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Basic Wine Information on a Wine Label
Wine labels in the United States can be quite basic although most bottles have a label on the back of the bottle too, offering further information about what is inside, how it was made and what to serve the wine with. There are different laws for different countries about what has to go on a wine bottle label.
Extra Information
The label on the back of a bottle of wine is more of a guideline than anything else. This is where there producers "sell" the wine, saying how nice it goes with roast beef or blue cheese and how rich and smooth it is.
You can use this kind of information as a general guideline. You can also use the price as a general guideline. Just because a wine costs less than eight dollars does not mean it will taste bad. Also, paying more than fifty dollars for a bottle of wine does not mean you will prefer it to a more economical wine. Wine is largely about personal preference, although being armed with a little basic wine information also helps you to make a good choice.
The Most Important Facts
A wine label must display the brand name or identify the brand. This could be the name of the producer, the growing area, the grape variety, a trademark name, the winery name, or the appellation name. The label must also specify the name and address of where the wine was made.
The label will say "produced and bottled by" if more than three quarters of the wine was fermented and clarified by the bottler. The label will also identify what class of wine is inside. There are various classes of wine, including fruit wine, aperitif wine, table wine, carbonated grape wine, and sparkling wine. This is all very basic wine information.
The Appellation System
The appellation system in the United States is based on geographical and climatic features. Most states require three quarters of the grapes in a wine to be grown locally. For a county appellation, most of the grapes must have been grown in that county. A minimum of 85% of the grapes must come from the named region for a country appellation. For example, a bottle labeled "Sonoma Valley wine" must contain at least 85% Sonoma Valley-grown grapes.
The varietal must be identified on the bottle. A Chardonnay wine, for example, must contain at least 75% Chardonnay grapes. In Oregon, the requirement is 90%. If you want to label a vintage wine, 95% or more of the grapes must be from the same vintage year.
Alcohol Content
If a wine contains between 7% and 14% alcohol, it might be labeled light wine or table wine. Anything containing more than 14% alcohol has to be labeled accordingly, with the exact percentage. These wines are known as fortified wines. The basic wine information on the bottle also has to specify how much wine is inside in fluid ounces, milliliters, or liters.
If a wine contains more than a certain amount of sulfites, the label has to state this. Any wine labeled as "organic" will be free from sulfites but wines saying, "made with organically grown grapes" on the label might contain some. There also has to be a health warning on the label of any wine bottled or imported in the United States, since heavy drinking can be dangerous.
Most people choose a bottle of wine based on the label so it goes without saying that a wine label must not be misleading. The most important things to look for are the type of wine and the grape, as well as where the wine was produced. You can also check the year. Knowing how wine labels work is handy if you want to make good wine choices.
