Editing Varietal

{{Short description|Wine made primarily from a single named grape variety}}
{{about|a type of wine|the horticultural term|cultivar}}
[[File:Cuvee.jpg|thumb|A varietal Californian wine, a [[Zinfandel]].]]

A '''varietal wine''' is a [[wine]] made primarily from a single named [[grape]] [[Variety (biology)|variety]], and which typically displays the name of that variety on the [[wine label]].<ref>The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.</ref><ref name=OCW-varietal>winepros.com.au. {{Cite web|last= Oxford Companion to Wine|title= varietal|url= http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=3370|access-date= 2008-08-05|archive-date= 2008-07-26|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080726114411/http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=3370|url-status= dead}}</ref> Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are [[Cabernet Sauvignon]], [[Chardonnay]] and [[Merlot]]. Wines that display the name of two or more varieties on their label, such as a Chardonnay-[[Viognier]], are ''blends'' and not varietal wines. The term is frequently misused in place of [[vine]] variety; the term ''variety'' refers to the vine or grape, while ''varietal'' refers to the wine produced by a variety.<ref name=OCW-varietal/>

The term was popularized in the US by Maynard Amerine at the [[University of California, Davis]] after [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] seeking to encourage growers to choose optimal vine varieties, and later promoted by [[Frank Schoonmaker]] in the 1950s and 1960s, ultimately becoming widespread during the California wine boom of the 1970s.<ref name=OCW-varietal/> Varietal wines are commonly associated with [[New World wine]]s in general, but there is also a long-standing tradition of varietal labelling in [[German wine|Germany]] and other German-influenced wine regions including [[Austrian wine|Austria]], [[Alsace wine|Alsace]], and the [[Czech wine|Czech Republic]].

==Marketing relevance==

The alternatives to the marketing differentiation of wines by grape variety are branded wine, such as Hearty Burgundy, or geographical [[appellation]]s, such as [[Champagne (wine region)|Champagne]] or [[Bordeaux wine|Bordeaux]]. The poor quality and unknown provenance of many branded wines and the multitude of potentially confusing appellations leaves varietal labeling as perhaps the most popular for quality wines in many markets.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} This is much less the case in places where [[appellations]] have a long and strong tradition, as for instance [[Appellation d'origine contrôlée|in France]]. In the past, the grape variety was very uncommonly mentioned on the labels of French [[wine bottle]]s, and was forbidden for almost all [[Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée|AOC]] wines. New World varietal wines from newcomers like [[Australian wine|Australia]] and [[Chilean wine|Chile]] have made a significant dent in traditional French export markets like the [[United Kingdom|UK]], and so the French are adopting varietal labeling in some cases, particularly for [[vin de pays]].

==Australia==
{{main|Australian wine}}
Australia has virtually completed a three decade long transition from labelling by style, e.g. "claret", "burgundy", "hock", "chablis" to a varietal system.  While this has been done in response to pressure from the EU, particularly France, it has paved the way for growing interest among Australian consumers for so called alternative varietals, such as [[Pinot gris|Pinot grigio / (Pinot gris)]], [[Sangiovese]] and [[Tempranillo]].

==Europe==
[[File:French corbieres Guy Chevalier wine with varietal labelling.jpg|thumb|right|220px|French estate bottled wine from the [[Corbières AOC]] in the [[Languedoc-Roussillon]] that features the grape variety [[Grenache noir]] on the label. Unique for French wines]]

Within the [[European Union]], a wine using a varietal label must contain at least 85% of that variety.<ref name="UK FSA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/euwineregs.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-10-21 |archive-date=2012-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207123959/http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/euwineregs.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 85% is a common minimum standard; national regulations may set the limit higher in certain cases, but not lower.

===France===
{{main|French wine}}
In most regions of France, [[terroir]] is thought to surpass the impact of variety, so almost all French wines traditionally have no variety listed at all, and would in many cases not be allowed for AOC wines. [[Champagne (wine)|Champagne]], for instance, is typically a blend of [[Chardonnay]], [[Pinot noir]] and [[Pinot Meunier]], but this is not indicated anywhere on the label. In Alsace, [[winemaker]]s adopt the [[German wine|German]] custom of varietal labeling.

In recent years, varietal labels have become more common for French wines. Most of these wines are Vin de pays rather than AOC wines, but varietal names are also seen on some regional AOCs.

==United States==
{{main|American wine}}
In the United States, the [[Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau]] regulations specify a minimum variety content of 75% of the labeled grape, for ''[[Vitis vinifera]]'' wines, and 51% for ''[[Vitis labrusca]]'' wines.<ref name=OCW-varietal/> There is no restriction on the identity of the balance. Many states in the United States require specific compositions to qualify for sale under a particular varietal labels. For example, in [[Oregon wine|Oregon]], wines subject to its regulation must be identified by the grape variety from which it was made, and certain varietals must contain at least 95% of that variety, although the new "Southern Oregon" sub-[[American Viticultural Area|AVA]] allows for the minimum 75% figure.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

==See also==
*[[International variety]]
*[[List of grape varieties]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Varietal}}
* [http://www.frenchscout.com/types-of-wines Wine varietals] – FrenchScout.com

{{Authority control}}
{{wines}}

[[Category:Wine terminology]]