How to Read a French Wine Label
In France, where the government regulates what grapes can be grown where, winery owners omit the type of grape from their labels; they presume that their customers can identify the grape by seeing where it came from. If you haven't got the time to memorize the nearly 100 wine regions of France, you can still decipher French wine labels. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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1
Pick up a bottle of French wine and look for the phrases "Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure," "Vin de Pays" or "Vin de Table." These designations, listed here in descending order of quality, tell you something about the regulations the winemaker followed during production. If none of these phrases appear on the label, go on to Step 2.
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2
Look for a phrase that begins with the word "Appellation." The "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" is the highest quality wine made in France. If the wine you've selected is an AOC wine, it will usually appear on the label in a small font as "Appellation.....Contôlée." The middle word in this phrase is the region the wine hails from, for example, "Appellation Pauillac Contrôlée," indicates that the wine is an AOC from Pauillac.
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3
Find the name of the winery. The winery is often written in the largest letters on the label, especially if it is well known. The name of the winery usually begins with the word "Chateau." The phrase "Mise en Bouteille au Chateau" means that the wine was bottled by the producer.
"Grand Vin" means that the wine is the main wine made by the winemaker. -
4
Locate the alcohol content (percent volume), the volume (centiliters) and the vintage (year).
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5
Buy a book, such as Karen MacNeil's "The Wine Bible," and bring it with you when you shop for wine so that you don't have to memorize what grapes come from which region.
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