1. Denomination of sale
It gives the customer some useful information on the product to be found in the bottle. It is not the company brand.
- For wines without denomination of origin (generic and varietal ones) the term “wine” is followed by an adjective (for example “red” or “white”) while for the varietals we need to refer to the variety ( i.e. Merlot, Sauvignon).
- For the wines with the denomination of origin, along with the PDO and PGI, we need to state the name of the denomination and the indication of the place like PDO Chianti Classico or PGI of the Dolomites.
- The indications on the denomination have to be on the label, as stated by law, with a character which is at least double in size than that used to state the origin of the bottler. Further indications (like RIserva, Superiore) can’t be written using a character which is bigger than that used for the denomination.
2. Referral to the bottler
It gives customers the name of the last element on the supply chain so that in case of issues, we know who to address (the bottler). In turn, he will need to address the producer or higher up. The last element of the supply chain is basically the responsible in the eyes of the customer.
Wordings in the label have to provide indications on the bottler and the name of the producer along with that of the seller VS, VSQ, VSQA. In general:
Name in its full form (more concise forms can be used but it needs to be derived from an ACt or its Constitution and it needs to report the name “denomination” of the Company Register of the CCIAA). Also the municipality and the country need to be there along with the words “Bottled by” (“Processed be” if there are more people involved- “Worked out” by “Made up as sparkling wine” by VS/VSQ).
In many cases, the bottler is also the producer so the following can be included in the label:
- “bottled by the farm or the viticulturist…”
- “bottled since its origin by”
- “bottled since its origin by the social cooperative or joined producers… similar sayings”
About the distinctions between bottler, importer-producer, seller please refer to the EU Legislation nr. 479/2008 and further laws.
It is possible to use a ICQRF code followed by the trademark of the European producer country.
3. Origin and provenience
- The indication of the provenience of wine allows to identify the origin of the raw material and the place where transformation has taken place.
- For this reason, we need to state the name of the European country (e.g. France) where it has happened or, in case wine is the result of a processing of grapes happened in two different countries, we need to state the name of the wine as wine of the European Community (or similar terms) so “mixture of wines from different countries of the European Community”.
- If the mixture has been assembled outside the European Community we need to state it as wines originating from countries not belonging to the European Union.
4. Nominal volume of the container
- It states the amount that can be filled with wine. We can use different units of measures like ml, cl, l written in the correct scientific form (0,75 l; 75 cl o 750 ml).
- Using the symbol “e” near the volume can be done to state an estimate but it has to be used to state the tolerance of the maximum volume (that can be lost by transpiration.. ) of 3% for the volumes of or higher than 15 ml of volume for volumes of 750 and 1000 ml and 1.5% of the volumes for volumes higher than 1L.
Characters for volumetric measures have to be reported as follows:
– 3 mm (bottles with volumes between 20 and 100 cl)
– 5 mm (bottles with a capacity higher than > 100 cl)
– 2 mm (bottles with a capacity between o and < 20 cl)
5. Effective alcoholimetric title
It is the percentage of effective alcohol of the wine, not to be mixed with the total alcoholimetric title which comprises it along with the potential title. This last datum is not compulsory to be stated.
- It can be indicated with units or percentages.
- The value of the effective alcoholimetric title is followed by the symbol % vol and can be preceded by the terms effective alcoholic strength or actual alcohol or by the abbreviation alc, usually vol is used so for example 12.5% vol.
- The analytical tolerance with respect to the value on the label can be: 0.5% vol more or less (0.8% for PDO and PGI wines kept in the bottle for more than 3 years or for some special wines).
The characters with which it is written have a minimum character height:
– 3 mm (bottles with volume between 20 and 100 cl)
– 5 mm (bottles of capacity> 100 cl)
– 2 mm (bottles with capacity = or <20 cl)
6. Bottling lot
The bottling lot allows you to indicate the exact day the wine was bottled. The indication of the lot must be unique and must allow to be able to go back to the certain date. The most used way to indicate the lot is a capital L followed by a progressive number from 1 to 365 which indicates the day of the year (if leap is on 29 February by convention is the 366) with next to it the example year (so L .100 / 19 indicates the hundredth day of the year 2019).
7. Indications on allergens
Allergens are those registered substances that can be found in wine and that can cause allergic reactions in some sensitive individuals. The allergens that must be indicated in the wine are sulphites, the presence of eggs or milk if there were risks of contamination or presence.
Normally you must write: “contains sulphites” or “sulfur dioxide” when the value derived from the analysis is greater than 10 mg / l.
If the value is less than 10 mg / l or have not been added or cannot be detected because the value is low (less than 10 mg / l) you can write: “without added sulfites”.
There is no obligation to indicate the quantity on the label (however it is necessary that the limits are in any case lower than those permitted by law).
Summarizing the possible presence indicated is preceded by the word “contains”:
- «sulphites» or «sulfur dioxide» if the sulphite content is greater than 10 mg / l
- «egg», «egg protein», «egg derivatives», «egg lysozyme» or «egg albumin»
- «milk», «milk derivatives», «milk casein» or «milk protein»
For wine circulating in one of the EU countries it is necessary to translate the indication of allergens into the language of the respective EU country, for example for the United Kingdom:
- Contains «sulphites», «sulfites», «sulphur dioxide» o «sulfur dioxide»
- Contains «egg», «egg protein», «egg product», «egg lysozyme» o «egg albumin»
- Contains «milk», «milk products», «milk casein» o «milk protein»
As an alternative to the full indication, one of the pictograms developed by the EU can be used and published in Annex X to Reg. 607/2009, amended by Reg. 579/2012.
8. Sugar content (only for sparkling wines
The sugar content indicates the quantity of unfermented sugar present in sparkling wines. The following terms are used:
– «brut nature» or «pas dosè» if tenor <3 g / l
– «extra brut» if the content is between 0 and 6 g / l
– «brut» if content <12 g / l
– ‘extra dry’ if it is between 12 and 17 g / l
– «dry», «dry» or «dry» if it is between 17 and 32 g / l
– «abboccato» or «demi-sec» if it is between 32 and 50 g / l
– «sweet» if tenor> 50 g / l
The analytical tolerance with respect to the value indicated on the label is maximum in the measure of 3 g / l more or less.
