Ask Adam: What Is Table Wine?

Table wine has varying definitions. To many, especially here in the U.S., a table wine is any wine that is meant to be paired with food at the table. But in addition to this very simple definition, many wine regions around the world have formal definitions when it comes to labeling a wine a table wine. 

In the EU, where you most often see bottles labeled as table wines, wines that are produced in the block must fall into two categories: table wine or quality wines produced in specific regions. Here, table wine is the lesser classification, and appellations cannot be displayed on the label. Wines labeled as such are affordable, and have grapes sourced from many different places. They are wines that are intended to be simple crowd pleasers, drinkable in their youth, and not meant for aging.