The Marianne or CRD gives you a lot of information about a wine… Learn how to decipher the Marianne from the bottles of wine with Beaux-Vins !
Understanding what you buy also means better understanding what is written about the bottle of wine. Of course, you have to know how to read the label and the counter-label where most of the information is gathered, but we often forget to look at the Marianne on top of the bottle.
The CRD capsule, what is it ?
CRD stands for Capsule Representative Law in French, it states that the duties on alcohol have been paid to the General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Rights (DGDDI). It authorizes its circulation and marketing on French territory. Normally, it is not possible to buy a bottle of wine without this capsule.
What do these colors mean, letters, numbers?
On the crown appears a reference of the type 83 R 036 (cf. photo opposite). This gives the following information :
The first two-digit number refers to the head office department of the bottler or distributor of capsules (for collective capsules). It is often the production department.
The letter refers to the bottler's qualification. We can find three different letters :
- R for Wine grower
- N for Not a wine grower or Vintner
- E for Authorized warehouse keeper
The second number corresponds to administrative approval number of the bottler or distributor of collective capsules (in this last case, it is mostly numbers 01 to 02).
The capsules can be of different colors depending on the category of wine :
- Green : AOP (Protected Origin Designation) formerly AOC and VQPRD
- Bleu : IGP wine (Protected Geographical Indication) and Vin de France
- Orange : Intermediate products, Natural Sweet Wine and Liqueur Wine
- Wine red : Since 2011, it replaces the green and blue capsule with some exceptions
You can also find a yellow capsule for cognac and Armagnac, red for DOM rum, gray for other intermediate products such as ratafia or finally white for other alcohols.
Should you choose a merchant or harvester's wine ?
It is really difficult to give a clear answer to this kind of question, it all depends on everyone. Merchants' or harvesters' wines are no better or worse.
The advantage of trade wines is that they rarely have any bad surprises.The merchant's role is to maintain a stable taste of the wine from one year to the next. A harvester's wine will be much more subject to variations caused by the weather, vinification, and so on, but can be on the other hand a nice discovery.
In my opinion, the color and the letter affixed to the Marianne has very little interest and does not influence my choice. In the end, the most important thing is that your wine is beautiful !
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