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Most of the wine names that you find in your wine shop or on restaurant wine lists are named in one of two basic ways:
- For their grape variety; or
- For the place where the grapes grew
That information, plus the name of the producer, becomes the shorthand name often used when talking about the wine. Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, is a wine made by Robert Mondavi Winery and named after the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Fontodi Chianti Classico is a wine made by the Fontodi winery and named after the place called Chianti Classico.
Wines named for their grape variety
A varietal wine is a wine that is named after either the principal or the sole grape variety that makes up the wine. Each country (and in the U.S., some individual states) has laws that dictate the minimum percentage of the named grape that a wine must contain if that wine wants to call itself by a grape name.
U.S. federal regulations fix the legal minimum percentage of the named grape at 75 percent (which means that your favorite California Chardonnay could have as much as 25 percent of some other grape in it). In Oregon, the minimum is 90 percent (except for Cabernet, which can be 75 percent). In Australia, itâs 85 percent. And in the countries that form the European Union (EU), the minimum is 85 percent.
Most of the time, the labels of varietal wines donât tell you whether other grapes are present in the wine, what those grapes are, or the percentage of the wine that they account for. All you know is that the wine contains at least the minimum legal percentage of the named variety. Some varietal wines are made entirely from the grape variety for which the wine is named.
Understanding made-up wine names | Wine Unpacked
Why is wine called a wine?
This confusion stems from the fact that most wines get their names in one of two different ways: they are either named for their grape variety (the grape that was used to make the wine) or they are named for the region of the world in which the wine was made.
Why do winemakers name their wines?
In the majority of wine regions of the New World, the winemakers choose to name their wines after the sole or principal grape varietal that has gone into creating the beverage.
Why do wineries name their wines after regions?
The reason wineries from the Old World name their wines after regions is because Old World winemakers tend to feel that the place where the wine was made has as much, if not more, to do with how the wine will taste as grapes.
Where do wine names come from?
Wines falling in this category come from places like Australia, Chile, South Africa and the U.S., but different wine names typically come from the type of grape used. Exceptions with wine names occur from time to time. Some winemakers skip traditions and create names specific to their winery.