The Domaine La Chevalière Grand Reserve Cabernet - Merlot - Syrah is an award-winning blend of three varietals. In 1998 it won the Gold Medal at the Vinalies International Wine Competition, and in 1996 won the Grand Prize of Excellence at the same competition. As French wine label can be particularly difficult to understand, LearnVino chose this label to dissect for you.

Front Label

For an explanation of each and every term on the label, just scroll down the page. If you have a specific question, click on the word or words on the label which you would like to have explained. The back label is also explained further down the page. To go directly to the back label, click here.

The year in which the grapes were harvested and the wine was made, also known as the wine's vintage.

The Domaine — An image of the estate and gardens at Domaine La Chevalière, where the winery's offices are housed just outside of Béziers in the south of France.

The name of the wine.

Domaine La Chevalière is a range of masterfully blended wines. Listed in this section of the label are the names of the grape varieties that make up the blend of the specific wine. If a single varietal is listed, for example Chardonnay, it signifies that the blend is made up of different vineyard parcels of the single varietal — Chardonnay.

Présenté dans sa bouteille originale du 18ème siècle, cette Chevalière Grande Réserve est réalisée par assemblage de cépages nobles récoltés sur les meilleurs terroirs du Pays d'Oc.

"Presented in its own bottle, originally from the 18th century, this Chevalière Grande Réserve is made by blending noble grape varieties harvested from the best "terroirs" in the Pays d'Oc."

Although this is not officially an "Appellation Contrôlée" wine, the strictest and most demanding AC standards are applied to the selection of grapes, their cultivation and the vinification process. "Terroir" describes the vine's environment, including soil, exposure, climate and any other natural influence that will have an effect on the final wine. Some terroirs are better able to produce ripe grapes than others, and the freedom to choose and blend our grapes from different terroirs enables us to produce better, more balanced and more complex wines.

Stamp indicating "Elevé en fûts — Barrel aged" appears next to the text noted above when the particular wine has been aged in barrels.

The initials of the name of the winery: Domaine La Chevalière. The same initials are also embossed on the bottle.

Domaine La Chevalière — Béziers — Languedoc — France.
The geographic location of the DLC winery.

Back Label

Map — The map on the back label of DLC bottles geographically situates the Languedoc Region on the Mediterranean coast of France, and Béziers (where the DLC winery is located) within the region.

Message from Michel Laroche which describes how the wine is made, how long it can be kept, and the ideal temperature at which it should be served.

Michel Laroche's signature appears on each bottle as his personal approval and stamp of authenticity concerning the quality of the wine.

The alcohol by volume of the wine, the contents of the bottle, the country of origin, and the metric size of the bottle itself.

"Vin de Pays d'Oc"
DLC wines are officially categorised as "country wines," but this is in no way an indication of lesser quality. In fact, the region's Vin de Pays wines are often considered of higher quality than the AOC wines.

"Elevé et mis en bouteille par DLC"
All DLC wines are aged and bottled on the property.

"DLC au Domaine La Chevalière, Béziers, France"
The address of the DLC winery.

Text and images from www.domainelaroche.com.