What's On a Wine Bottle Label (Part 1)

We'd all like to believe that we can look at the label on a wine bottle and know what we are getting. Yes, we'd like to belive that, but, for most of us, if we did, we'd be wrong. Here, we're going to stick to labeling practices on wines sold in the US since laws and regulations vary from country to country. Why the US? It's the only country where I know enough about the very specific rules.

The first thing to understand is what the label must include. As is the case with almost everything in the US, the labeling requirements are governed by a federal agency that most of us have likely never heard of. In this case, it is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau more commonly known as TTB.

TTB tells us that eight things must appear on the label of a wine bottle. Everything else is optional. And, that I know, anything that does not specifically violate or contradict those eight is fair game. We'll see shortly how much of the other stuff on labels is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. But, before getting to the gimmicks, here are the eight have-to-haves:

• Brand Name -- the bottle (or box or can, etc) has to identify itself. While brand names are traditionally the winery, they could be something as off the wall as some of the wines made by the legendary Sine Qua Non winery in Ventura County, California where you get such curious names as Eleven Confessions, Just for the Love of It, Writing on the Wall, and Ode to E.
• Wine Type -- The basic requirement here is that the wine be labeled as one of table wine, dessert wine, or sparkling wine. However, there is an alternate way of complying and that is by listing the location of origin of the wine or the grape(s) that is (are) in it. So, a producer could call it California Red Wine or Shenandoah Valley Wine, or Chardonnay. One caveat here, a "table wine" cannot (by law) have an ABV content greater than 14%.
• Alcohol Content -- This must be stated explicitly if ABV% is greater than 14%. Otherwise, you can just call it a table wine.
• Vintage -- This is not mandatory, but highly recommended. If all the grapes are from a specific year's harvest, you put that year on the wine. If they're not, you can leave this off or call it NV or non-vintage.
• Name and Address -- You're required to say who it was bottled by (not the person) and their address although the specificity of the address is pretty much whatever the bottler wants to put there as long as it is accurate.
• Volume -- This one is pretty simple. How much wine is in the bottle?
• Sulfites -- If the sulfur dioxide content of the wine is at least 10 parts per million, the wine needs a sulfite warning. If it says "organic," there may not be any artificially added sulfites. However, organically grown simply means that organic farming techniques were used.
• Government Health Warning -- If it's an alcoholic beverage, it needs to have the warning.

Okay, that was boring. How about the other stuff?

My favorite thing, or maybe not, to see on a bottle is the collection of marketing propaganda. In Europe, most terms on a bottle mean something in particular. In the US, it means the proprietor thinks it will sell more or fetch a higher price, although there may be a good reason it is doing so.

The simplest and perhaps catchiest gimmick is "Reserve" or some variation thereof. Jackson Family Wines in its best-selling Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay likely made more hay out of this than anyone. While some vintages are better than others, it is not, in my estimation, a high-quality wine. Yet, it sells millions of cases per year. And it sells them at prices, that while not high, are certainly higher than those of many better US Chardonnays.

So, from Reserve we move to Special Reserve and Grand Reserve. Surely, those are the best of the best, aren't they? 

No, they are not. Sometimes, they are the best wines coming from a producer. I know of at least one producer, however, who shall remain nameless that puts the labeling "Special Reserve" on what they believe to be their lower quality production. Yet, they sell it for more. 

How do you know all this stuff? You don't. You learn by tasting. You learn by the mistakes of others. You learn by reading.

But, the message here is that when you see special labeling, be careful before spending more. If you're not sure, go back to the things that must be factual on a label. If you're paying more for things that are optional, you might be making an expensive mistake.