Cuvée

Since the term cuvée for this purpose is unregulated, and most wines have been stored in a vat or tank at some stage of production, the presence of the word cuvée on a label of an arbitrary producer is no guarantee of superior quality.

In Champagne, the cuvée is the first 2,050 litres of grape juice from 4,000 kg of grapes (a marc), while the following 500 litres are known as the taille (tail), and are expected to give wines of a coarser character.

The term can also apply to beer, or to chocolate to refer to a batch that is blended by the manufacturers to produce a certain taste.

When referring to beer, ale, or chocolate the term has no defined meaning, but is meant to evoke images of higher quality—similar to the use of "reserve" for wine in areas where the term is not regulated by law.

For instance, 3.140 cuvée, which is not labelled with the standard classifications of VS, VSOP or XO a minimum of six years before bottling.