Carafe Stopperless container used for serving wine at table. The 'carafe wine' in a restaurant is the standard house wine.

Cask Wooden barrel used for storing wine or spirit. Casks come in many sizes and have different names depending on what they contain. A sherry cask is a 'butt' a port cask is a 'pipe'.

Caudalie French measure of the length of time the aftertaste of a wine lasts.

Cave French for cellar.

Chai Storage building of a château or wine estate (especially in Bordeaux) where wine is kept in cask.

Chambrer To bring wine to room temperature.

Chaptization The addition of a small permitted amount of sugar during fermentation in order to boost the alcoholic strength of a wine.

Character Term of praise indicating that a wine has a distinctive and individual stamp.

Château Used in a wine context, this means either the country house or mansion of a wine-producing estate or the estate as a whole. On a French label it means that the wine comes solely from that estate.

Château-bottled Bottled on the estate rather than by the merchant. Other things being equal, château-bottled wines are generally valued higher, whether or not their quality justifies it.

Claret English term for the red wines of Bordeaux.

Classé 'Classed'. There has been many classifications of the vineyards of France, the most famous that of certain Bordeaux châteaux in 1855. Each important area of France has its own 'classed growths', or their equivalents, but there is no unifying system. The term is most often used about Bordeaux.

Clavelin Dumpy, old-fashioned bottle used France's Jura.

Climat Burgundian word for an individual vineyard site.

Color When refering to wine, color is an important criterion in judging a wine and will help to give an indication of its age.

Commune The French for parish. Many wines bear the name of a parish rather than an individual grower (e.g. St. Julien, St. Emilion, Pommard).

Cooperage General term for wooden containers. A cooper is a barrelmaker (and a rich man/woman these days).

Cork A light, clean and almost impermeable material which comes from the bark of the cork oak. It is the perfect material for plugging wine bottles because it is smooth, yet stays firmly in position in the neck of the bottle. It does not expand or contract with changes in temperature, it rarely rots and does not burn easily. Above all it is highly elastic. Squeeze it into the neck of a bottle using a corking machine and it will immediately expand to make an airtight and watertight fit.

Corkage Charge made by a restaurant to those who bring their own wine.

Corky or corked Contaminated by a rotten cork, resulting in an unpleasant taste.

Coulant 'Flowing'. French term for easy-to-drink wines, such as Beaujolais.

Coulure A condition of the vine at flowering time, causing the grapes to fall off prematurely.

Courtier French term for a wine broker.

Cradle A device for holding a bottle in a near-horizontal position so that it can be opened and poured without the deposit being disturbed, usually for decanting purposes. The basket fulfills a similar function.

Crémant Indicating a degree of sparkle, less than mousseux but more than perlant or pétillant.

Cru French word for 'growth', applied to the produce of a vineyard or group of vineyards making wine of a particular character.

Crust A type of heavy deposit found particularly in bottles of vintage port.

Cuvée The contents of a cuve (vat). It can also mean a quantity of blended wine.