Multi-vintage

Producer term, no legal definition

Multi-vintage is a producer term for a wine deliberately blended from several harvests; it has no legal definition in the EU labelling rules or the Champagne specification.1,2 On the label such a wine counts as non-vintage.3

No legal definition

No definition of "multi-vintage" was found in the EU labelling rules or in the AOC Champagne specification reviewed for this page.1,2 The word is a producer's description, not a protected term, and it carries no minimum number of years, share of older wine or ageing period.

Why it counts as non-vintage

A harvest year may be stated only when the single-year rule is met: at least 85% of the grapes from that year under EU law, 100% for Champagne.1,3 A blend of several harvests meets neither threshold, so legally it is a non-vintage wine and the minimum ageing rules for non-vintage wine apply. In Champagne that means at least 15 months from tirage before sale.2

The practice behind it

Blending base wines from different harvest years is a recognised winemaking operation in the OIV International Code of Oenological Practices (II.4.1.5).4 Every non-vintage blend uses it to some degree, usually by adding reserve wines to the wine of the latest year.5 Whether a back label lists the years or their shares is the producer's choice; no rule found here requires it.

See assemblage for how blends are built and vintage for the single-year rules.

See also

Non-vintage (sans année)StylesVintage (millésime)StylesAssemblage and reserve winesMethodsVin de réserveGlossaryvintage yearGlossary

Sources

  1. legislation.gov.uk (copy of EU OJ text). Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, Article 49 (vintage year), original version as adopted (2018-10-17)
  2. Cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » - modifications approved by the INAO national committee on 11 September 2024 (national opposition procedure text) (2024-09-11)
  3. DGCCRF (Ministère de l'Économie). Champagne : connaître le langage des étiquettes (2025-12-16)
  4. OIV International Code of Oenological Practices, II.4.1 Definitions common to all sparkling wines (II.4.1.1-II.4.1.10)
  5. Union des Maisons de Champagne (UMC). Blending a Grande Marque cuvée

Facts checked on 2026-10-19