Today I want to take a little break from reviewing wines and talk a little bit about the information provided on the front and perhaps, back labels of the wine bottle. I have included explanations of the major elements of the labels and a couple of the obvious terms. For some people the wine label(s) can be so confusing and that can cause them to simply stop looking or wondering what the words on the label mean and simply pick the type of grape they prefer. This is unfortunate because there is a lot of useful information on the label that can help or assist you in narrowing down a possible wine for purchase. Let's do a little looking at an actual wine label and learn what a label can inform us about. Lets go ahead now and begin with what is known as the "Vintage".
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| American Wine Label |
Vintage - The vintage (single vintage in this case) is simply the year that the grapes were grown & harvested. Vintage is important because there are some years where growing conditions are better than others. From whether there was too much rain or rain at the wrong time to cooler or hotter that normal temperatures. The vintage can be used to sometimes perhaps exclude a particular wine depending on your knowledge of the particular weather history of the area in general for a particular area. Does the vintage guarantee that a particular winery had a good or bad year? The answer is no, it does not. Talking in general terms here however it can help in the general inclusion or exclusion of a particular wine. A wine can be up to 5% mixed vintage and still be considered a "single vintage". In some countries that number can go as high as 25%. There is also the term known as "non-vintage" which in general simply means that the particular grapes in the bottle were made with grapes from multiple harvests or different vintages. Just as the vintage of a particular wine does not guarantee or ensure a good or great wine, it also does not guarantee or ensure a bad wine either.
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| Front Wine Label
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Region / Appellation - The region / appellation that a wine grows in is very important because there is simply some region / appellations where certain grapes grow much better than others. There have even been court battles over names such as "Napa" being used on wines that are not grown in the Napa valley because the simply word Napa means so much to American wine lovers. Whether it be the weather, Terroirs / soil (Rutherford Dust), climate or even tradition these factors can make a huge difference in the outcome and most times the price of the wine. These are all factors in the making of the wine. If the grapes grown do not grow in great soil or do not receive enough or perhaps too much sun or there is too much wind at certain times in the area normally during the process of the flowering of the grape vines you will perhaps start off with an inferior base for you to form what you hope to be a superior wine. This does not sound like a great or advantageous position for a business to be in. This also does not sound like a finished product that I would wish to purchase because an inferior base will almost always makes an inferior product. Once again as with vintage, while a lesser known region / appellation does not necessarily always mean an inferior wine using generality's you could say that the wine varietal (or grape) in question might not be worth the $100 for instance that the winery is asking. An example of what I am saying is that the grape known as Cabernet Sauvignon loves the sun and heat so this grape might not grow or produce great grapes in an area of the country that does not get a lot of sun and heat. If a particular wine needs to reach a certain Brix (sugar) level that is caused by heat but is grown in a cooler region that particular wine will struggle or perhaps never reach the required Brix level. There are certain wines that can only be grown in certain region / appellations for instance Burgundy can only be grown in the French region / appellation of Burgundy. A Champagne can only come from the Champagne region / appellation of France.
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| Government Warning |
Grape Varietal - The grape varietal or name of the grape is usually prominently displayed on the front label. Who would buy a wine without knowing what type of wine they were buying. You might not like a Merlot and the bottle in your hand might actually be a Merlot but if you didn't know the varietal you might buy a wine you won't enjoy. If you don't know what you have in your hand than why spend the money. On the other hand if you do love Merlot that you would be much more likely to buy Merlot if you knew it was indeed a Merlot. Foreign wines usually will advertise or promote a wine based upon appellation rather than grape or varietal type.
Producer - The producer of the wine is the winery who made the wine. As an example if you buy a wine and it says "Peju" on it than Peju is the producer. The producer does not necessarily mean that the grapes in the wine in the bottle are grown at the Peju vineyards / winery however. There are a lot of winery's that do not grow any grapes themselves for instance I.G Winery in Cedar City Utah (
http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-desert-wine-guy-day-trip-to-iron.html) but buy grapes from vineyards and than actually make the wine at their winery. When we buy the particular wine (Peju in this case) we are hoping that they purchase the best grapes that they possibly can.
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| Napa Valley Wine Appellations |
Estate Bottled - Estate bottled wines are done completely on site. This means that the winery grew the grapes of the wine in it's own vineyards. This includes the fermentation process as well as the bottling of the wine.
Reserve - A reserve wine is a very vague term in the United States. While reserve could mean that the wine is made from superior grapes or perhaps a small vineyard in particular and some can be produced in a very limited quantity the word "reserve" itself rarely guarantees that the wine is anything special and is probably used for marketing purposes and therefore it's only purpose would be to have you believing that you are purchasing something special which in turn means the winery can boost the price of a wine that would normally be sold otherwise very inexpensively.
Fanciful Name - This name is used also for marketing purposes and probably also doesn't mean anything substantial. A great example of this is shown in my last wine review (
http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-desert-wine-guy-2014-wilson-creek.html) where the "fanciful name" is "Double Dog Red" and is actually an excellent blend of both Cabernet Sauvignon & Petite Syrah.
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| Fanciful Name - Double Dog Red |
Sulfate Declaration - Sulfates or Sulfur Dioxides are a preservative and used to prevent oxidation and to keep a wine fresh. Sulfites are measured in parts per million or "ppm". Organic wine can also have Sulfites but is limited to 100 ppm and usually runs around 40 - 80 ppm however under the current USDA standards organic wine can only have "naturally occurring" sulfites of less than 10 ppm. A non organic wine on the other hand can have as much as 350 ppm. There are many people who are allergic to Sulfites and there is a theory that some parts of a hangover might be based upon the fact that a person might be exhibiting an allergic reaction.
Alcohol Content - This is the level of Ethyl alcohol in the wine.
Government Warning - Alcohol is considered a poison and can lead to among other diseases liver failure and abuse over long periods can also be fatal. Alcohol also poses other health risks if not drank in moderation.
I hope I have been able to make your next purchase of wine a more informed purchase and that you are more knowledgeable and less confused the next time you are out looking for that special bottle of wine.
The Desert Wine Guy
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