Have you ever felt overwhelmed when you accidentally submerge yourself into a large wine shop? You look around and all you see are bottles of wine with different price tags produced in different countries using different grapes. You don’t know what to do except for one thing - read the wine labels. 

See, to us wine drinkers, a wine label isn’t just a piece of paper. Within such a finite space, it provides us right about all the information we need to know, like the country it is from, the vintage year, alcohol level, the name of the vineyard, or even the variety of grapes used to produce the wine.

To wine producers, the meaning is even beyond a piece of paper. Not only does it help introduce the characteristics of the wine, but the way the label is structured also tells a lot about the wine’s origin. Interestingly enough, wine labeling can be subdivided into several styles.

Ways to Label a Wine

#1 Labeling By Region

Labeling wines by their regions is traditionally practiced by the Old World countries like France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Austria, etc. basically countries where wine grapes originate from.

As you might know, a certain region in the Old World is known for a specific kind of grape due to the climate and soil. For example, a Bordeaux wine is most likely made of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, while a Burgundy wine would lead people to think of Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. In a more extreme case, only wines made in the Champagne region of France are called Champagne while others are just labeled as sparkling wine.

Generally speaking, Old World wines emphasize more on the regional styles than the wine grape variety, because even the same kind of grape can produce contrasting quality due to different region’s terroir and natural factors. Thus, Old World wine producers normally just mention the region and aging classification on the label as the region itself is presumably the best representation of the quality of the wine!

One other noteworthy thing is that some countries have their regional categories to classify the hierarchy of wine quality. Take Portugal as an example. The country itself is divided into multiple wine areas:

The DOC (Denominação de Origem Controlada) Region, or Controlled Denomination of Origin, has its regulations regarding maximum grape yields, authorized grape varieties, and other rules to follow. Products that are made in these DOC regions, like the Infinitae Douro Tinto DOC 2009, are officially tested and approved, assuring its top-notch quality.

The other classification is called VR (Vinho Regional). In Portugal, there are 14 VR areas producing wines that do not fall under the DOC category. The main reason isn’t because of the quality distinction, but because some wine producers do not pursue all the stringent rules required by the DOC regulations. In fact, many good-quality wines are classified as VR, like the Infinitae Reserva Vinho Regional Alentejano Tinto 2011. 

#2 Labelling By Grape Variety

The other way of wine labeling is by its grape variety. This method is normally adopted by New World countries - basically all the countries outside traditional winegrowing regions in Europe and the Middle East, like the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Argentina, etc. 

Contrary to Old World countries, New World wines tend to focus more on the grape varieties while labeling because their origin isn’t as well-known as the traditional wine countries.

By doing so, wine drinkers can get an idea of what the wine might taste like based on learning which grapes the wine is made of. For example, a bottle of Pinot Noir would bring people an impression of a light to medium body red wine, while Cabernet Sauvignon would make people associate it with a fuller-bodied red wine.

In wine labeling, New World wine producers normally would include the name of the vineyard, the grape variety, and the vintage year (if applicable) on the front. Most likely many New World vineyards would also address its region and subregion, along with a brief description of the wine on the back, like its flavors, aromas, etc. 

A Way of Introduction