Table Wine

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

table wine, term used internationally to distinguish wines of average alcoholic strength from fortified wines, which have been strengthened by the addition of alcohol. In this context, ‘table wines’ rely solely on fermentation for their alcoholic strength, which tends to be between 9 and 15%.

Within the eu, the term ‘table wine’ had until the reforms of 2008/2009 a specific meaning and was applied to the vast but declining quantity of wine produced within it that did not qualify as superior so-called quality wine. Within Italy, the situation was rather different, as explained in vino da tavola.