How to: Decode Your Wine Label

I have watched enough SharkTank to know the importance of marketing through packaging.  A customer's first impression comes from the packaging and for wine that is the label.  However, personal experience has proven to me again and again that wine labels are often nothing short of a real pain in the ass.  There is no consistency from bottle to bottle and the label vocabulary is stuffed with jargon that can often be frustrating to try and sort through.  Buying wine shouldn't be headache inducing or use up your entire month's data frantically trying to Google every potential purchase.  A few simple steps and a bit of patience is all that stands between you and a great glass of wine tonight.

To begin, all you need a potential bottle of wine and your eyes:

Step One: Determine the Country of Origin 

This could be as simple as checking the language on the label.  Words in French?  French wine. Words in Italian? Italian Wine.  Many countries label in English so a bit more exploring may help indicate where the wine is from.  Look for names of places on the front or back label to help pinpoint where the wine is coming from.  Determining the country of origin is especially important as each country has its own special way of labeling

Step Two: Figure out the Varietal (Grape Type)
Knowing what grape the wine is made from is the number one indicator on what kind of a wine experience you're going to have.  If your wine is from the New World (likely these are the in-English labels) the grape type will be obviously listed.  However, the Old World places (think France, Italy, Spain, etc.) generally do not label by grape varietal and instead label by place.  Here is a short breakdown of labeling for two of the major Old World wine growing countries:

• France: With the exception of Alsace, everywhere in France labels by place (also called appellation).  France's wine regulations specify that each growing region is only permitted to grow certain grapes.  The French put the place the grape was grown in where in the New World the grape type would be listed.  So, a French wine, for example, would be labeled as Chablis.  It is the consumer's job to know the grape is Chardonnay. This would be a good place to Google if you don't have these things memorized.
• Italy: Italy can label their wines in one of four different ways (I know it's a real pain in the ass). It could be labeled, like France, by place (ex. Chianti is a place and it is our job to know the grape is Sangiovese).  It could be labeled just by the grape as it's done in the New World (ex. Falanghina from the Campania region is the Falanghina grape).  It could be a combination of the grape and the place and the dead give away for this is a de or d'.  This wine is labeled literally as the grape from the place (ex. Dolcetto d'Alba is the Dolcetto grape from Alba region of Piedmonte).  Finally, the wine could be given a Proprietary or Fantasy Name. This has nothing to do with the grape or place and is often the brand.  A bit more looking on this type of label will be needed to find the grape varietal.

Step Three: What is the Wine's Style?

Is your wine sweet, sparkling, or dry?  There are a few words that will indicate the style and, like the varietal, are good to know to figure out what kind of a wine you're getting:

• Botrytis/Noble Rod: This is a sweet wine that has been infected with a fungus (yes it is perfectly safe and wine growers do this on purpose) that when pressed and fermented makes the wine sweeter.
• Late Harvest: Another sweet wine.  The grapes are harvested later in the growing season and have more developed sugar.
• Champagne: A sparkling wine.  This type of sparkling wine was fermented in the bottle and does not necessarily need to be from the Champagne region of France.
• Prosecco: Sparkling wine again.  This wine has been fermented and then placed in a big tank where the winemaker will then inject carbon dioxide into it (much like carbonated beverages).
• Reserve: Beware of this one.  In the US, it has no legal meaning and could be slapped on any bottle of the producer wants to and is often done to upsell.  However, in Spain and Italy placing Riserva or Crianza on the bottle does indicate the wine has gone through a longer aging period.
• A note: French Wines will also require you to know the style of the place.  For example, Barsac makes a sweet, Botrytis affected Semillon wine.  Again, Google is your friend.

Step Four: What Does the Year Mean?

Most wines will have a year printed somewhere on the front label.  Called the vintage, the year tells you what year the grapes for that wine was harvested.  Super wine nerds get interested in this as differences in the same place from year to year are often expressed in each vintage's wine. You'll notice as you do more looking at most Champagnes that they don't have a vintage.  In order for Champagne producers to put out a consistent tasting product, they will mix grapes from a variety of vintages.

Step Five: Who Made the Wine?

Here, we are looking for the producer of the wine.  Often, it is the other big letters that aren't the place or grape.  This is helpful to know if you enjoyed the particular producer's (or brand's) wine and would like to repurchase it again. 

Step Six: Pop the Cork and Enjoy 

Reading wine labels is something that takes practice.  However, the more informed you are on the difference between wine labels the better chance you have at picking out the wine you want.  Wine Folly has an amazing piece on the basics of wine labels with pictures of different labels for a more visual breakdown.  

While the wine label may seem like it is in a completely different language (literally in many cases), it is just with a few new vocabulary words and a bit of strategic Googling that an exciting new fermented grape juice experience can begin.  I do think, however, that us wine drinkers should start a campaign to standardize the damn things and make everyone's lives easier.  Who is with me?