Decoding the labels

French wine labels often contain the letters AOC or AC (which stands for appellation d’origine contrôlée). These are usually top-quality wines and mean they come from a particular region such as Chablis, Sancerre or Champagne. Wines labelled vin de pays are cheaper, everyday wines.

There’s a similar system in Italy, where DOCG on the label denotes the best quality, while DOC is a notch below.

Bear in mind the alcohol content – wines of 12% will be lighter than those of 14%.

Check the back labels, which often have helpful tasting notes.