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A label is covered in mentions. Some are controlled by law, others are mere marketing claims. Here is how to tell them apart.
Protected Designation of Origin: the most tightly regulated tier.
A precisely delimited geographical area, a list of authorised grape varieties, a maximum yield per hectare, regulated winemaking methods and an approval tasting before release.
Nothing about actual taste quality or the environment. An AOP wine can be mediocre, and it imposes no organic practice whatsoever.
Protected Geographical Indication: broader origin, looser rules.
A genuine regional provenance and a wider grape palette than AOP, with capped but more generous yields.
A far larger zone, so a looser link to terroir. It is not a sign of lesser quality: some growers choose IGP precisely to work freely.
The freest category, with no regional origin constraint.
That the grapes were harvested and vinified in France. Vintage and grape variety may be stated.
No terroir indication. Beware the misreading: this category houses both the most basic wines and highly ambitious cuvées whose maker deliberately left the appellation system.
The official organic label, recognisable by the green Euro-leaf.
No synthetic pesticides or fertilisers in the vineyard, no GMOs, limited winemaking additives and sulphite doses capped lower than in conventional wine. Audited annually by an independent certifier.
Copper and sulphur remain permitted as treatments. The label says nothing about taste, carbon footprint or social conditions.
Certified biodynamics: more demanding than organic.
The full organic specification, plus biodynamic preparations, attention to lunar cycles, and even lower sulphite doses. The whole estate must be certified, not part of it.
The theoretical foundations of biodynamics do not rest on scientific consensus. The label guarantees a method, not a result in the glass.
The other biodynamic certification, specific to wine.
Certified biodynamic practice across the whole estate, with a specification focused exclusively on viticulture.
Same reservations as Demeter. Less known to the general public, but carried by several highly regarded estates.
High Environmental Value: a state certification, level 3.
An assessment of the whole farm across four areas: biodiversity, plant-protection strategy, fertiliser management and water management.
Does not guarantee the absence of synthetic pesticides, unlike organic. The label is regularly criticised for undemanding thresholds.
Sustainable viticulture with full traceability.
Sustainable farming with traceability of every intervention, attention to social conditions and an independent annual audit.
Synthetic treatments remain permitted: regulated but not eliminated. Less strict than organic on this specific point.
The only regulated mention for "natural wine".
Hand-harvested organic grapes, indigenous yeasts only, no additives, no modifying techniques, and at most 30 mg/l of added sulphites: sometimes none at all.
Without sulphites, the wines are more fragile and vary more from bottle to bottle. The phrase "natural wine" alone, without this mention, is protected by no legal text.
The grower does everything, from vine to sale.
That the same person grows the vines, vinifies, ages, bottles and sells. As opposed to a négociant, who buys grapes or finished wine.
It is a professional status, not a quality label nor an environmental commitment.
No legal definition. No oversight at all.
Nothing. No regulation sets a minimum vine age for using this mention.
The intent is genuine (older vines yield less but more concentrated fruit) yet nothing stops a producer printing it on fifteen-year-old vines.
The wine did not leave the property before bottling.
That bottling took place on the estate that produced the grapes. A regulated and monitored mention.
A guarantee of traceability, not of quality. A wine bottled by a serious négociant can be excellent.
Pure marketing language in France.
Nothing at all. Unlike Spain or Italy, where "Riserva" imposes a minimum ageing period, these words are governed by no French regulation.
Often the estate's finest cuvée, sometimes mere packaging. Only tasting settles it.