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Regulated and unregulated wine terms
What about all those descriptors on wine labels? What do they mean?
In some cases they mean whatever winery wants them to mean. Here are some examples:
In many countries, “reserve” indicates a winery spent more time with the wine—in the making, especially aging in barrel and bottle—before releasing for sale.
In the U.S., you find additional adjectives piled on: special reserve, vintner’s reserve, barrel reserve, show reserve, wine maker’s reserve, and more. Be warned, those terms have no legal meaning in United States (or, surprisingly, in France).
Generally, a winery produces its lower-priced wine, then increases the price when it puts “reserve” on label, then increases the price again when it adds more adjectives to modify the “reserve” noun.
It is a sore enough subject that some countries prohibit importation of U.S. wines labeled “reserve.”
© Colin
Gran vin should mean a wine of noteworthy quality. But you will find almost every bottle of mediocre Bordeaux is labeled “Gran Vin de Bordeaux.” Grand Cru, on the other hand, is a classification of certain French wines and is legitimate and a highly regarded designation
Other familiar label lingo that has no legal meaning: select harvest, proprietors blend,
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