Written on 07/07/2022
All you need to know about geographical names
Reading a wine label can be complicated. Between appellations, denominations and crus, we can quickly get lost. That's why we're going to shed a little more light on this term, so you can understand the label more quickly, and choose the wine best suited to your needs.
The term "denomination" is both a geographical concept and a protected legal one. Geographical denomination can be more or less broad. Denomination can be confused with appellation and cru.
The main purpose of the denomination is to specify the type of wine or its origin. It is present at three levels on wine labels. As the law specifies : "The sales denomination of a wine is a compulsory statement on the wine label. The sales denomination depends on the category of wine: Without Geographical Indication (S.I.G.) or with Geographical Indication like PDO and PGI wines. For PDO and PGI wines, the sales denomination is made up of the terms 'protected designation of origin' or 'protected geographical indication' as well as the protected denomination."
On a bottle of wine, the protected denomination corresponds to the name of the appellation. In the case of PGI wines, it corresponds to the protected indication.
Note that for PDO and PGI wines, the term denomination is also used to group denominations by size:
- PGIs with regional denominations: Pays d'Oc, Méditerranée, Val de Loire, Atlantique...
- PGIs with departmental names such as Hérault, Var, Gard, Côtes Catalanes, Haute-Marne, Charentais, Franche-Comté, Ariège, Alpes-Maritimes...
- PGIs with small-area denominations, including Côte Vermeille, Urfé, Coteaux de Coiffy...
- PDOs with regional designations: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, Languedoc, Touraine, Alsace, Côtes de Provence, Vin de Corse...
- Small-area PDOs: Margaux, Côte Rôtie, Chinon, Saint-Chinian, Vosne-Romanée, Patrimonio, Côtes de Bordeaux...
There may also be a complementary denomination that gives even more precision about the production area, with the name of a commune or a precise geographical zone, like Bourgogne Vézelay for example.
Here are a few examples of AOC - AOP designations for Burgundy, which has no fewer than 812!
- Mâcon Saint-Gengoux-le-National
- Ladoix premier cru Bois Roussot
- Maranges premier cru Clos de la Boutière
- Gevrey-Chambertin premier cru Aux Combottes
- Auxey-Duresses Côte de Beaune
- Montagny premier cru La Moullière
And five PGI denominations:
- Coteaux de l'Auxois
- Coteaux de Tannay
- Sainte-Marie-la-Blanche
- Saône-et-Loire
- Yonne
