This is the time of the year when a lot of wines are bought as gifts or for consumption for the
seasons’ festivities. This piece will hopefully help members when they are confronted with
nothing more than the labels on the bottles. This is by no means exhaustive as there are lots of wines out there from different countries. But I will try to cover some of the more common labels you may come across.
Most countries currently have some kind of government body-controlled labelling as to the
area of production and/or the expected quality in the bottle. For example, Canada has its VQA, France has its AOC, Italian DOC and DOCG, Spain DO, Portugal VR, Germany QmP, and U.S AVA.
All these control and guarantee where the grapes and wines come from certain production
areas. Some or most of them also control the type or varietals of grapes used in the production of the wines. Not all countries require the varietals of the grapes to be on the label. In most Old World countries including France, Italy, and Spain labelling the grape varieties are optional. Buyers are assumed to know what is in the bottle. For example, red Burgundy can only contain Pinot Noir; white Burgundy most commonly only use Chardonnay. For red Bordeaux, the AOC allows six grape varieties but only Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot are commonly used in the blend. White Bordeaux commonly used only Semillon and Cabernet Blanc although a total of eight grapes are allowed. To most of the Old World countries, the area where the grapes are grown and the wines are made, are more important than showing the varietals. This is because of the concept of terroir, where climate and soil and geology are more
important.
In the New World, most wine labels will show the grape varietal(s). There are rules for
minimum amount of the varietal used if the wine is labelled as a single varietal wine. For
example, under the US AVA system, a wine labelled as Cabernet Sauvignon must contain at
least 75% of that varietal to be labelled as such. Nowadays, most American wines containing a blend of grapes are given names so the consumers can easily remember the wine by name.
Back to the Old World where the origin of the grapes and production area are more important, the labels often contain a lot of other important information. I will use Bordeaux as an example. A wine labelled as AOC Bordeaux, must meet the requirement that all the grapes used to produce the wines have to come from within the Bordeaux area. Next up in quality is Bordeaux Superieur which is a promise of higher quality under rules which require older vines, minimum ripeness and sugar level and minimum of 12-month of barrel aging. Next higher up is the label of a sub zone or village such as Pauillac, Saint-Julien, etc., where all the grapes used, must be grown in the sub zone or village. From there and up, the Chateau and village become more important.
You often see “Grand Cru Classe” or “Grand Cru Classe en 1855” on Bordeaux labels. In
Bordeaux’s Left Bank, back in the year 1855, the chateaus are classified into 5 classes based on the then selling prices. You may think something which happened in 1855 does not matter much today. But all those chateaus which were classified in 1855 all guard their classification jealously, strive to make wine of outstanding quality and proudly label themselves on their labels as such. Of course, most of these wines are quite expensive as well. For example, the five 1st growths all sell for upward of $1000 and into the $2000 or more per bottle. Interestingly also, some wineries which were not around in 1855 or were not classified back then now label themselves as “Grand Vin de Bordeaux”! So be careful and read the label carefully. Since 1855, the wineries on the Right Bank and the Grave areas (Pessac-Leognan) came up with their own grand cru classe systems: Grand Crus de Saint-Emilion and Cru Classe de Garve. Then in 1932, other smaller wineries in the Left Bank which were left out in the 1855 classes also came up with their own system called Cru Bourgeois. All these are your guarantees of better quality wines than the plain Jane Bordeaux.
Similarly for Burgundy, the labelling of the village is very important. Burgundy also has two
classifications: Premier Cru and Grand Cru. Grand Cru is their highest classification and usually commands the highest price as well. A wine not labelled as either Grand Cru or Premier Cru are called village wine. They still command a high price these days compared to a plain Jane Bourgnone. Occasionally, you may see a Cru Class Bourgnone with an extra label under the village name: “Monopole”. This means the producer owns all the areas and vines in that village area.
A few months ago, I was wine shopping with another member. We saw some Spanish wines
labelled as Reserva. He got a bit excited because the price was very reasonable and the label of Reserva is a guarantee of higher quality. This brings me back to my trip to Bordeaux this last summer where I learned that the word reserve, reserva or riserva may not always mean higher quality. It is definitely a quality guarantee in countries where there are rules or laws requiring things such as the length of barrel aging, the percentage of new oak barrels to be used, and even the length of bottle aging before releasing the wines for sale, countries such as Spain (Reserva) and Italy (Riserva). But in countries where there is no rule or law governing this, be very careful. It may not mean much. In fact, some wineries have been known to use the labelling as a means to get a higher price which some consumers may be willing to pay. Back on the trip to Bordeaux, we visited Chateau Lalande and during the wine tasting, the presenter casually mentioned a wine he did not present but the chateau produces, and is labelled as Reserva. He said this wine is made from grapes which did not make it into their main and second label and is made specifically for their seasonal workers when they come to help during their harvest! So much for thinking reserve means something to quality! France has no rule on the label for reserva.
You probably have seen or heard of the label IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) used in some Italian wines. This started back in the 1960s when some wine makers such as Antinori in Tuscany started to experiment with blending Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot which are not allowed in Tuscany with varietals such as Sangiovese. The resulting wines such as Tignanello and Solaia, were not allowed under the DOC and DOCG rules and were forced to be labelled as Vino di Tavola (Table Wine). But the quality was such that they caught the eyes of wine lovers the world over. Lumping them together with lowly table wines was doing them a disservice. So, in 1995, the label IGT was created to get them into a separate category. However, it is still quite confusing sometime as IGT is no guarantee for quality as it only means the wine is from a certain geographic area and not meeting the DOC rules. The label IGT is now used all over Italy to indicate a wine which is made outside of DOC rules.
Similarly, in France you will find the label Vin de Pays sometime can lead you to some value
gems. You will not find many out there from the main French wine areas such as Bordeaux,
Burgundy or even Rhone. But in Languedoc-Roussilon, many vinters play outside of their AOC rules and produce some wonderful and yet inexpensive wines. But again, this label can be confusing, and no guarantee to quality.
You will have to search and taste your way to find the gems. That to me is the fun part.
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