Reading a wine label

Two ways to name a wine

Every wine label answers one question first: what is this wine called? There are two broad answers.

Most wines from outside Europe, including Indian wine, are named by grape variety. The front label says Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. If you know the grape, you know roughly what to expect. Our grape varieties guide covers the main ones.

Many European wines are named by place. Chablis, Sancerre, Rioja and Chianti are regions, not grapes. The local rules say which grapes can be used, so the place stands in for the variety. Chablis is Chardonnay. Sancerre is usually Sauvignon Blanc. Rioja is mostly Tempranillo. This is the single biggest source of confusion for new joiners. It is also the main split between the two traditions described in our guide to Old World and New World wine.

Producer and brand

The producer is the company or estate that made the wine. Sometimes it is the biggest word on the label. Sometimes a brand name takes that spot and the producer appears in small print on the back. For anyone working on a portfolio, it is worth knowing which of your wines sell on the brand and which sell on the grape or region.

Vintage

The vintage is the year the grapes were harvested. It tells you how old the wine is and, for regions with variable weather, something about its character. Most fresh whites and rosés are best within a year or two of their vintage. Wines without a vintage, common in Champagne and in many everyday brands, are blends of several years made to taste the same every time.

For a sales or supply team, a vintage change is a product change. Price lists, listings and stock records often need updating when the new year arrives.

Alcohol, volume and the small print

Labels state the alcohol by volume, usually somewhere around 11 to 15 percent for still table wine. Higher alcohol often hints at riper grapes from a warmer place and a fuller body. The standard bottle is 750 ml, with half bottles and magnums for special formats. Many markets allow a small tolerance between the stated and the actual alcohol, so the label figure is close rather than exact.

The back label typically carries the importer or bottler, allergen statements such as contains sulphites where the market requires them plus any official markings. In India, labels must meet food labelling rules and the rules of the state where the wine is sold, which may include specific excise markings or holograms. These vary by state and change, so label teams should check the current notification rather than copy last year's artwork.

Quality and style terms

European labels often carry an appellation term that shows the wine meets the rules of a named region. France uses AOC or AOP, Italy uses DOC and DOCG and Spain uses DO and DOCa. These terms guarantee origin and production rules. They do not guarantee you will like the wine.

Other common words:

• Reserve or Reserva. In Spain and some other countries, Reserva has a legal minimum ageing period. Elsewhere, including on many New World labels, reserve is a marketing word with no fixed meaning.
• Brut, extra dry, demi-sec. Sweetness levels for sparkling wine. Brut is dry. Extra dry is, oddly, a touch sweeter than brut. Demi-sec is noticeably sweet.
• Estate bottled or single vineyard. Grapes from the producer's own land or one named plot.
• Oaked or barrel aged. The wine spent time in oak, which usually means vanilla or toast notes and a rounder feel.

Using labels at work

Being able to read a label quickly pays off in surprising places. A buyer can compare two quotes properly. A marketer knows which words carry legal weight and which do not. A data team can clean a product master where the same wine appears three times under its grape, its region and its brand.

The fastest way to learn is to take ten bottles from your own portfolio and a few competitors, lay them out and read every word on the front and back. Then taste a couple of them so the words attach to something real.