Definition: Labelling

The label not only decorates the bottle, but also provides consumers with information about the wine's origin. Strict regulations require professionals to display the identity of the wine producer on the label. The label must be both aesthetically pleasing and a source of information that legitimises the champagne appellation. The first Champagne Houses affixed a wax seal to their bottles, covering the string and cork. The seal bore a number, letter or image to distinguish the product. The colour of the wax chosen also indicated the quality of the cuvée. Around 1820, they began offering their customers handwritten labels on special order. With the rapid advances in printing and lithography, Champagne labels became artistic objects, featuring elaborate calligraphy and designs and experimenting with colours such as bronze, gold, black and garnet, which cultivated the use of language such as "crème de", "fleur de", "cuvée réservée" and "cuvée extra-supérieure". Beyond this aesthetic aspect, the informative role remained essential. From the very first labels, Champagne merchants made a habit of including three pieces of information which, at the time, were by no means mandatory: the origin of the wine (vintage or commune where the grapes were produced); the name of the producer; and the name of the commune where the producer was based.

In 1834, a new detail was spontaneously added to the label: the year of the harvest from which the wine was exclusively produced. This marked the birth of the vintage.

Champagne

Since 1979, in order to comply with European Community regulations, the label of a Champagne wine must include the following nine indications: the word "Champagne", without the phrase "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" (controlled designation of origin), because, by definition, all Champagne wines are of controlled designation of origin; the original brand or name of each House; the residual sugar content, i.e. the category of wine: extra-brut, brut nature, brut, extra-dry, dry, demi-sec, sweet; the nominal volume stated in centilitres, increasingly in millilitres: 37.5 cl or 350 ml, 75 cl or 750 ml, etc.; the actual alcoholic strength, always expressed as a percentage, which varies between 10% vol. and 13% vol. maximum; the surname and first name of the producer, or the company name, written in full or in code, preceded by the words "produced by" or "producer"; the municipality of production, i.e. the territory in which it was produced. This information must appear after the name or company name. When the producer is identified by a code, the name of the commune is also coded; the country of origin "France", curiously almost always expressed in English as "product of France"; the professional registration number assigned by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne to each producer for each of the brands used. This registration number consists of a series of lowercase numbers preceded by two initials indicating the status of the person who produces and markets the wine. It is surprising that the law allows this very important information to be printed in such a small font that it is barely legible. Here is the meaning of the seven types of initials:

NM: négociant-manipulant (wine merchant-producer).

Of the at least two hundred négociant-manipulants, the largest number are based in the two flagship cities of Champagne, Reims and Épernay, or in their immediate vicinity, in the heart of the vineyards. The négociant may be a natural person or a company, also known as a Maison de Champagne when it carries out this activity on an exclusive basis. Whether or not it owns vineyards, it buys most of the grapes needed to make its wines.

RM: récoltant-manipulant (harvesting and processing).

Numbering more than two thousand, they represent a third of Champagne operators. These winegrowers only vinify, champagne-ise and market their own grapes.

RC: récoltant-coopérateur (cooperative grower).

There are around three thousand cooperative winegrowers, representing half of all operators in Champagne. Winegrowers who are members of a cooperative collect their bottles after production from the cooperative, which is an extension of their own business.

SR: harvesting company.

This is a group of winegrowers, often from the same family, who join forces to vinify and market their production. This association may call on the services of a cooperative to provide some of the necessary services.

CM: processing cooperative.

Of just over a hundred cooperatives, only half are involved in marketing. It is then the cooperative belonging to a group of winegrowers that produces the wine, whether it is marketed by the cooperative under various labels or returned to the cooperative winegrowers who belong to it.

MA: auxiliary brand, buyer's brand or authorised brand.

In all cases, it is a brand registered by an individual or company: a restaurateur, wine merchant, chain of shops, etc., who wishes to personalise a product for a specific sector of the market. Such a wine may originate from a grower-producer, a merchant-producer or a cooperative.

ND: wine merchant-distributor.

This is a natural or legal person (wine merchant) who buys finished bottled wines and affixes their own label to them on their premises.

Optional information may also be included on the label, provided it is accurate. These may include, for example: the year or vintage, which is indicated at the producer's discretion when the quality of the year allows and the cuvée contains only wines from that year; "blanc de blancs" for a cuvée made exclusively from white Chardonnay grapes; "blanc de noirs" for a cuvée made exclusively from black Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes; "grand cru", for a cuvée made exclusively from vineyards classified at 100% on the cru scale; "premier cru" for a cuvée composed solely of crus rated between 90 and 99% on the cru scale; the name of the commune, if all the wines in the cuvée have the same communal origin; the origin of a few very rare vintages from independent vineyards. Only a few plots, exceptional in terms of their terroir and exposure, are capable of producing wines rich and complete enough to justify separate vinification.