Wine Labels

Just as people frequently “judge a book by its cover”, many consumers are initially attracted to bottles of wine due to their beautifully designed labels or color schemes. This is, of course, not the wisest method of selecting a wine, but the label can do more than simply draw the attention of the shopper. Knowing how to gather information from a bottle of wine is a good way to ensure the best choice possible when purchasing wine for a meal, gift or special event.

It all begins with the “variety”, and this must always appear somewhere on the front of the bottle. Not all wines are crafted from the same sort of grapes, an in fact can often be a blend of several kinds, though each country has a “minimum” requirement for the type under which the bottle is labeled. Not all countries require their vintners to list every variety used, and instead let them name their wines by the region in which they were produced. Varieties can include such varietals as Zinfandel, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay, among many others. When reading wine labels, be sure that it is the variety of wine desired.

Next, look at the vintage. Most wine labels indicate the year in which the grapes were harvested. While younger, less expensive vintages may not have such information on their labels, many costly or collectible vintages will. This is because wine enthusiasts generally know when a vineyard or producer has had an excellent harvest, which in turn means a “good year” for a particular vintage. There are international rules about accuracy in the vintage declaration, with most requiring at least eighty-five percent of the grapes to have been harvested in the year indicated.

In addition to the vintage, many wine labels will also provide the “appellation” or the country of origin for the grapes in the wine. Some are very specific, right down to the vineyard from where the grapes were harvested, and some a far more general, such as a county or state as their area of origin. Outside of the United States most of the wine-growing regions are clearly defined under legal descriptions, and specific information about appellation must appear on all wine labels.

The wine maker’s name should appear in a major position on the label, and while name will not always ensure a high-quality product, there are some vintners who consistently turn out excellent wines and have a huge fan following. It is a good idea to find one or two makers that are regularly pleasing, and purchase a few bottles to keep on hand.

In addition to the wine maker’s name on wine labels, the producer may also feel it necessary to distinguish their vintages as “estate bottled”, which means that it is a product purely of the vineyard’s very own grapes and production equipment. Usually this appears near the variety or any appellation information.

Wine labels have different requirements from country to country, including regulation tracking numbers, such as in the case of all German wines, or “Surgeon General’s” warnings as in the United States, which advises about the sulfite content in the wine. Some vineyards print the actual percentage of alcoholic content in their wines or champagnes as well. Finally, some companies have wines manufactured outside of their own country, and all of the appropriate import information will usually appear on the wine labels for that particular vintage.

Wine labels are also collected by wine enthusiasts, who usually track their experiences in specially formatted wine journals. There are special tools created for the removal of wine labels from their bottles, where they are then glued or placed on the appropriate page in the wine journal. Many people make notes about the quality of the wine, and use the journal as a reference guide for future purchases.