Appellation

A legally defined place name for a wine.

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Definition

An appellation is a legally defined place name for wine. To use the name, the wine must come from that area and follow set rules on grapes and winemaking. France’s system of controlled origin names is the best known.

Why it matters for WSET

Appellations are the key to reading a European wine label and predicting its style, a core WSET Level 2 and 3 topic.

Example

Chablis is one of the appellations of Burgundy.

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