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  Useful Info
About Wine

Wine Ratings
Wine Level
Serving Wine
Cellaring Wine
Ready to Drink Wines
Red Grape Varieties
White Grape Varieties
Bottle Sizes



Wine Ratings
On our price lists, Robert Parker, Wine Spectator and The Wine Quotation ratings are displayed.

Ratings from Robert Parker (RP):
96 - 100  Extraordinary
90 - 95   Outstanding
80 - 89   Above average to very good
70 - 79   Average
50 - 69   Below average to poor

Ratings from Wine Spectator (WS):
95 - 100 Classic
90 - 94  Outstanding
85 - 89  Very Good
80 - 84  Good
70 - 79  Average
60 - 69  Below Average
50 - 59  Poor

Ratings from The Wine Quotation

More infos about ratings here.


Wine Level
The level in bottle of wine can decrease over the years due to evaporation. This is a natural process that allow wine evolution along the time.



Serving Wine
The serving temperature of wine is a critical aspect.
In order to get the best of your wine, we highly recommend to use a decanter in order to air the wine and to drink it in an appropriate wine tasting glass (Spiegelau...)
The airing process will release the aromatic qualities of the wine.
Leave the bottle in the upright position for at least 24 hours before drinking. To decant the wine, pour it into the decanter with a candle, until you see the first specks of deposit.

A dry white wine served too cold will hardly have any taste. On the contrary, red wine should not be too warm as they become heavy.
Wines too cold can be warmed in tepid water.
To chill wine, put it for 10 minutes in a bucket full of ice and water, before serving.

Service temperature
Bordeaux red wines 14° to 16° C 65-67° F
Bordeaux white and rose wines 9° to 12° C 55-60° F
Burgundy red wines 13° to 14° C 65° F
Burgundy Grands Vins white 10° to 13° C 50-55° F
Burgundy white wines 11° to 12° C 55° F
Cotes du Rhone red wines 15° to 17° C 59-63° F
Beaujolais & Loire red wines 13° to 15° C 55-60° F
Beaujolais & Loire white wines 7° to 9° C 45-50° F
Californian & Australian red wines 16° to 17° C 60-63° F
Alsace and Germany red wines 12° to 14° C 54-57° F
Alsace and Germany white wines 7° to 10° C 45-50° F
Spanish & Australian white wines 8° to 10° C 45-50° F


Cellaring Wine
We recommend you to store your bottles of wine at 11° to 13° C and your bottles of Armagnac at 18° to 20° C. Avoid sudden and substantial temperature changes.
A constant temperature between 15° to 20° C is also acceptable as long as the temperature remains constant and the humidity is high enough (70 to 90%).

The best condition for storing wines:
- It should be dark, light makes wine age more quickly. Excessive exposure to light can even produce an undesirable taste in the wine.
- It should be humid, to keep corks from drying out. Your cellar should have between 80 to 90% humidity. Putting gravel on the floor will keep you from walking in the puddles that can form from the humidity. The labels of your wines can get moldy or deteriorated, to avoid having them slip off when they rub against other bottles, make sure when you stack them that the labels do not touch each other.
- It should have a constant temperature between 12-13°C (53-55°F). If you can't keep your cellar at this temperature try to have constant one that is as close to those ideal temperatures. Large fluctuactions in temperature make wine age prematurely, as do hot temperatures can "cook"
your wines and ruin them.
- It should be free of vibrations. Make sure to not place your wine next to your washing machine. Vibration will stir up and prematurely age your wine.


Bottle Sizes
Name Content Oz. Bottles sizes Glasses (125 ml)
Quarter 187 ml 6.25 1/4 1,5
Half-Bottle (demi-bouteille) 375 ml 12.5 1/2 3
Regular/Standard 750 ml 25 1 6
Magnum 1 500 ml 50 2 12
Double Magnum (Bordeaux)  3 000 ml 100 4 24
Jeroboam (Bordeaux) 5 000 ml 150 6 36
Jeroboam (Champagne) 3 000 ml 100 4 24
Imperial (Bordeaux) 6 000 ml 200 8 48
Mathusalem (Champagne) 6 000 ml 200 8 48
Salmanazar (Champagne) 9 000 ml 300 12 72
Balthazar (Champagne) 12 000 ml 400 16 96
Nabuchodonozor (Champagne) 15 000 ml 500 20 120

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