How to Read a Wine Label

By Stacey Metulynsky, co-host of This Food That Wine

So, you’re in the wine store and want to try something different. Don’t despair! Here are a few tips to help you decipher wine labels. And here’s the most important one: when in doubt, ask someone who works in the store. A good wine store will have staff trained to know about the products they sell and should be able to help you out, and if not, try another wine store.

Region vs. Grape
Just to keep us all sufficiently confused, sometimes winemakers label their wine by the region and sometimes by the grape. Generally speaking, many Old World countries (think European countries like France, Italy, and Spain) label their wine based on region, whereas most New World countries (like Australia, Chile, and the United States) label by grape.

Bordeaux, Chablis, Côtes-du-Rhône are all wines of France, but none of these is a grape. Bordeaux and Côtes-du-Rhône are blends and Chablis is actually just Chardonnay. To make things even more confusing, labeling by region isn’t always the rule in France. You can often buy a Merlot, Syrah, or Viognier from the south of France that will have the grape listed right on the label. So, how’s a blossoming wine lover to know? Here are two things to try:

* Learn the Basics: Like I said before, there is never a rule of either region or grape in any one country. If you get to know some of the more common region names and what the wine inside the bottle tastes like, your wine shopping experience will be much easier.
* Check the Back Label: Often the mysteries on a front label (e.g. Chinon) will be decoded on the back label by listing the grapes (e.g. 100% Cabernet Franc), what it tastes like, and what foods to pair with it.


Learn the Lingo
Another thing that will help you in deciphering wine labels is learning the lingo. Just like seeing “AAA” on a package of Canadian Beef or “free range” on a carton of eggs, wine has its own language that can help you understand what’s in the bottle. Here are a few common buzzwords you might come across:

* Appellation: On French labels you might see Appellation d’Origine Controlée (AOC), on Italian labels, Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC), and on Spanish labels Denominación de Origen (DO). When you see any of these on a label, it’s a clue that the wine may be labeled by region instead of by grape. Appellations are officially defined growing regions that have rules on grape varieties, geographical boundaries, alcohol levels, and other regulations.
* Estate Bottled: This means the grapes used to make the wine were grown, vinified, and bottled on the premises of the winery. It’s often interpreted as a sign of quality because the winery has control over the entire wine-making process. It also tells you the wine is actually from the region it says it is, whereas some wines can have imported grapes from other regions blended in.
* Old Vines or “Vielles Vignes:” The exact meaning of this is fairly unregulated since old vines could be 40-years-old at one winery and 100-years-old somewhere else. But what the winery is trying to tell you is that the grapes used to make this wine came from vines that are mature, which also means they produce fewer grapes that are more concentrated in flavour than those from younger vines. It’s meant to be another term of quality.
* Unfiltered: There are two things to remember about this. First, if a wine is unfiltered, you may have some sediment or other bits in your wine. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind when you are serving it (you may want to decant, or at least pour carefully and slowly). Second, it means that the wine has been handled less, which many believe to mean that it will have more flavour and aromatics.
* Reserve: Again, this is a term that is not very regulated and could mean any number of things. But in general, wineries are saying this is their better class of wines, not the regular stuff. In some countries like Italy, Riserva means that specific aging and other provisions have been met.

Now that you have some key words under your belt, you are ready to hit the wine store.