How To: Decode A Wine Label

Confused with all that small print wine mumbo jumbo on the wine label… Does it all just sound foreign to your ears?

Learn to decode the label and become a wine extraordinaire! Especially in time to host your own wine party….

The most important pieces of information on a wine bottle label are the grape, the winemaker, and the vintage. 

1.)  The Wine maker or winery: which can be found at the top of the wine bottle in big print.  This is the company or firm that made the wine or, in some cases, the wine’s trademark name.

2.)  Appellation: is the country or region where the grapes for this wine were grown. It can be broad id description or narrowed down to specific region.
To learn more,  3.) 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.

4.)  Variety:  Some wines will disclose the specific kinds of grapes used to make the wine but most do not such as French and Italian wines.

5.)  Estate bottling and winery information: If the wine is labeled estate bottled, it means that it is made from grapes grown and harvested in the winery’s own vineyards.  If this is the case then it will be printed in its native language on the label, Examples: French “Mise en bouteille(s) au Chateau;” the German “Gutsabfüllung“; or the English “estate bottled” or “grown, produced and bottled.”

Image: Billa/ Flickr