French Classic White Wines

De-Mystifying the label

From our many years selling wine in retail, we understand that customers can be confused by French wine labels. For example, they may have heard about Chablis or Sancerre being a good wine or even tried it and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, on many occasions, they don’t know anything about the wine or what it means on the label when it says, Chablis Premier Cru. They are in fact surprised when we tell them that Chablis is only made from Chardonnay.

We know that there are lots of wine buffs out there who are extremely knowledgeable, but if you want to learn a bit more then read on…

What is AOC/AOP?

In 1937, France introduced a system called Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée/Protégée (AOC/AOP). In short, this is a controlled appellation designed to structure geographically based names. This is not just limited to wines but also spirits like Calvados, Armagnac, and many foods such as cheese and butter. With wine production, controls are very stringent and producers have to adhere to certain regulations such as what grape varieties can be grown and utilised, minimum alcohol level, ageing requirements, alcoholic strength, and even vineyard planting density.

Reading a French wine label is like a puzzle. Once you’ve solved it, you can hopefully buy wine with a bit more confidence. We would suggest the website/books by Wine Folly that simplify the wine jargon with quirky diagrams and pictures. The French wine world is vast and can be quite bamboozling at first but breaking it down by region would be a start. We will also regularly blog about different wine regions, countries, varieties, and producers, so please check back into our blog when you can.

Here are a few terms we get asked most frequently about on a label:

AC or Appellation Controlee – e.g Appellation Chablis Premier Cru Controlee  – As I have explained above, this is France’s strictest classification. If the wine is produced in Sancerre, then the label will say, Appellation Sancerre Controlee.

• The wine can only be produced in the village of Sancerre within its boundaries.
• The only grape variety allowed is Sauvignon.
• Reds or Roses are made with Pinot Noir.

Premier Cru or Grand Cru – is a specialist vineyard in the classification system that produces top-ranking wine. Burgundy is a good example here as it was widely known that there was a huge variation in quality between different vineyards plots, also known as climats. The best quality plots are called Grand Cru or Premier Cru within the appellation.

The name of the vineyard will always be on the label too, like Vaucoupin, Vaillons, or Vaudesir.

Vendange or Vendange Tardive – Vendange literally means harvest. Vendange Tardive, in France, is late harvest and this is restricted to Alsace where late harvesting certain grapes to produce sweet wines.

Vins de Pays (IGP) – Everyday French wine, where there are fewer restrictions on the wine produced and more grape varieties are allowed.

Although some wines have this designation, it does not indicate lower quality. Quite the opposite in many cases. Some producers experiment using grapes in a region where the classification does not allow them and discover that the wine produced is absolutely brilliant. Some of the Consolation wines from Andy Cook are Vin de Pays and we cannot recommend them more highly. To find out more, take a look here.

Cepage – Grape Variety

Vielles Vignes – French for ‘old vines’. The term is used on labels to encourage customers to associate vine age with wine quality. This may not always be the case but vine age can definitely make a difference in some wines.