The EU's mandatory list
Mandatory information on the label
What must appear on a wine label, what's merely optional, and what's new since 2023? The EU prescribes a short mandatory list, from alcohol content to lot number. Everything else is voluntary and often just marketing.
Seven details every bottle must carry
Whether a bottle comes from the Pfalz, from Chile or from South Africa, the law demands the same basic information from all of them. The foundation is the European wine market regulation, set out in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and spelled out in detail in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33. First comes the sales designation. If the label reads "wine", "sparkling wine" or "semi-sparkling wine", you know instantly which category you're dealing with. Then come the actual alcohol content by volume and the country of origin or protected designation of origin.
Three further mandatory fields round out the list: the name and location of the bottler, the nominal volume of the bottle in millilitres, and a lot number. This lot number looks small and almost hidden, yet it's one of the most important figures on the entire label. If a producer recalls a batch, say because of suspected glass splinters, this exact number identifies the affected bottles. Without it, an entire vintage would have to come off the shelves. With it, a single marked lot is enough, while the rest stays on sale.
The sulfite warning
One mandatory item concerns health directly: the warning about sulfites, meaning sulfur dioxide. If a wine contains more than 10 milligrams of it per litre, the label must state "contains sulfites", a rule harmonised across Europe since 2005. This threshold is so low that almost every wine exceeds it. Even without any added sulfur, yeasts naturally produce ten to thirty milligrams per litre during fermentation.
So the warning doesn't protect against the substance itself, only against overlooking it. People with asthma or a sulfite intolerance can react even to small amounts, with coughing, skin flushing or headaches. For everyone else, the permitted maximum levels are harmless, sitting well below what the body processes without any trouble. Still, sulfur remains the most discussed word on the whole label, even though real danger is almost never the issue.
What changed as of December 2023
On 8 December 2023, the legal situation changed fundamentally: wine is now treated almost like any other packaged food. Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 requires an ingredients list and a nutrition table, with at least the energy value in kilocalories printed permanently on the label. This applies to all wines produced from that date onward. Older vintages already bottled before the cutoff may use up their existing labels as normal, until the last case is sold.
The rest, meaning the full table with sugar, fat and protein plus the complete ingredients list, may be provided electronically by producers, usually via a QR code on the back label. Only allergens and the energy value must stay permanently printed; everything else may disappear into a digital label. Critics call this a half-measure, since hardly anyone pulls out their phone in the supermarket. Supporters see it as a fair compromise between transparency and a label that isn't plastered over completely.
Mandatory and optional at a glance
So anyone who turns a bottle around on the shelf will find a short mandatory list alongside, often, a lot more text. Vintage, grape variety, sweetness level, medals and flowery descriptions are all voluntary, even though they usually get more space than the mandatory information itself. A label full of praise says nothing about the taste inside the bottle. The mandatory details, by contrast, are legally binding and must be accurate, otherwise the producer risks fines and, in the worst case, a sales ban.
That's exactly why it pays to take a second look at the small print, since the large lettering in the middle often just distracts. Anyone unsure what belongs to a particular piece of information can photograph the label with their phone and, for example, look it up through the Gustofolio app to see which words are mandatory and which are pure advertising. That way, a colourful piece of paper on the bottle becomes a document you can actually read.