You might hear this rather poetic phrase if you are taking part in a French wine tasting.
Why do I need to know La part des anges?
Because it will likely come up if you are taking part in a wine tasting or a visit to a Cognac house or other distillery.
What does it mean?
La part des anges – pronounced as lah-part-days-ahnjuh – literally translates as the ‘angels’ share’.
Although la part looks like it might relate to partir, the verb to depart, it in fact means a portion or share of something.
When it comes to la part des anges, the angels’ share in question refers to the part of wine or spirits that has evaporated during the maturing process. It’s gone up into the air where, theoretically, the angels can enjoy the Bordeaux wine, Cognac, Armagnac or other French drink.
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The Cognac houses of south-west France estimate that two percent of production evaporates each year due to this phenomenon, the equivalent of more than 20 million bottles. However the evaporation is a crucial part of the process and the creation of the flavour – which is why your guide might start talking about it as they explain the process.
The same phrase is used in English to describe the evaporated portion.
La part or la partie to mean a share or a portion is widely used in everyday French, you might hear la plus grande part – the biggest share – or une petite partie – a small portion. The lion’s share – meaning the biggest share – is also used in French – la part du lion (lah part doo lee-on).
If you’re doing a wine-tasting while in France – and it’s a very pleasant experience that we recommend – you can find a complete guide to the necessary wine vocabulary here.
Use it like this
L’expression ‘la part des anges’ viendrait de l’alchimie, où les composés volatils sont appelés anges – The expression ‘angels’ share’ comes from alchemy where volatile compounds are known as angels
À Cognac, nous estimons que 2 % du produit est perdu par évaporation, ce que nous appelons la part des anges – In Cognac, we estimate that two percent of the product is lost to evaporation, what we call the angels’ share
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