Table wine
Encyclopedia
Table wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a wine
style; and a quality level within wine classification
.
In the United States
, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified
nor sparkling
.
In the European Union wine regulations
, table wine (TW) is the lower of two overall quality categories, the higher of which is Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
(QWpsr). All levels of national wine classification systems within the EU correspond to either TW or the QWpsr, although the terms that actually appear on wine label
s are defined by national wine law
s with the EU regulations as a framework.
Most EU countries have a national classification called table wine (always corresponding to EU TW) in the country's official language. Examples include vin de table in France
, vino da tavola in Italy
, vino de mesa in Spain
, vinho de mesa in Portugal
and Tafelwein in Germany
. These classifications generally represent the lowest level of classification in their country.
and Code of Federal Regulations
define table wine as grape
wine having an alcoholic strength of maximum 14 percent alcohol by volume
. Wines between 14% and 24% ABV are known as dessert wine
. Table wine may also be designated using terms such as light wine, light white wine, red table wine, sweet table wine, as appropriate.
guidelines stipulate that all wine produced must fall into one of two categories: table wine or the superior Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
(often referred to as Quality wine p.s.r.). Within the category of table wines, a difference is made between "plain" table wines, which are only allowed to display the country of origin, and table wines with geographical indication, which may indicate a region of origin and are a form of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) applied to wine.
For the lowest vin de pays level in France, the producers must use postal codes to prevent the name of an appellation from appearing even in fine print on the label or its vintage date (though "lot numbers" which can bear a striking resemblance to dates are permitted).
European table wines are generally made from the highest-yielding sites and vinified
in an industrial manner. In the 1950s, when per capita consumption of wine was much higher, there was a need for vast quantities of cheap wine, but now much of it goes into the European Union's troublesome "wine lake
." Even today it is possible in France or Spain to purchase a litre of thin, pale wine, packaged in a box rather than a bottle, for the equivalent of a couple of U.S. dollars.
s or with unconventional wine making processes. Even wines made with every measure of care (such as low vine yields and hand harvesting) and grown on sites otherwise entitled to a prestigious appellation may be denied status.
The best-known examples are the wines called Super Tuscans, which are made either with more than allowed quantities of international varieties (grapes not indigenous to Italy such as Merlot
or Cabernet Sauvignon
) or without the once mandated inclusion of small proportions of Cannaiolo, Malvasia and Trebbiano per the relevant Tuscan appellation (i.e. Montevertine's Pergole Torte).
In 1992, Italy created the Indicazione Geografica Tipica
(IGT) specifically to permit Super Tuscans to leave the table wine classification and become quality wine. Still, wherever legitimacy in a given appellation is stipulated by something more than a geographic boundary, one may find producers willing to ignore limitations in pursuit of extreme quality.
In common usage vin de table (often called vin ordinaire) is the 4th and lowest ranked wine
under the French
wine classification. These wines are the cheapest to buy and to make (they can be bought from €0,80), and are generally drunk accompanying a midday meal or used to make wine-based cocktails.
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
style; and a quality level within wine classification
Classification of wine
The classification of wine can be done according to various methods including, but not limited to, place of origin or appellation, vinification methods and style, sweetness and vintage, or varietal used. Practices vary in different countries and regions of origin, and many practices have varied...
.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified
Fortified wine
Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it...
nor sparkling
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, either in a bottle, as with the méthode champenoise, in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved , or as a result of carbon dioxide...
.
In the European Union wine regulations
European Union wine regulations
European Union wine regulations are common legislation related to wine existing within the European Union , the member states of which account for almost two-thirds of the world's wine production...
, table wine (TW) is the lower of two overall quality categories, the higher of which is Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions is a quality indicator used within European Union wine regulations. The QWpsr category identifies wines with protected geographical indications...
(QWpsr). All levels of national wine classification systems within the EU correspond to either TW or the QWpsr, although the terms that actually appear on wine label
Wine label
Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it...
s are defined by national wine law
Wine law
Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, as well as regulating allowed additives and...
s with the EU regulations as a framework.
Most EU countries have a national classification called table wine (always corresponding to EU TW) in the country's official language. Examples include vin de table in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, vino da tavola in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, vino de mesa in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, vinho de mesa in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Tafelwein in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. These classifications generally represent the lowest level of classification in their country.
