Video about EU wine laws on my YouTube channel.
When we choose wine, we want it to be good—a fundamental truth, I’d say. Most people also appreciate having a variety of options, rather than being stuck with the same dozen familiar labels simply because stepping outside the usual choices feels risky.
Budget, of course, also influences our wine selections. However, good wine isn’t confined to a particular price range. Time and place matter, too; a 20-year-old Châteauneuf-du-Pape, for instance, might not be the best choice for a picnic or a football party.
The best way to avoid blindly navigating the vast world of wine, or limiting yourself to a routine selection, is to learn how to read wine labels. Labels hold a wealth of useful information, and understanding them can guide you toward wine that fits the qualities you’re seeking. While this won’t guarantee that every choice will be perfect, it will make your decisions more informed and meaningful.
To make our life easy (and, in fairness, to protect producers), most wine-producing countries have laws regulating what can go on a label and what standards must be met for specific names. Europe has the most developed system of wine laws—a logical outcome of producing wine for over two thousand years. In that time, they’ve crafted an impressive diversity of wines, so winemakers do have a lot to be proud of, and to protect.
France was the first country to implement wine regulations. In the mid-19th century, a phylloxera epidemic devastated European vineyards, leading to a flood of counterfeit wine. Concerned about quality and reputation, French winemakers began regulating their practices. In 1923, Châteauneuf-du-Pape set rules to control viticulture and winemaking. By 1927, the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system was established across France, setting a model that other European countries soon followed. In 2009, the European Union developed a standardized system, though regional terms and classifications are still widely recognized.
This article will explore the EU wine laws and labeling standards that are used across the European Union.
Let’s start with the basic things.
Information that must be presented on the label. For example: the labels of Languedoc Pontificis and Spanish Cava. I underline the required information with red, and the information required upon conditions with blue.
•Alcohol Content
•Country of Origin
•The Bottler
•The Importer (for imported wines)
•For Sparkling Wine: Residual sugar content (refer to the glossary for the sweetness level of sparkling wine)
Information required upon conditions:
•If vintage is indicated, 85% of the grapes used must be from that vintage.
•If a single grape variety is named, 85% of the grapes must be of that variety.
•If two or more grape varieties are named, 100% of the grapes must come from those specified varieties (if more than one is mentioned, all varieties must be named; percentages for each variety are optional but allowed).
Please note that producers are not required to list grape varieties on wine labels, and many choose not to. Varietal listings can be absent on both lower-end and higher-end wines. For instance, basic table wines are often labeled simply as “red” or “white,” without any specific grape varieties. No one expects precise consistency in the blend for such wines, so the composition may vary from bottle to bottle, even from the same producer.
On the other hand, famous producers of high-quality wines also often omit grape varieties on their labels. You are expected to enjoy a Chablis for what it is, not for the fact that it’s made from Chardonnay grapes; likewise, a Médoc is a named wine, rather than being explained as a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. For these well-established wines, the composition remains consistent, but producers rely on tradition and reputation rather than listing varietals. A label like “Chablis” carries much more meaning than “Chardonnay.”
However, if a producer does decide to list the grape varieties, it must be done in accordance with regulations.
For example, Cava labels do not list the grape varieties used. For traditional sparkling wines like Champagne, Cava, and Crémant, the varietal composition is standardized for each type, but it’s typically not included on the label.
In contrast, the Languedoc winemaker specifies each varietal along with its percentage on the label—45% Grenache, 40% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre. This combination is a classic Southern Rhône blend, often referred to as “GSM” outside the Rhône region, named after the initials of the grapes.
These are the minimum labeling requirements for wines produced in the European Union. Certain categories of wine have stricter requirements, but the said rules cannot be relaxed.
Let’s move on to a more complex concept: Wine Geographical Identification. This is another piece of information that must appear on the label.
Broadly, all wines fall into two categories—those with a Geographical Identification and those without. More specifically, wine can belong to one of three origin-based categories shown in the pyramid diagram at the beginning of the article. Generally, as you move from the bottom to the top of this pyramid, the quality and average price of wine increase, while production volume tends to decrease.
