How to read a wine label is the topic for this installment of our wine guide…
Reading a wine label is a useful skill to have as it lets you go into a wine store and make informed choices on new purchases. By knowing what to look for and what to ignore you’ll be able to sort through the multitude of choices and the find ones that best match your personal choices. So, lets look at each aspect of a wine label individually.
Firstly, the vintage; most bottles of wines stocked in stores are meant to be drunk immediately so look for ones that were produced in recent years. This particularly applies if you’re looking for a fresh, lively, fruity wine at a reasonable price. Whilst some vintages are famous for certain wines, they tend to be quite expensive and, if you do want to buy such a wine, research on the internet or in magazines will be required.
Secondly, the geography; there are lots of famous regions and vineyards around the world (too many to list here) so this can be a bit of a lottery and unless you do prior research. However, as a general rule, the more specific a wine label is about its source (i.e. by stating a particular vineyard or town rather than a region or a country), the better it’s likely to be. The reasoning being that lesser wine producers will often try to cash in on the reputation of famous wine producing regions, even though their grapes were grown in agriculturally poor areas of that region.
Thirdly, the alcohol content; it’s recommended that you look for one at around 14% or less. You may think that the higher the alcohol content, the more value you’ll get from it, but wines with higher levels of alcohol than that tend to be unbalanced and, if drinking for pleasure rather than to get drunk, won’t be very enjoyable.
Lastly, the fine details; including information such as the dates the grapes were harvested and the wine was bottled, whether the grapes were grown and fermented at the same place (called estate-bottling), and the phone number of the winery are all positive signs. Details such as these add to a wine’s authenticity and indicate that the wine producer cares about and has faith in their product.
Want to know more about wine? Take a look at our free guide: Wine 101