Reading the Label
Written By: Brian Freedman on Sun, Jan 24th 2010
Reading the label on a bottle of wine is an exercise fraught with danger, and has the potential for confusion or worse. This is because there is no real universal system for labeling wine: Different countries have their own rules, and even within some countries, the various regions themselves have unique rules and regulations regarding how their wines are labeled.
There are, however, a few general rules that apply to wines from all over the world. Learn them and get comfortable with them. If you do, delving deeper into the world of esoteric wine-labeling laws will be that much easier.
1. The main name on the label is that of the producer. Never say winemaker or vineyard—they are often very separate things.
2. The date on the label is called the vintage, and it reveals the year the grapes for the wine were harvested, not the year the wine was put into the bottle
3. Different countries have different labeling laws, so if you’re unsure of what some of the terminology means a little research might be in order.
