''Cuvée''Or Cuvee on some English-language labels. () is a French

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

term that derives from ''cuve'', meaning vat or tank.J. Robinson (ed), ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'', Third Edition, p. 218, Oxford University Press 2006, winepros.com.au. Wine makers use the term ''cuvée'' with several different meanings, more or less based on the concept of a tank of wine put to some purpose.

Wines

''Cuvée'' on

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

s generally denotes wine of a specific blend or batch. Since the term ''cuvée'' for this purpose is unregulated, and most wines have been stored in a vat or tank at some stage of production, the presence of the word ''cuvée'' on a label of an arbitrary producer is no guarantee of superior quality. However, discerning producers who market both regular blends and blends they call "''cuvée''..." usually reserve the word for special blends or selected vats of higher quality—at least in comparison to that producer's regular wines. Particularly terms like ''cuvée speciale'', or ''tête de cuvée'' (the latter especially in Sauternes AOC) are supposed to indicate higher quality. In this context, higher-quality than ordinary cuvées are often referred to as ''

reserve wine Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, a wine that has been aged before sale, or both. Traditionally, winemakers would reserve some of their best wine rather than sell it immediately, coining the term. In some countries the use of t ...

s'', while a ''cuvée'' lower in quality than the main one is a ''

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or ev ...

''. In some regions, ''cuvée'' specifically means a blend, i.e., a wine produced from a mixture of several grape varieties, rather than from a single variety. This is especially true outside France. In

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

, and sometimes other regions, producing

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

s by the traditional method, ''cuvée'' also refers to the best grape juice from gentle pressing of the grapes. In Champagne, the cuvée is the first 2,050 litres of grape juice from 4,000 kg of grapes (a ''marc''), while the following 500 litres are known as the ''taille'' (tail), and are expected to give wines of a coarser character. Many Champagne producers pride themselves on only using the cuvée in their wine.

Other food and drink

The term can also apply to

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...

, or to chocolate to refer to a batch that is blended by the manufacturers to produce a certain taste. Many lambics and

gueuze Gueuze (Dutch ''geuze'', ; French ''gueuze'', ) is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old (2- to 3-year-old) lambics, which is bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are no ...

s—sour beers with wine-like characteristics—are marketed as ''cuvée''. When referring to beer, ale, or chocolate the term has no defined meaning, but is meant to evoke images of higher quality—similar to the use of "reserve" for wine in areas where the term is not regulated by law. The term can also apply to

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appellat ...

. For instance, 3.140 ''cuvée'', which is not labelled with the standard classifications of VS, VSOP or XO a minimum of six years before bottling.

Wines

Other food and drink

See also

References

Further reading