated off from the heart of the distillation.
Synonyms:
Feints
Breeding of grapes between species ie. vinifera/labrusca. The most well-known are the French/American hybrids, a few of which include: Chelios, Verdelet, and Marechal Foch.
A calibrated instrument used for measuring the density of various fluids. Used mainly in the beverage alcohol industry for the determination of sugar and alcohol contents. It usually consists of a weighted bulb having a calibrated stem from which the density of the liquid may be read and the sugar and alcohol content then calculated.
