A vineyard designated wine is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

produced from the product of a single

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

with that vineyard's name appearing on the

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

. Throughout the history of winemaking and

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

, the differences in quality between one plot of land and another have been observed with the boundaries of these vineyard generally well demarcated. In

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, the vineyards of the area are classified with the highest quality vineyards receiving the ranking of

Grand cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...

. The names of these vineyards, such as

Montrachet ''For the restaurant, see Montrachet (restaurant)'' Montrachet (pronounced ''Mon-rashay''; ) is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine made of Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. I ...

, will often appear on the wine label of Burgundy wines in bolder, more prominent print than even the name of the producer.K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 194-196 Workman Publishing 2001 In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the appearance of vineyards name on wine labels is a relatively recent phenomenon with one of the first vineyard designated premium wines in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

being the 1966 vintage Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Later examples include the 1975 Robert Young Vineyard

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

from the

Sonoma wine Sonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require regi ...

estate of Chateau St. Jean.T. Elkjer '
Tale of Two Valleys
"'' Appellation America, October 4, 2005 On the East Coast, Unionville Vineyards produces single vineyard wines, primarily

. Under US

wine laws Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, a ...

, if the name of vineyard appears on the label at least 95% of the grapes used to make the wine must come from that vineyard.CNN Interactive '
Wine labels: How to read them
'' CNN.com November 19th, 1998

References

{{reflist

External links

*T. Caputo '
Vineyard-Designated Wines Showcase Growers
'' Wine Review Online, August 5, 2008 *A. Goldfarb '

'' Appellation America, May 17, 2007 Viticulture Wine terminology