House Wine – My Winespill
Being house bound and thirsty I remember an add I saw last summer for a summer duo: a House Wine & Cheez-It dual-sided box. It was a limited-edition product offered last July of one-part box of Original Cheez-It, one-part Original Red Blend box of House Wine offered in a convenient single package. The innovative pairing highlights the cheesy, crunch of Cheez-It crackers and couples it with the red currant aromas of House Wine’s Original Red Blend.
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House wine or table wine quality
Could this be named like house music? Because we have a large stock in the warehouse, we’ll sell it cheap to go with any meal or snack crackers. Now just because we have a large amount and we are selling it at a decent price doesn’t mean it’s going to be shitty. The everyday table wines of Europe bring great wine, at a great price. But the naming is a bit more complicated.
The levels of French wine
All European wine was either Table Wine or Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions (QWpsr). The specified areas in which the quality wines were grown and the methods by which they were produced were highly regulated and thought to be of higher quality. In 1935, France came up with a system of 4 categories.
- Vin de Table (Table Wine): Any wine made anywhere in France;
- Vin de Pays (Country Wine): The first level of QWpsr wine, from a wide region;
- VDQS (Vin Delimité de Qualité Supérieure): Higher-quality wines from a wide region;
- AOC (Vin d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée): Wines of a specific origin and highest quality.
In 2011, the EU replaced QWpsr with two new categories — PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), and PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). In France’s case, this now means three new categories for wine:
- Vin de France (“French wine”): Replacing Vin de Table;
- IGP (Indication Geographique Protégée): France’s new PGI, replacing Vin de Pays and VDQS;
- AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée): France’s new PDO, replacing AOC.
With this new system, France avoids the negative, low-quality connotation “Vin de Table” has come to carry and averts confusion with the American use of the phrase “table wine.”
Who’s house are you in anyway?
Typically, house wine is an inexpensive offering at a restaurant served by the glass, carafe, or sometimes even by the bottle. The menu rarely offers much insight on the producer or varietal to accompany the ambiguous titles of “house red” or “house white,” which leaves many wine drinkers feeling more untrusting than thirsty. Because seriously, what the hell is it?
I guess it depends on who’s house you’re in. Similar to a Sunday brunch, you use up what didn’t sell on Friday and Saturday night. But in this day and age, when restaurants are putting as much effort into their beverage programs as they are their small plates, is house wine actually bad, bulk wine? In the U.S., house wine, otherwise known as table wine, can really be any nonsparkling, unfortified, dry wine of 14 percent ABV or less. Simply put, it’s an inexpensive easy drinker that will get the job done during a meal.
Ask for a taste
Because of the abundance of wine producers, it’s not always easy to know what you’re getting into even if you do ask a server. Some are just trying to purge the Sauvignon Blanc the wine buyer over-ordered to make room in the cellar. Err on the side of caution by ordering based on regions you recognize, and if a producer sounds like one you’ve seen collecting dust at the corner store, trust your gut. If you’re still unsure, ask for a sample. Wine by the glass is like the ice cream of beverages, ask for a taste.
