That Little Green Stamp Atop French Wines???

WINE TALK
1

I’ve noted over the yrs that little green stamp that are atop some btls of French wine, right on top of the capsule, w/ some vaguely familiar person’s head, wearing a WWI flight helmet.
What, exactly, does that little green stamp signify? Why is not atop all French wines we buy? Who is that person? And what do all those numbers signify?
For some (unknown) reason, I’ve associated that stamp w/ wine that come in from the “grey market”. Is that a correct association??
Anyway…just sort curious.
Tom

2

It means: “BEWARE - - the enclosed wine is French!!!”

3

I thought is should be something more akin to this:

[truce.gif]

4

I assumed it had something to do with taxes or import/export duties, though I’m not sure at all.

5

It certifies that the tax has been paid for domestic (French) consumption. It typically shouldn’t be on bottles for export. So generally yes it signifies grey market (or hand carried by indivduals) in US.

6

So…it is then atop every btl of French wine you buy in France??
Tom

7

Yes, for AOC wines

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a200912071.html

8

I buy from a shop that has its own import license, and many of the wines they bring in have the stamp. Most of these come from producers that do not have exclusive agreements with a major distributor, so at that point they are not truly gray market.

9

What the revenue stamp tells you is that the importer didn’t buy it directly from the producer – that the bottle entered the domestic distribution chain. That’s probably a more important fact than whether or not the wine has an official importer, because it means the wine has passed through intermediaries’ hands.

10

Ok, so we’re all a bit wrong. Eric Texier posted a reply to this same question elsewhere. I will ask if he minds me re-printing it here.

11

I’ve always understood that it represented that French tax had been paid on the wine, and that those bottles were destined for the domestic market.

Interestingly a number of the bottles of 2008 Bordeaux being poured at the UCG had the sticker on them – some did and some didn’t – but when I asked none of the producers seemed to have an explaination as to why some of the bottles did.

12

Eric Texier’s response - reposted with his permission:

Hi guys,

This is a very complicated thing.

YES the green stamp means that someone paid the “accise” tax, which is a consumer tax of 0.025 € for a 750 ml bottle.

NO the N ir R on the stamp doesn’t mean that the wine comes from a vigneron (R) or a négociant (N). It just mean that a negociant or a vigneron paid the tax.
Especialy in bordeaux you can find wines from vignerons with a N stamp only because a négociant paid that tax. The last distributor who put the wine on the market has to pay the tax. So if you find a bottle with a R stamp, it means that a vigneron sold direct to the retailer or the restaurant.

NO you don’t pay that tax in the US on a bottle with the green stamp. This tax is due only if the wine in drunk in France. The customs administration pays us back as soon as we can prove that the wine has left the French ground.

If the wine is destinated to be exported, then we don’t have to use the stamp. As a grower I try to figure out how many bottles of a given bottling will be exported, but if I run short of no stamp bottles (capsule neutre) I’ll use stamped bottles (capsule congé) and ask for a refund when they reach their final destination.

I hope this help.

Cheers

Eric

13

Is there an official name for fear of the grey market? Something like Greymarketphobia or something?

Persoanally, I am afflicted by 3tierophobia due to the greater incidence of cooked wines and also higher prices.

14

Unknownprovenancephobia

15

Sometimes unknown, but often completely known provenance through grey market. Even when not known, long history with trusted direct-import retailers gives me complete confidence. YMMV.

Versus 3 tier provenance: known to be unsafe in many cases. But perhaps somewhat better today than in decades past. Except never safe in Texas.

16

Thanks for the explanation. Though I’m wondering how much of the 0.025 euros is spent on actually printing the stamps… seems like a waste.

17

I’ve been badly burned by the gray market, and I now limit the vast majority of my wine buying to highly trusted sources. Burn me once and I am gone as far as provenance goes.

18

Fair enough, David. I am like you, except that essentially all of my burn scars are via official 3-tier channels… including before I moved to Texas, I might add.

19

“3tierophobia” I’m infected. [tease.gif]

David [drinkers.gif]

20

Hi Tom…the “vaguely familiar” head/face on the capsule is 'Marianne", the official symbol of France for many years. The WWI headgear is the stylized drawing of a cap rather popular among the masses around the time of the French revolution.

You can follow it all from the very beginning here Marianne - Wikipedia

Sorry, I couldn’t resist that!