Description of bottles

As opposed to the brief and incomprehensible explanations and abbreviations which are often presented to beginners, audroitdebouchon.com pays particular care and attention to detailed descriptions and the expertise of the products you wish to buy.

To define the general state of preservation of a bottle, it is essential to verify 3 criteria:

• The level of the wine
• The state of the label
• The state of the capsule.

The level of the wine and the "angel's share"

With age, a wine loses a more or less significant portion of its content through evaporation, the level of the wine is the most important criterion in the context of a future big tasting, even if it is true that certain bottles with a sometimes random level can may turn out to be beautiful surprises …

To help you better visualise, we provide you with a diagram which represents the 2 main types of bottles that you will find on the market: - Bordeaux-type bottles (Bordeaux, Provence, Southwest wine…) - Bourgogne-type bottles (Bourgogne, Rhône Valley, Loire wines…).

The state of the label:

The label provides valuable informations when about the preservation of a bottle. It shows the marks of time spent in the cellar and reveals if the temperature and hygrometry were suitable.
Indeed, a high air humidity is a guarantee of optimum preservation of the wine but often alters the label which can get stained, pigmented, darkened and even damaged.
Very fortunately, certain careful amateurs protect their labels from these hazards, by filming them for example.

The state of the capsule

Susceptible to be damaged during manipulations, the capsule is the least important aspect in order to judge the good preservation of a wine; however, it represents a significant aesthetic aspect. Nevertheless, we still check that there are not traces of run-outs of wine on a damaged capsule.

To complete our descriptions and assist you with your choice, au-droit-de-bouchon.com adds notes from renowned wine tasters, specialised magazines and websites (non-exhaustive list) to the products when possible.

The wine tasters :

Jamie Goode (JD)

Jamie Goode is a renowned british critic, author of a regular column in the famous British newspaper "The Sunday Express.

Richard Juhlin (RJ)

Swedish Champagne wine expert, Richard Juhlin is internationally recognized as one of the greatest Champagne blind tasters. He also wrote and published renowned books such as "A Scent of Champagne" which was translated into 5 languages.

Robert Parker (RP)

famous American wine taster, born in 1947 which was the year of an excellent vintage, Robert Parker is internationally famous for his guidebooks (the famous Parker's guides) and his bimonthly newsletter which is now being sold.

Jean-Marc Quarin (JQ)

specialised French wine taster, renowned for his exclusive criticisms of Bordeaux wines.

Jancis Robinson (JR)

British critic and oenophile writer, Jancis Robinson is nowadays considered as the most influential personality in the wine world.

James Suckling (JS)

one of the most influential wine critics, James Suckling is an American wine taster, specialised in Italian and Bordeaux wines.

Stephen Tanzer (ST)

famous American critic and wine taster, Stephen Tanzer is a specialist in Piedmont and California Grands Crus, as well as Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines.

The specialised websites

Cellar Tracker (CT)

website created in 2003, Cellar Tracker groups informations emitted mainly by wine tasters in a wide database.

The specialised magazines

Decanter (DC)

specialised wine magazine published every month, Decanter is also the host of a prestigious wine competition: the Decanter World Wine Awards

La Revue du vin de France (RVF)

magazine exclusively dedicated to wines, this magazine also publishes the famous RVF guide every year, listing every domains according to their production quality.

Wine Spectator (WS)

originally, Wine Spectator was an independent American magazine created in 1976 by Bob Morissey. Considered overseas as the "Wine Bible", it is now internationally famous thanks to its new smartphone app.

In conclusion, au-droit-de-bouchon.com offers you a "vintage table" which is representative of the quality of a year for a specific french appellation. However, wine is not an exact science and it is essential to remember that even during a "small year", great domains were able to stand out, and that there are sometimes differences between 2 domains from the same appellations... even from great vintages.