The labels on a bottle of wine can contain some good information. Some of it can be a warning, especially if you're shopping in the premium wine category. These are potential red flags, meaning you might want to gather more info on that wine or just pass it up for another. Most of this relates to American wine. Other countries have different rules.
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| from winecountry.com |
What Grapes
An American wine will usually tell you that it's a Chardonnay, Merlot, etc. This means at least 75% of the wine is that varietal, and the rest can be anything, though many premium wine are 100% of the grape listed. Otherwise, it can be labelled as just white or red wine, or sometimes called Meritage, or given a made-up name like Fred's Red.
If the label on that bottle of Fred's Red doesn't say what grapes are in it, that is a red flag. It would make me wonder if there's low quality wine grapes in there they don't want me to know about.
Appellation / Growing Area
This is an important piece of information that, unfortunately, not everyone buying premium wine understands because there are just too damn many appellations to know about. California has about 150 AVAs. The climate and soil determine what grapes will do well in a certain place. Some wine regions are too hot for Chardonnay, too cold for Cabernet Sauvignon. Some grapes do better in sandy soils, some in clay.
The more specific the appellation, the better the understanding of what's inside the bottle. If it just says California, that's too broad of an area to mean anything, and this is a definite red flag. Most of California's wine grapes are grown in the Central Valley where most, not all, are of lesser quality. I don't have expectations of quality for any wine with the California growing area.
The next breakdown tells you the grapes come from one county, such as Sonoma County. More specific is an appellation within Sonoma, such as Russian River Valley. Some wines list a single vineyard within that appellation, such as the Dutton Ranch within Russian River Valley within Sonoma County.
The more specific the appellation, the better idea you have of what's in the bottle. Of course, this means you have to know something about the growing regions. Over time, you may learn that you like certain wines from certain regions, such as Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley in Sonoma County. Just as you may learn to love wines from a producer, you can also learn to love a wine varietal from a growing area.
Bottled By
"Bottled by" along with nothing about "produced by" means it's likely somebody (a negociant) who bought bulk juice and had someone bottle it. Negociant wines can be good deals, but when you don't know who made it, that's a risk. If the wine tells you a good region, like it's a Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, then that's a plus. If it doesn't give a "produced by" and it's using California as a growing area, stay the heck away.
Alcohol Percentage
I use this number a lot in wine purchasing decisions. This can tell you about the style of a wine and even aging potential. Very low alcohol wines or too high of an alcohol level can be a sign of poor wine. Too low of a number usually signifies a bad growing season where the grapes didn't get ripe. This is extremely rare in California. The issue with much of the West Coast is often overripe and too much alcohol.
Okay, so how much is too little or too much? That's not easy to answer. Most West Coast still wines will be between 13% and 15.5% (sparkling wines are usually 12.x). Typically, I find wines between 13.5% and 14.8% or thereabouts preferable. This varies by varietal, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the 13s and Zinfandel in the upper 14s. If I should see a Pinot labeled with 14.8% alcohol, that would be one giant red flag for me. Your results may vary because a lot of people love those jammy 15% reds.
The other issue is the feds allow quite a range in alcohol percentages. It can be as much as 1.5% off from what the label says. Most small, family wineries I trust to tell me the truth, as it's their reputation.
Label Artwork
If there's a cute doggie on a colorful label that says "California white wine" I'd definitely stay away. The eye-catching label is most likely there to sell substandard wine. The label should tell you about the wine. There's apparently no pride in the grapes or the winemaking. It's all marketing BS.
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| These two back labels red flag the shit outta me click on image to enlarge for readability |
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