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From Polychromatic
Even for the avid wine consumer, deciding on a bottle of wine can be quite a daunting task with therefore many types of wine on the market today. Wine labels won't help both with the different terms in foreign languages and the little print. Often reading a label makes you feel just like you desire a secret decoder ring, but rest assured that is not to confuse you the client, but rather to simply help you. The information on the name can there be to share with you in regards to the wine and also the winery and problems of production. Deciphering it shouldnt require much work, once you've an idea of things to look for on a label.
The Brand Name: This is the name of the company that has made your wine. Most often this is the name of the winery or bottler if the winery has a number of different brands.
Vintage: Most wines will take the vintage somewhere on the package, although this is not a mandatory requirement and will not be on all bottles. A vintage is the year that the grapes used were collected. Most wine producing countries have laws that need at least 85 percent of the grapes used to be harvested in the year of vintage though in america this figure may be as high as 95 percent.
Appellation of Origin: Here is the geographical area where the grapes were grown, for example California or more a more specific vineyard. Many countries have strict regulations regarding an appellation distinction, and that's why such as the vintage; at the very least 85 % of the grapes used must be from their particular area.
Wine Type: This describes the grapes used to really make the wine. Again this can be as broad as Red Table Wine or as specific as Merlot or Chardonnay. Most wine producing countries allow the use of some non-varietal grapes in the mixture. In Australia and Europe, at least 85 percent of the wines material should be from the called varietals, whilst in some areas of america this figure is significantly lower at about 75 percent.
Producer and Bottler: What this part of the bottle suggests varies greatly depending on where the bottle of wine hails from. If grapes are harvested and bottled at the winery it's regarded as being estate bottled and the label may state this using Mise en bouteille( s) au Chateau (French), Gutsabfllung/Erzeugerabfllung (German) or perhaps Estate Bottled.
Based on Napa Valley Vintners on line (napavintners.com) it's even more certain for American bottled wines and the terminology even more specifically decides how the wine was bottled: Produced and bottled by certifies that the bottler fermented 75% or more of the wine. Found in combination with other information on the label, such as a vineyard, this term offers the consumer with who is in charge of its creation and significant information in regards to the origin of your wine. Cellared and bottled by shows that the bottler has aged the wine or exposed it to attic treatment before bottling. Made and bottled by shows that the bottler fermented at least 75% of your wine (10% before July 28, 1994). Bottled by indicates that the winery bottled the wine, which could have been produced, crushed, fermented, done, and aged by another person.
Other Required Information: This depends upon what country the wine is from. As an example, wines sold in the United States are required to have (at least on the trunk label) alcohol content, articles size, and customer warnings from the Surgeon General along with a sulphite notice while in Germany wine are required to have an Amptliche Prfungs Nummer which is a number received while in testing. The well-known wine areas of Alsace, Burgundy and Bordeaux in France will bring the word Cru anywhere on the name to indicate that the wine is from the city or manufacturer of high quality.
A wine label in fact is there that will help you while the customer, not hinder your choice making, while this still might be very overwhelming, when looked over from a point of view of the winemaker. Every thing on a label is there to inform you of where the wine originated in and how it was made, and while it usually takes you an eternity to be able to completely understand each expression that is placed on a bottle, being able to understand the fundamentals will undoubtedly be helpful. It's very important to remember that principles will change from country to country in regards to what is required to be on a bottle of wine or specific terms used. What might be required in France might not be required in Chile.