United States
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade BureauAlcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, statutorily named the Tax and Trade Bureau and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury....
and Code of Federal Regulations
Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States.The CFR is published by the Office of the Federal Register, an agency...
define table wine as grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
wine having an alcoholic strength of maximum 14 percent alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
. Wines between 14% and 24% ABV are known as dessert wine
Dessert wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
. Table wine may also be designated using terms such as light wine, light white wine, red table wine, sweet table wine, as appropriate.
European Union
European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
guidelines stipulate that all wine produced must fall into one of two categories: table wine or the superior Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions is a quality indicator used within European Union wine regulations. The QWpsr category identifies wines with protected geographical indications...
(often referred to as Quality wine p.s.r.). Within the category of table wines, a difference is made between "plain" table wines, which are only allowed to display the country of origin, and table wines with geographical indication, which may indicate a region of origin and are a form of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) applied to wine.
For the lowest vin de pays level in France, the producers must use postal codes to prevent the name of an appellation from appearing even in fine print on the label or its vintage date (though "lot numbers" which can bear a striking resemblance to dates are permitted).
List of national table wine designations
The following national levels of wine classification correspond to table wines and table wines with geographical indication.| Country | Table wines with geographical indication | Other table wines |
|---|---|---|
 AustriaAustrian wine Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines with some luscious dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch , Pinot Noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt... |
Landwein | |
 BelgiumBelgian wine Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliter in 2004, has expanded in recent decades.-History:... |
Landwijn (Dutch), Vin de pays (French) | |
 BrazilBrazilian wine While Brazil has a relatively large amounts of vineyards, a large part of them produce table grapes, and only some produce Brazilian wine. As much of Brazil is close to the equator, traditional rules of thumb brand most of the country unsuitable for viticulture, due to too much heat and humidity... |
Vinho de Mesa, "Table Wine" | |
 BulgariaBulgarian wine Grape growing and wine production have a long history in Bulgaria, dating back to the times of the Thracians. Wine is, together with beer and grape rakia, among the most popular alcoholic beverages in the country.-Viticultural regions:... |
Pегионално вино, "Regional wine" | |
 Cyprus |
Τοπικός Οίνος, "Regional wine" | |
 Czech RepublicCzech wine Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in Bohemia. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often referred to as Moravian wine ... |
Zemské víno | Stolní víno |
 DenmarkDanish wine Danish wine is wine made in Denmark. Despite its northerly location, it has been developing a wine industry since the 20th century that has benefited from global warming and the legalization of wine production in 1999. Today there are small vineyards in Jutland and Lolland growing various grape... |
Regional vin | |
 FranceFrench wine French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer... |
Vin de pays Vin de pays Vin de pays is a French term meaning "country wine". Vins de pays are a step in the French wine classification which is above the table wine classification, but below the VDQS and Appellation d'origine contrôlée classifications... , Vin de France Vin de France Vin de France is a designation for table wine from France that has been in use since 2010, when it started to replace the former Vin de Table category. Vins de France may indicate grape variety and vintage on the label, but are not labelled by region or appellation, only as coming from France... (new category from 2010) |
|
 GermanyGerman wine German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ... |
Landwein | |
 GreeceGreek wine Greece is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. The earliest evidence of Greek wine has been dated to 6,500 years ago where wine was produced on a household or communal basis. In ancient times, as trade in wine became extensive, it was transported from end to end of the... |
ονομασία κατά παράδοση, "Traditional appellation"; τοπικός οίνος, "Country wine" | |
 Hungary |
Tájbor, "Country wine" | |
 ItalyItalian wine Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has... |
Indicazione geografica tipica Indicazione geografica tipica Indicazione geografica tipica is the second of four classifications of wine recognized by the government of Italy. Created to recognize the unusually high quality of the class of wines known as Super Tuscans, IGT wines are labeled with the locality of their creation, but do not meet the... (IGT), may in some areas also be written in German as Landwein or in French as Vin de pays |
|
 LuxembourgLuxembourg wine Luxembourg wine is primarily produced in the southeastern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with vineyards overlooking the Moselle River. Along this river, which for 42 km makes up part of the border between Luxembourg and Germany, wine is made in three countries. There is a continuous history... |
||
