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How to read a wine label One of the greatest challenges when buying wine is working out what is in the bottle you are purchasing - that is, reading and understanding the label. A principle reason for the success of ‘New World’ wines is the clarity of their labelling, especially when contrasted to that of some of the more traditional regions. This simple practice of telling the customer what is in the bottle is now spreading to some areas of Europe, such as Southern France, but will probably never penetrate the main quality wine growing areas such as Bordeaux and Tuscany. The key difference between labelling in the New World (Australia, New Zealand, America (N and S), South Africa etc) and the Old (Europe) is their emphasis: New World wines emphasise GRAPE VARIETY on the label, e.g. Chardonnay Old World wines emphasis VINEYARD LOCATION on the label, e.g. Cotes de Rhone. Whilst New World labels often name the region of production as well, Old World labels rarely name the grape variety used. Many European winemakers believe that terroir – the soil, weather and climate conditions in the vineyard – is more important than the grape variety used. Often, the only way of knowing what grape is in a regionally labelled wine is through experience. don’t worry, we’ll be covering all the main European regions in future Grape Gossip. Key things to look for on the label
In Europe, quality wines all state a region of production on the label, in line with a wine classification system specific to the country of origin. It’s important to understand these systems if you want to unravel the label, especially as they govern the grape variety or varieties used in production. The classification systems of the key European wine growing countries are laid out in the table below
Table wines are the bottom rung of the ladder. There are few regulations surrounding them, except that they have to come from the country specified on the label Country Wines have a more specific origin (although they cover quite large areas) and a few more rules governing them. However, they’re normally free to do what they want in the way they make their wine. Vin de Pays, and especially IGT in Italy, are becoming more and more important, as top winemakers exploit this freedom to produce new – and often stellar wines. You may be most familiar with the top two levels. In France, for example, Cotes du Rhone is an appellation, and is specified on the label as ‘Appellation Cotes du Rhone Controllee’. Appellations (or DOs, or DOCs) can be of any size, but are generally fairly small, even tiny in some of the most exclusive cases such as Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy. Confusingly, some appellations are located within others, almost like a babushka doll, so Le Corton Grand Cru AC is found within Aloxe Corton AC, which is found within Cotes de Beaune AC, which is found within Bourgogne AC. Experience will bring familiarity with the names of Appellations and their implications. To start with, simply look for the ‘Appellation Controllee’ on the label. So, now you should have an idea of what to look for, can you see these details on the following labels?
To view previous Grape Gossips click here
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