A Champagne label, step by step: what it must show and what the producer adds
You read a Champagne label starting with the word “Champagne”, which must appear on it and on the cork, then the sugar level (Brut, Extra Brut, Demi-Sec), down to the small code with the letters NM, RM or CM and a number, which tells you who made the wine. Everything beyond the mandatory information, such as the vintage, grape variety, cru or disgorgement date, the producer adds voluntarily.
What must be on a Champagne label?
Eleven items: the word “Champagne”, the brand, the sugar level, the volume, the strength, the producer, their professional code, allergens, a warning for pregnant women, the country of origin and the lot number.
The list of mandatory information is published by the Comité Champagne, the organisation of Champagne growers and houses, and a similar one is given by the French consumer protection authority, the DGCCRF. Some items usually appear on the front label, others on the back label.
| Informacja | What it looks like | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Nazwa apelacji | “Champagne”, without the AOC mention | wine from Champagne, made according to the appellation rules |
| Marka | for example the name of the house or grower | the name under which the wine is sold |
| Sugar level | Brut Nature (pronounced broot na-TEWR), Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec (pronounced duh-MEE SEK), doux | how sweet the Champagne is |
| Volume | in l, cl or ml | bottle size |
| Moc | in % vol. | how much alcohol the wine contains |
| Producer | nazwa, gmina siedziby, „France” | who is responsible for the wine and where they are based |
| Kod zawodowy | NM, RM, CM, RC, SR, ND or MA and a number | whether it is a house, a grower, a cooperative or a retailer's brand |
| Allergens | zwykle „zawiera siarczyny” | information for people with allergies |
| Warning | a symbol or sentence about drinking during pregnancy | wymóg prawa |
| Kraj | „Produit de France” | pochodzenie |
| Partia | lot number (French: lot), sometimes on the cap or the glass | allows the producer to recall a specific batch |
The word “Champagne” and the cork
On genuine Champagne the word “Champagne” appears on the label and on the cork, and there is no AOC abbreviation.
Champagne does not carry the words “Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée”. The word “Champagne” alone, clearly legible on the label, is enough. The appellation rules also require the name of the appellation to be printed on the cork, on the part that sits in the neck of the bottle. In bottles of 0.2 l and smaller it goes on another inner part of the closure. If the Champagne has a vintage, the year must be both on the label and on the cork. This is easy to check once the bottle is open.
Sugar level: Brut, Extra Brut, Demi-Sec
The word next to the appellation name tells you how much sugar is in the wine: Brut has less than 12 g per litre, Demi-Sec from 32 to 50 g.
Sugar gets into Champagne with the dosage, a measure of wine with sugar added after disgorgement. Brut Nature has the least sugar (under 3 g/l, with none added), Doux the most (over 50 g/l). We show the full scale with its thresholds in the article Brut: what it means, and we write about adding sugar itself in the guide disgorgement and dosage.
Who made the wine: the NM, RM, CM code and number
A small code with two letters and a number assigned by the Comité Champagne tells you whether the Champagne was made by a house, a grower or a cooperative.
The code usually appears in small print next to the producer's name, for example “RM 21111-01”, as on the model label prepared by the Comité Champagne. The letters indicate the professional category:
- NM (négociant-manipulant pronounced nay-go-syahn ma-nee-pew-lahn): a house that buys grapes, must or wine and makes Champagne from them itself; the large houses are labelled this way.
- RM (récoltant-manipulant pronounced ray-kol-tahn ma-nee-pew-lahn): a grower who makes Champagne almost exclusively from their own grapes.
- CM (coopérative de manipulation): a cooperative that makes wine from its members' grapes.
- RC (récoltant-coopérateur): a grower who delivers grapes to a cooperative and sells the finished wine under their own name.
- SR (société de récoltants): a company of growers, usually from one family, that makes Champagne from its members' grapes.
- ND (négociant distributeur): a distributor who buys finished bottles and puts its own label on them.
- MA (marque d'acheteur): a buyer's brand, for example a retail chain's, under which wine made by someone else is sold.
For example Laurent Bénard (pronounced lor-ahn bay-nar) from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ (pronounced ma-RUH-ee sewr ah-EE) is a grower (RM), De Saint Gall (pronounced de san gal) is a cooperative brand, and Moët & Chandon (pronounced mo-et ay shon-don) is a house (NM). We write more about what these letters mean for taste and price in the article NM, RM, CM on the label.
Strength, volume and lot number
Strength is given as a percentage by volume, in whole or half units, and the lot number may appear on the cap or the glass.
European Union rules require the strength of wine to be given in whole or half percentages, for example 12% or 12.5% vol. For sparkling wines the analysed figure may differ from the label by no more than 0.8 percentage points. Volume may be expressed in litres, centilitres or millilitres. The lot number does not have to be on the label: it is sometimes printed on the cap or directly on the bottle.
Ingredients and calories: the QR code
Newer bottles carry a QR code. The Comité Champagne explains that the list of ingredients and the nutrition table may be given via the code or on the label, while the label itself keeps the energy value per 100 ml in kilojoules and kilocalories. In the ingredients of Champagne the producer lists grapes, sugar if added, liqueur de tirage (pronounced lee-kur de tee-rahzh) or d'expédition, additives and allergens, such as sulphites.
What the producer may add
Vintage, style (Blanc de Blancs pronounced blahn duh blahn, blanc de noirs pronounced blahn de nwahr, rosé), grape variety, village classification, disgorgement date, tasting notes and food suggestions.
This information is optional, but some of it is subject to strict rules. A vintage may be stated only if all the grapes come from that year (more in our article on vintage Champagne). The name of a grape variety, for example “Chardonnay” (pronounced pruh-MYAY KREW), may be stated only if the whole wine is made from that variety, and in letters no taller than 3 mm and no larger than half the height of the word “Champagne”. The words “Grand Cru” and “Premier Cru” mean that the grapes come from villages on the official list (grand cru and premier cru (pronounced grahn KREW)). Producers most often print the disgorgement date, grape percentages and tasting notes on the back label.
Example: a label from 1966.
The photo at the top shows the front label of Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (pronounced tet-an-zhay kohnt de shom-pan-yuh) from the 1966 vintage. You can read almost everything mentioned above on it: the name of the cuvée (pronounced koo-VAY) and the brand, the vintage, the style “Blanc de Blancs” (pronounced blahn duh BLAHN), the sugar level “Brut”, the word “Champagne”, the town where the house is based (Reims pronounced rans) and the small code with the letters N.M. and a number, meaning the wine was made by a house.
How to practise reading labels
The easiest way is to compare three bottles from different groups: a Champagne from a house, a grower and a cooperative. The codes, sugar levels and producers' additions then differ at first glance. You will find bottles from each group in the ranking of the best Champagnes, and below are three examples from our shelf.
Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial (pronounced broot am-pay-ree-AL) is a non-vintage Champagne from a house. Laurent Bénard Vendange Extra Brut Premier Cru (pronounced broot prem-yay kroo) is a vintage from a grower, from premier cru villages. De Saint Gall Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru comes from a cooperative and shows both the style and the village classification on its label.
