table wines

[Blue]

For French wines Vin de Table (Table Wine) does have a specific meaning.

In France there are 3 basic buckets that wine can fall into - AOC, VDQS and Vin de Table. Only about 30% of wines fall into the highest category, Appelation d'Origine Controlee. To call a wine Medoc, for example, a wine producer needs to follow a set of strict guidelines, including that the vines are in the area of origin, he makes wine in a high quality traditional method, yield is bellow a certain level and traditional cepages are used (depending on the region). If I recall corectly wine from very young vines (<4yrs) I think cannot be included in AOC wines.

The next level is VDQS (Vins Delimite de Quality Superieur I think). Anything that says Vin de Pays de _____ is vdqs, the most common you will find in the us is Vin du Pays D'Oc a region in the south of france.

Finally Vin de Table is the lowest level. In the past many french people would drink Vin de Table at lunch and dinner during weekdays (thus the name) while reserving the superior AOC or VDQS wines for the weekend family meal. In the last twenty years the French have cut their intake of wines, expecially of poor quality stuff. Fortunately wine making has also improved drastically.

In general I would be wary of French Table Wine sold in this country, even at the $5-10 prices that it is usually sold at, I have found most of it of very poor quality. A better bet is to go for Australian, NZ, Chilean, Romanian or regional american wines (NY, TX, TN etc.) which are priced in this range.

[This message has been edited by Blue (edited 01-04-2001).]