Varieties and Varietals

Most New World wine producers label their wines according to the grape variety, whereas the leading European producers label them according to where they came from, namely, the region, property and/or vineyard. The Appellation Contrôlée system usually forbids French wine producers from putting the grape variety on the label. This may lead to confusion for someone discussing a wine or reading a label. To summarize, the term “variety” refers to the different grapes and their characteristics; the term “varietal” refers to a wine made almost entirely of one grape (at least 85 per cent), as opposed to a blended wine.