European Union Wine Label Information

The European Union or EU in short is home to the world's largest wine economy with an average of 70 per cent of world production and 60 per cent of world consumption. Since the EU includes so many different countries with their own and unique wine laws and legislations, the general classification rules have been designed to maintain consistency across the entire economic zone.

In simple terms, the wines produced within the EU fall under two broad categories - Table Wine (TW) and Quality Wine, which is technically known as Quality Wine Produced in a Specified Region (QWPSR). All levels of national wine classification systems within the EU correspond to either the TW or the QWPSR level. Please have a look at the individual wine label information for France, Germany and Italy.

Table wines are basically cheap blends made from wines sourced different regions. Most countries use a term in their official language to describe these wines like the French Vin de Table, German Tafelwein, Italian Vino da Tavola and so on. Typically, these wines are not permitted to disclose the region of production or the vintage on the labels.

The QWPSR on the other hand is a catch all term to denote wines of higher quality with protected geographical indications. To qualify as QWPSR, a wine has to pass the minimum standards of production methods, including vineyard practices and must come from one of the defined geographical locations. Every country has its own regulations regarding quality wines and the terms that appear on the labels fall within the EU laws as a framework. Some of the common QWPSR terms from the main producers are:

• France: 'AOP' Appellation d'Origin Protegée, formerly AOC (Appellation d'Origin Controlée) where the 'origin' is the geographical location and 'VDQS' or Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure.
• Italy: 'DOCG' or Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita and 'DOC' or Denominazione di Origine Controllata.
• Spain: 'DOCa' or Denominacion de Origen Calificada and 'DO' or Denominación de Origen.
• Germany: 'QmP' or Qualitätswein mit Prädikat and 'QbA' or Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete. The higher level QmP wines are further classified according to the level of ripeness of the grapes during harvest. These are:
  • Kabinett: Earliest harvested grapes among the QMP wines and are the driest.
  • Spätlese: Means 'late harvest'.
  • Auslese: Means 'select harvest'. Only the ripest grapes are selected during harvest.
  • Beerenauslese: Means 'berry selection'. Individual berries that are affected by the Botrytis rot, shrivelled and hence are sweeter are picked later than Auslese wines.
  • Eiswein: Means 'ice wine'. These wines are made from naturally frozen grapes. The water inside the berry freezes concentrating the sugar.
  • Trockeneerenauslese: Means 'dry berry selection'. The berries that have been left on the vine for the longest period of time and have naturally shrivelled to an extent that the sugar content as well as flavor components are highly concentrated, are used to make this wine. These are the sweetest and most expensive of all German wines.
• Portugal: 'DOC' or Denominacao de Origem Controlada.

Please see the illustration below for a typical QWPSR wine label. You may find it helpful to compare the label information to those listed above.

You may also be interested in the wine label information for USA and Australia.

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