Wine Label Decoder
Robin Garr, of Wine Lovers' Page, one of America's top wine websites, offers a great yet easy way to understand how to read a wine label. His Wine Label Decoder is easy to understand and extremely effective for the novice consumer. The following is taken from Robin’s website at http://www.wineloverspage.com/wines/labels.shtml.
Says Robin Garr:
For the new wine lover, few things about fine wine are more daunting than the wine-bottle label. All that small print! All those foreign words and terms! But bear in mind that information brings knowledge, and lots of print conveys lots of information. Learn to decode the label, and you've armed yourself with the tools you need to be a savvy consumer.
Take a look
at the half-dozen label images below, and follow the red numbers from
each label to the related numbers in the text for a quick explanation
of every label line. Even though these labels represent five countries
with five different sets of labeling regulations, you'll soon see that
they all provide the same general information, with only relatively minor
differences in format and content.
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| United States | France | Italy |
- Wine
maker or winery: The company or firm that made the wine or,
in some cases, the wine's trademark name.
- Appellation:
The country or region where the grapes for this wine were grown. This
may be as broad as "California" or as narrow as a specific
vineyard like "Erdener Treppchen." Note, however, that the
California wine pictured also lists its specific vineyard source ("Pagani
Ranch" and, in small print at the bottom of the label, "Sonoma
Valley") while the German wine also mentions its region ("Mosel-Saar-Ruwer").
In most countries, wine-growing regions ("appellations") are
defined by law, and wines made in these regions will carry legal language
on the label such as "Appellation Controlée" in France
or "Denominazione della Origine Contrallata (DOC)" in Italy.
Most regulations allow up to 15 percent of the wine to be made from
grapes grown outside the area.
- Vintage:
This is the year in which the grapes were harvested, not the year in
which the wine was bottled, which for some wines may be years later.
Note that some countries add the local word for "vintage"
to the label: "Cosecha" in Spain, "Vendemmia" in
Italian. (Most national wine laws require that at least 85 percent of
the wine be harvested in the year of vintage; up to 15 percent may be
blended in from other years.)
- Variety:
The specific kind of grapes from which the wine was made. Not all wines
disclose varietal content. Most French and Italian wines do not do so,
for example, because the wine laws require the wines of each region
be made from traditional varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet
Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec in Bordeaux, for example (the Chateau
Coufran pictured is primarily Merlot); Sangiovese and others in the
case of Chianti, and Tinto Fino (a variant of Rioja's Tempranillo) in
Ribera del Duero. Most countries allow the use of some non-varietal
grapes in the blend. In most states of the U.S., for example, only 75
percent of the wine's content must be of the named varietal. In Europe
and Australia, the rule is usually 85 percent.
- Ripeness:
In a tradition known primarily in Germany and, in somewhat different
form, Austria, some wines use special terminology to reflect the ripeness
of the grapes and the quality of the finished wine. The German wine
pictured, for instance, is a "Kabinett," the lowest ripeness
level in "Qualitätswein mit Prädikat," the highest
quality level. For more information on the German system, read John
Trombley's excellent article, Knowing the German Quality System for
Wines. Some German wine labels will also show "Trocken" ("Dry")
or "Halbtrocken" ("Half Dry") to denote wines vinified
to less natural sweetness.
- Estate
bottling and winery information: If the wine is "estate
bottled" (made from grapes grown and harvested in the winery's
own vineyards), this will be disclosed with language on the label such
as the French "Mise en bouteille(s) au Chateau;" the German
"Gutsabfüllung" (a newer and more specific term than
the older "Erzeugerabfüllung"); or the English "estate
bottled" or "grown, produced and bottled."
- Other
required information: This may vary widely depending on national
regulations. German wines, for example, carry an "Amptliche Prüfungs
Nummer (AP Number)," the serial number it received during official
testing. French wines may carry their ranking from traditional classifications
(such as "Cru Bourgeois" on the Bordeaux pictured). The back
labels of wines sold in the U.S. are typically decked out with required
consumer warnings such as the notorious "Surgeon General's Warning"
and notices that the wines contain sulfites. Wine labels also carry
small print disclosing the wine's approximate alcoholic content and
the size of the bottle, as highlighted on the Spanish and U.S. wine
labels; and imported wines in the U.S. normally bear information (often
on a separate label, as seen on the French wine label) about the company
that imported it.
- Optional information: Additional information that may range from winemaker's notes or detailed analytical and tasting information to advertising hype are often featured on labels, especially the back label. Not to mention the ubiquitous UPC bar code!
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| Germany | Spain | Back Label |
