How to read a wine label

There is a (sometimes frustrating) inconsistency to how wine is labeled, making it a challenge to read a wine label and decipher what’s in the bottle. It may seem like you need a secret decoder ring to decrypt a wine label, but you don’t. All you need is a few minutes to read this article.

With my Wine 101 column, I share what I know about wine to make it less intimidating and more of an adventure. Today we’ll look at two labels — one from California and one from France, where the labeling protocol is different. Then we’ll delve into how to use that information to navigate the quality of the bottling.

We’ll start with the California wine, as we are in California. I chose a wine from Eco Terreno that has a pretty straightforward label with a lot of information.

1. Starting at the top of the label, we see the year 2020. This refers to the vintage, the year the grapes were harvested.

2. Next is the name of the brand — Eco Terreno Wines & Vineyards.

3. Estate grown indicates that all the grapes in this bottling were grown on the winery’s estate. If you see an estate-grown designation on a label, that’s a clue that the wine is of higher quality than one that’s broader in geographical reach, made with grapes from several regions. Estate-grown wine has more cachet than wines labeled with “California” as their designated region.

4. “Climate Conscious Cabernet Sauvignon” is a marketing phrase from Eco Terrano. They explain more on the back label about their environmental stance: “Purchasing a bottle of Eco Terreno wine supports our commitment to regenerative farming.” This type of farming prohibits chemicals, and this information signals quality to buyers who value environmentally friendly farming practices.

5. At the bottom, we see Alexander Valley. This refers to the American Viticultural Area — or AVA — where the grapes were grown. The Alexander Valley AVA is just north of Healdsburg, in Sonoma County.

Now for French wines. French labels can be confusing to Americans who aren’t familiar with the French system of controlled appellations (appellation controlee) to designate quality. What’s more, these rules vary among regions, making it virtually impossible to summarize this system.

1. Chateau Haut-Sorillon, at the top of the label, refers to the chateau or estate specifically devoted to winemaking, as is custom in Bordeaux. On a label for a wine from Burgundy, by comparison, the village in which the wine was produced might be the most prominent wording on the label.

2. Next, Bordeaux Superieur Appellation D’Origine Protegee refers to an appellation within Bordeaux that is considered “superior” to standard Bordeaux wines.

3. Like with the Eco Terrano wine, 2020 refers to the vintage, the year the grapes were harvested.

4. “Mis en boutille au chateau” means that the bottling took place at the chateau.

So what does all this mean for the quality and style of the wine? Here are some things to consider:

1. A vintage date on the label typically signals that a wine is of higher quality than one with “non-vintage” or “multi-vintage” on the label (you may see “NV” on the label of a non-vintage wine). A non-vintage or multi-vintage wine is made with grapes from more than one vintage.

Of course, the vintage date by itself doesn’t always indicate a wine of higher quality. Certain vintages are compromised by severe weather. For the 2020 vintage, for example, some wineries decided forgo a bottling because they felt the grapes had been tainted by smoke from the massive wildfires we had that year. But Eco Terreno clearly wasn’t among them.

2. You might find more information on the back label of a bottle, or you might not. That additional information might tell you, as in the case of the Eco Terreno wine, about the blend (95% cabernet sauvignon and 5% merlot), aging protocol (in 50% French oak barrels and 50% neutral oak barrels, aged for 17 months) and how much of the wine was produced (50 cases). On the back label of Chateau Haut-Sorillon, you’ll see “Grand Vin Bordeaux.” Grand Vin means this bottling is one of the best the winery offers, indicating it’s of higher quality and higher price.

3. Finding the alcohol level can be tricky because it’s not required. But if you do find it, it can tell you about the wine’s style. On the back label of Chateau Haut-Sorillon and Eco Terreno, respectively, you’ll find 13% and 14.2%. These percentages indicate the wines are more restrained and food-friendly compared to a rich, bold zinfandel at 16% alcohol.

4. If you find the words “reserve” and/or “old vines” on a label, don’t be swayed. They are simply marketing terms. Reserve aims to give a wine an air of quality by signaling it’s in limited supply. The phrase old vine also conveys quality, because old vines are largely believed to deliver richer fruit than younger vines. Yet there is no set definition of a reserve wine, and there are no set parameters for what constitute old vines.

5. You’ll find “contains sulfites” on all domestic and imported wines. Sulfites in wine preserve a wine’s color, flavor and aroma and extend its shelf life. Without them, a wine is vulnerable to oxidation, which can give it a vinegar flavor. The Chateau Haut-Sorillon and Eco Terreno bottles both have “contains sulfites” on their back label. But this information is of little significance. For one thing, grapes already have some sulfites in them when they’re in the vineyard. For another, bottlings with sulfites of 300 to 400 parts per million are considered high-sulfite wines. (Natural winemakers may have “no added sulfites” on their label, but there are still sulfites in their wine.) That’s still a low amount compared to dried apricots, which typically have sulfite levels of 1,000 to 4,000 parts per million.

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pegmelnik.