Varietal Wines

Question: “In which countries do you need to have more than 85% of a grape in a wine to be allowed to print the grape name solely on the label (and how many percent are required)?”

In the US wines are varietally named.  Wines varietally named must be made from at least 75% of that grape. 

This is certainly not the case in all countries.  Let’s look at some others.

In France, most wines named after places and this practice is established by French Law.

In Italy, wines are mostly named after places such as wine zones but not always.  They are not often named after the grape variety through.

In Spain, wines are typically named using regions and districts.

In Germany, most wines are named after where the grapes originate, like most European wines.

In Australia, wines are typically named using a combination the name of the town or region where they originate, vineyard name, along with the grape variety.

In Chile, wines are typically varietally named.

In Australia, typically wines are varietally named.

In New Zealand, they are typically varietally named

In Canada, some may be varietally named; some may be named after a place or other entity

In South Africa, they are typically varietally named.

I am not sure of any country that requires as much as 85% of one grape in order to varietally name it after the grape; however, that does not mean this is not the case anywhere. 

Obviously the responsibility of regulating this matter may very well rely on different sections of government, depending on the country, so it’s something that’s really hard to pin down and could be subject to change.

One can generally gather, though, from the above that in the “Old World”* wines are typically named more so on the basis of places whereas the “New World”* wines is where varietally named wines are more common.

It certainly requires one to do research on wines from the old country if you are concerned what grapes are being used, which can sometimes be a challenge.

* Old World refers to European winemaking countries.

* New World refers to winemaking countries outside of Europe.

I hope that at this point in time anyone wondering what the standard wine naming practice are in many countries now might have a better sense.