Hi all,

I'm no wine expert and I was wondering what's the difference between
varietal and appellation. Or are just the same thing?

Thanks,
Ivan

(Ivan Debono) wrote:

> I'm no wine expert and I was wondering what's the difference
> between varietal and appellation. Or are just the same thing?

"Varietal" - better "variety" - refers to the grape variety; there
are a few hundreds (if not thousand) grown commercially around the
world.

"Appellation" means "geografic provenance" of a given wine. If
official, many appellations also rule the grape varieties
permitted. In the Côte d'Or in Burgundy, i.e., whites wines can
only be made from the chardonnay, and red wines from the pinot
noir grape, while in Chteauneuf-du-Pape 13 varieties are
permitted.

M.