What's on a Wine Bottle Lable (Part 2)

Yesterday, we discussed wine bottle labels in the US. But, in what is often referred to as the "Old World" of wine, that is. most Europe and predominantly southwest Asia, labels are quite different. To most Americans, those labels simply don't tell us what's in the bottle. They simply tell us where the wine is from and expect us to understand what a wine labeled Grand Vin de Bourgogne or another bearing the moniker Pradikatwein will be.

Not all French wine drinkers know about each of the Appellations d'origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the country. They may not even know there own. In fact, in much of the country, people simply drink their local wines. But, for most of us reading this, or so the blog statistics tell me, our local wines are not French or German, or Spanish, or Georgian, or anything else that would be considered Old World. So, when we go to a wine shop or supermarket or big box store to buy a bottle or a few or a case, how do we know what we are buying?

Even most of the handy-dandy wine apps for your phone don't tell you. What they do tell you is that the bottle is rated, for example, 3.8 stars on a scale of 5, and that it has notes of gooseberry, cat's pee, forest floor, and wet stone (actually, that combination is incredibly unlikely, but you get the point). 

What you can do, however, is pay attention to what actually is on the label. After all, you paid attention when you found you liked Chardonnay and hated Merlot or conversely, when you thought a glass of Merlot was like heaven, but you couldn't understand what your best friend saw in Chardonnay. 

This is simply a different language. If you want to try to ensure that the next bottle you buy is one that you will like, learn that language as well. That's part of what the last five months have been about -- yes, as of tomorrow, I will be ending my fifth month of having written this blog every day on a different topic almost every day. And, while I've had fun, I hope that if you are a regular or even infrequent reader that you have gotten something from it most days. If this is your first time, please browse around and if you can't find what your looking for, let me know and it may be a future topic.

But, back to the labels. In most of Europe, what you see on a label, other than the AOC or DOC (or other designation of origin on the label), actually is, in one form or another an indication of quality. I

n some countries, learning those indicators is a light lift. For example, in Spain, when you see Riserva or Gran Riserva, you know that the wine has been carefully aged for longer both in total and on oak. In Italy, when you see DOCG, you know that a wine that has met those standards has at least satisfied the criteria of a wine of the highest quality. In France, words like Premiere Cru say that the estate was designated as among the very finest. In Germany, know that among the Pradikatwein (those of the highest quality), that quality trends upward from Kabinett (good enough for the winemaker to want to keep in his own wine cabinet) to Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese, but know that the residual sugar and price will also increase maybe more than accordingly.

Yes, it may be a lot to remember. But, how did you remember that you like Cabernet? You drank some, you liked it, and you made a point of remembering. So, when you try your first bottle of Shesh i Zi and you find that you like it, just remember those 8 letters in that order.