table wine
Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification.
In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not fortifi ...
from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
that has been in use since 2010, when it started to replace the former ''
vin de table
Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification.
In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not forti ...
'' category. ''Vin de France'' wines may indicate
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
on the label, but are not labelled by region or
appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...
; they are labelled only as coming from France. This means that the wines are typically sold under
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
Vin de France is the lowest level of three in the overhauled wine classification system of France, ranked below the intermediate category '' indication géographique protégée'' (IGP) and the highest category ''
Appellation d'origine protégée
The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
'' (AOP). Unlike Vin de France, IGP and AOP wines indicate the wine's geographical origin within France. This system of three levels replaces the former system of four levels - ''vin de table'', ''
vin de pays
''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former ''vin délimité de qualité s ...
appellation d'origine contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...
'' (AOC) - and was fully introduced by 2012.
Background
The former ''vin de table'' category, which represented the simplest wines produced in France, had suffered from decreasing sales for several decades. These were simple everyday wines that were mainly produced in the south of France. This category had been very difficult to export in an increasingly competitive global wine market, especially since the wines were not allowed to carry a varietal designation or indicate vintage. This meant a distinct competitive disadvantage to New World wines and many other European wines in a similar price range. Simple varietal French wines instead had to use the ''
vin de pays
''Vin de pays'' (, "country wine") was a French wine classification that was above the '' vin de table'' classification, but below the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) classification and below the former ''vin délimité de qualité s ...
'' ("country wine") designation, which restricted the sourcing of grapes to the defined ''vin de pays'' regions, such as '' vin de Pays d'Oc'' from
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...
. No French wine category existed that allowed a producer to source grapes from Languedoc-Roussillon,
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
and
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, but still sell the wine under a varietal designation.
As a result of the ongoing crisis in the French wine industry, Bernard Pomel was tasked with making proposals on how to remedy the situation. The Pomel report was presented to the French minister of agriculture on March 23, 2006, and proposed among other things a simplification of French wine classification, including the elimination the VDQS category, which was done in December 2007. At the same time, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
was considering reforms to the wine sector, aiming at reducing the need for subsidies. This also implied reforms of the
European Union wine regulations
European Union wine regulations are common legislation related to wine existing within the European Union (EU),Abolishing the Vin de Pays Meininger's WBI 5/09, October 2009 The introduction of the category took place in 2010. Harpers Wine & Spirit, 2011-03-09
Reception
When the category was introduced, some commentators expected many French producers to start using the ''vin de France'' category instead of categories with geographical indications, in particular the IGP (formerly ''vin de pays'') category.Vins de France 'will be like Coca-Cola': Anivin ''
Decanter
A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid (such as wine) which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equ ...
'', July 2, 2010 Some saw the ''vin de France'' category as more adapted to the needs of large wine companies rather than small producers.