Label me satisfied

I guess I should first apologize for not writing, I have been caught up with the Olympics and really have been focusing too much time on that. Wine, to me, is one of those things that is mood dependant, meaning if I don’t really feeling like drinking, well, I’m not going to. Writing about wine is almost the same, perhaps just writing in general, if I don’t feel like writing I’m not going to.

Last week, I was thinking a lot about labeling. A lot of thought goes into a label on a wine bottle, and I know that most people in the wine industry spend a lot of time studying them. First of all is the general information. Of course you have the brand and the name of the wine, weather the name is indicative of the varietal or origin, that’s another story. You can find the alcohol content, the sulfite and health warning, and the content of the bottle. Look at the labels in your local wine shop, what do you find? I see varietals being identified from New World wine countries, like the U.S., Argentina, Australia, and others. But just because a varietal is listed does not mean that is the only one. All countries have strict laws, but many times they are broken down even more than that. For example in California, if a single varietal is listed, at least 75% of that wine must come from that grape (85% in the E.U), and if two or more varietals are listed, 100% of the wine and appellation must be from that grape.

What else is listed? Look for the year. It might not be there, because it’s not required. Most wineries will put the vintage, and in the US, 95% of the grapes must be from that year to have the name on the label. But there are some that don’t… like for sparkling wine. Many houses create vertical blends (from different years, as opposed to horizontal blends which are the same wine from different vineyards) to create the Cuvee (Cuvee is not the same as cuvee), and these Chateaus will blend past vintages to create their house taste.

What else do you have? You might see “Old Vines”, “Reserve”, “Special Selection”, or something like that. This means nothing, meaning they have no legal definition, take these terms as marketing terms and nothing more, they are more or less dependant on the reputation of the winery.

One of my favorite spots on the bottle is where is says, ”Mis en Bouteille au Chateau”, or “Produced and bottled at the winery”. If the American label says “Estate Bottled” then 100% must be from the vineyard. This is one of those historical terms that was created to prevent fraud. If wine went from barrel to bottle at the Chateau, then the winery’s reputation was at stake, therefore that label made the bottler more trustworthy. Before, wine was transported by barrel to the port, then bottled by a suspect exporter, and a bit of prune juice or worse may have been added to your Lafitte Rothschild!

So there is all of this “Stuff” on the label, but what about the label itself. I am a big fan of the traditional label, the white on the dark glass, the narrow letters perfectly centered in black or red. The other end of the spectrum is a bottle like the Paco y Lola Albarino from Spain, who decided that this easy drinking white wine needed a bit more fun. They put white polka dots on the label and black ones on the cork.

I think that many times the bottle that the wine is in is initially more important than the wine itself. I always look at a bottle before I buy it, I study the specifics, feel the weight of the glass, examine the foily, and decide whether it is worth the buy. Marketing is so important in wine, to catch the eye, to lure the buyer to take the bait. Once the bait is taken though, it is the wine’s job to bring the fish back for another.