At the base of this hierarchy is the group of wines without Geographical Identification—mostly simple and inexpensive wines. These wines were previously labeled as Table Wines but are now simply called “Wines.” If on the bottle of French wine you see “Vin de Table, France,” “Vin de France,” or just “France” on a label, without any specific regional names, it’s likely a Table Wine. Requirements for the production of these wines are minimal: it should be a grape wine, not a mix of juice and spirits, but otherwise, it faces few regulations. Table Wines must only meet the EU’s basic labeling requirements.
This doesn’t mean that each Table Wine is of poor quality—it can still be a decent wine within its price range. In fact, winemaking is currently blooming, so some producers are creating quality Table Wines with hopes of transitioning them to a higher category.
For example, consider this “Ropiteau” Pinot Noir, an interesting case of a Table Wine. While Table Wines are often simply labeled as “red” or “white,” this one specifies the variety, Pinot Noir, which means at least 85% of the grapes used must be of this type. However, since it’s a Table Wine, these Pinot Noir grapes can come from anywhere in France. Notably, the alcohol content on the label is shown as a range rather than an exact number, meaning it can vary from bottle to bottle—this is not allowed in wines of higher categories.
Let’s move on to the intermediate category: Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).
The table shows translations of PGIs as they appear on labels from various countries, along with traditional terms for PGI that are also used. Geographical Indication applies to a broader region or area compared to the more specific Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). PGI was introduced to encourage Table Wine producers to improve the quality of their products. It also provides an option for PDO producers who want to make wines that fall outside the strict PDO regulations. For instance, a winemaker in Médoc, a Bordeaux PDO where Malbec is not permitted, could produce a Malbec under the PGI label instead. Wines in this category can still be of excellent quality, so PGI wines are worth exploring.
Here’s an example of an Italian PGI wine.
To qualify as a PGI, wines must meet criteria that are less stringent than those for PDO but stricter than for Table Wines:
– At least 85% of the grapes must be grown within the designated region.
– The wine must be produced within that same region.
– Only grape species from the “Vitis” genus, and their crosses, may be used.
– The quality and characteristics of the wine must meet specific standards set for each PGI.
At the top of the pyramid is Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), reserved for wines produced in specific wine regions under precise regulations.
The table shows translations of PDOs from various countries, as they would appear on labels, along with the traditional terms for PDO that can also be used.
In France, this designation is called “Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP)” (adopted in 2009) or the traditional “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC)”; both terms are valid. The phrase “d’Origine” is replaced by the specific name of the region where the wine was produced. For example: “Appellation Bordeaux Contrôlée” or “Appellation Pauillac Contrôlée”. Another way to indicate origin is by listing the specific place name, followed by “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée”, such as “Mâcon Villages Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée”.
The labels of Macon and Nimes wines shows both variants.
The PDO is a hierarchical structure. One PDO can be subdivided into smaller, more specific groups with stricter requirements and higher wine quality standards. These smaller PDOs can, in turn, contain even more specific classifications, each with increasingly stringent standards and correspondingly higher wine quality. We’ll explore this PDO hierarchy separately, as it can vary from country to country, and even within different regions of the same country.
Wines labeled as PDO must be produced within the indicated region from the only Vitis vinifera grapes (I will talk about grape species and varieties separately), grown completely in the indicated region. If the label shows Bordeaux AC (Appellation Bordeaux Contrôlée), all grapes must come from Bordeaux—not a single grape can come from the Loire Valley or Burgundy. Similarly, if it reads Pauillac AC (Appellation Pauillac Contrôlée), all grapes must be from Pauillac, a small area within the Médoc region of Bordeaux.
The quality and characteristics of the wine must meet the specific PDO regulations.
These may include
-limitations on the territory (sometimes only certain areas within a PDO can be used for grape growing)
– permitted grape varieties (For example, Médoc AC allows only Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, that means, that winemaker in Médoc could use Malbec, but that wine could not be labeled as Médoc AC.),
-grape ripeness, minimum alcohol levels, way of growing vines, maximum grape yields, and production methods.
Now you know the basics of EU wine laws and terminology—essential for understanding European wine labels.
However, each country has unique nuances. First, PDO hierarchies differ between countries and can even vary between regions within the same country. This is especially important when searching for high quality wines. Secondly, many regions have their own specific wine classifications, such as “grand cru”, “reserva”, “kabinett”, and others. We’ll cover these distinctions separately for each country.