 MaltaMaltese wine Wine production in Malta dates back over two thousand years to the Roman era, but in the past Maltese wines had a bad reputation, and the majority of the grapes were consumed as food. In the beginning of the 20th century Emmanuel Delicata and Marsovin wineries were established. In the 1970s wine... |
Indikazzjoni Ġeografika Tipika (I.G.T.) | |
 NetherlandsDutch wine Dutch wine is wine made in the European country of the Netherlands. Although a very small producer of wine, the first mentioning of viniculture in what is now the Netherlands dates back to 968. However, modern production of wine was started only in the 1970s and is nowadays a strong growing branch... |
Landwijn | |
 PortugalPortuguese wine Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and mostly the Romans. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the... |
Vinho regional | |
 RomaniaRomanian wine Romania is one of the world's largest wine producers, producing around 610,000 tons of wine. In recent years, Romania has attracted many European business people and wine buyers, due to the affordable prices of both vineyards and wines compared to other wine producing nations such as France,... |
Vin cu indicaţie geografică | |
 SerbiaSerbian wine There are nearly 70,000 hectares of vineyards in Serbia, producing about 425,000 tons of grapes annually. The majority of production is dedicated to local wineries.... |
Регионално вино | Стоно вино |
 SloveniaSlovenian wine Slovenian wine is wine from the Central European country of Slovenia. Viticulture and winemaking has existed in this region since the time of the Celts and Illyrians tribes, long before the Romans would introduce winemaking to the lands of France, Spain and Germany... |
Deželno vino s priznano geografsko oznako (Deželno vino PGO) | |
 SpainSpanish wine Spanish wines are wines produced in the southwestern European country of Spain. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 2.9 million acres planted—making it the most widely planted wine producing nation but it is the third largest producer of wine in the world, the largest... |
Vino de la Tierra Vino de la Tierra Vino de la Tierra is a quality of Spanish wine that designates the rung below the mainstream quality wine indication of Denominación de Origen . It is the equivalent of the French vin de pays. It covers not only still wine but also sparkling wine and fortified wine.It represents a higher quality... |
|
 United KingdomWine from the United Kingdom Wine from the United Kingdom is generally classified as either English wine or Welsh wine, with reference to England or Wales as its respective origin. The term British wine is generally used for fermented imported grape juice or concentrate that can originate from anywhere in the world, and so is... |
Regional wine |
Distribution
The fraction of national production classified as table wine varies dramatically from country to country; as of 2000, in France, a majority (by volume) of wine is vin de table, while in Germany only 5% is deutscher Tafelwein. Table wine from anywhere in the EU can be blended together to produce European Table Wine.European table wines are generally made from the highest-yielding sites and vinified
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
in an industrial manner. In the 1950s, when per capita consumption of wine was much higher, there was a need for vast quantities of cheap wine, but now much of it goes into the European Union's troublesome "wine lake
Wine lake
The wine lake refers to the continuing supply surplus of wine produced in the European Union. A major contributor to that glut is the Languedoc-Roussillon, which produces over one-third of the grapes grown in France. In 2007 it was reported that for the previous several vintages, European...
." Even today it is possible in France or Spain to purchase a litre of thin, pale wine, packaged in a box rather than a bottle, for the equivalent of a couple of U.S. dollars.
Naming contradictions
In contradiction to the presumed order, exceptional table wines are an uncommon but important fact in Europe. Ambitious wine-making outcomes may be classified as mere "table wine" if they are made from non-traditional grapeGrape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s or with unconventional wine making processes. Even wines made with every measure of care (such as low vine yields and hand harvesting) and grown on sites otherwise entitled to a prestigious appellation may be denied status.
The best-known examples are the wines called Super Tuscans, which are made either with more than allowed quantities of international varieties (grapes not indigenous to Italy such as Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
or Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
) or without the once mandated inclusion of small proportions of Cannaiolo, Malvasia and Trebbiano per the relevant Tuscan appellation (i.e. Montevertine's Pergole Torte).
In 1992, Italy created the Indicazione Geografica Tipica
Indicazione geografica tipica
Indicazione geografica tipica is the second of four classifications of wine recognized by the government of Italy. Created to recognize the unusually high quality of the class of wines known as Super Tuscans, IGT wines are labeled with the locality of their creation, but do not meet the...
(IGT) specifically to permit Super Tuscans to leave the table wine classification and become quality wine. Still, wherever legitimacy in a given appellation is stipulated by something more than a geographic boundary, one may find producers willing to ignore limitations in pursuit of extreme quality.
In common usage vin de table (often called vin ordinaire) is the 4th and lowest ranked wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
under the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
wine classification. These wines are the cheapest to buy and to make (they can be bought from €0,80), and are generally drunk accompanying a midday meal or used to make wine-based cocktails.