What size is a standard wine label?
For a 75 cl Bordeaux or Burgundy bottle, front labels are usually 80 to 100 mm wide and 100 to 130 mm high, back labels 60 to 90 mm wide and 80 to 110 mm high. The real limit is the flat or gently curved area of your bottle and the tolerances of your labelling machine.
| Bottle | Typical front label | Typical back label |
|---|---|---|
| 75 cl Bordeaux | 90 × 120 mm | 70 × 100 mm |
| 75 cl Burgundy | 100 × 110 mm | 80 × 90 mm |
| 75 cl Alsace / Rhine (flute) | 75 × 110 mm | 60 × 90 mm |
| 75 cl sparkling | 100 × 90 mm + neck label | 75 × 90 mm |
| 37.5 cl half bottle | 70 × 90 mm | 55 × 70 mm |
| 150 cl magnum | 120 × 150 mm | 90 × 120 mm |
Indicative sizes seen on the market, not legal requirements. Always measure the usable surface on your own bottle model.
What is the minimum font size on a wine label?
The mandatory particulars must be printed with an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm when the largest surface of the container is under 80 cm² (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, art. 13). A 75 cl bottle always has a larger surface, so 1.2 mm applies.
The x-height is the height of a lowercase “x”, not the point size of the font. Depending on the typeface, 1.2 mm of x-height corresponds to about 7 to 8 points. A condensed or light typeface with a small x-height may need 9 points or more to reach the minimum.
Legibility also counts: the regulation asks for sufficient contrast between the text and the background. Gold text on a dark textured paper may be beautiful and still hard to read in a shop.
How tall must the alcohol and volume figures be?
On a bottle between 20 cl and 100 cl, the figures of the alcoholic strength must be at least 3 mm high (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33) and those of the nominal volume at least 4 mm (Directive 76/211/EEC). Bigger bottles need bigger figures.
| Nominal volume | Alcohol figures | Volume figures |
|---|---|---|
| 20 cl or less | 2 mm | 3 mm (over 5 cl), 2 mm (5 cl or less) |
| Over 20 cl, up to 100 cl | 3 mm | 4 mm |
| Over 100 cl | 5 mm | 6 mm |
Heights apply to the figures, not to the “% vol” or “ml” symbols.
How much room does the back label text need?
At 1.2 mm x-height, a back label with allergens and the word “ingredients” in two languages, the energy value, the QR code, the bottler, the provenance and the lot needs roughly 25 to 35 cm². Each extra language adds about 2 to 4 cm², a French pregnancy pictogram about 1 cm².
The QR code takes the most room. Codes smaller than about 15 mm become hard to scan on a curved bottle in poor light. With its quiet zone, plan for a 20 × 20 mm square.
When the text does not fit, the solutions in order of cost are: move the alcohol and volume to the front label, group languages on one line, shorten the bottler line, then enlarge the label. Shrinking the text under 1.2 mm is not an option.
Do the particulars have to be on the same side of the bottle?
The name of the wine with its category or PDO/PGI term, the alcoholic strength and the nominal volume must be readable in the same field of vision, without turning the bottle (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33). The other particulars can be anywhere on the container.
How do curved bottles and labelling machines affect the label?
A label on a curved or tapered bottle must stay within the cylindrical part of the glass, or it wrinkles. The labelling machine sets the roll direction, the core size and the gap between labels. Ask your bottler or your mobile bottling line for these figures before the design starts.
Burgundy and Alsace bottles taper early, so their usable height is smaller than it looks. Sparkling bottles have a punt and a thicker body. Measure on the actual bottle model, not on a drawing.
How do you fit several languages on one back label?
Group the short lines: one allergen line in all languages, one “ingredients” line in all languages next to the QR code, and the energy value once, since figures do not need translation. The table shows a back label for Italy, Germany and France.
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| Allergens | Contiene solfiti / Enthält Sulfite / Contient des sulfites |
| Next to the QR code | Ingredienti / Zutaten / Ingrédients |
| Energy | E (100 ml) = 312 kJ / 75 kcal |
| France only | Pregnancy pictogram |
| Bottler, provenance, lot | Once, in the main language of the label |
Example layout. Each market's wording is checked against its language version of the regulation.
What should I give my designer or printer?
- The bottle model and the usable surface, measured on the glass.
- The minimum sizes above, written in the brief.
- The full legal text for each market, checked before layout.
- The QR code as a vector file with its quiet zone.
- The roll direction and core size for your labelling machine.
Questions from winemakers
What is the standard size of a wine label?
There is none in law. On a 75 cl bottle, front labels are often around 90 × 120 mm and back labels around 70 × 100 mm.
What font size should a wine back label use?
Whatever font size gives an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, often 7 to 8 points depending on the typeface.
How big should the QR code be on a wine label?
No size is set in law. In practice, at least 15 mm wide plus a quiet zone, so that it scans on a curved bottle.
Sources
Selection criteria: we cite official texts first (EUR-Lex, national law portals), then named surveys with their publisher.
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (EUR-Lex)
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (EUR-Lex)
- Directive 76/211/EEC on prepackaged quantities (EUR-Lex)
Updated on November 2, 2026 by the WineLex team