Have you ever stopped to think about what goes into creating that wine label on your favorite bottle of vino? Well I am here to share with you that it’s more than what you may think. The design of the label takes much work but there is also a different component that has to be considered, the regulatory requirements of labels. That is correct…in the United States wine labels have to be  approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

The requirements for wines sold in the U.S include the following:

• Brand Name
• Indication of Class or Type (i.e. desert wine or table wine)
• Alcohol percentage by volume (unless this is implied by class – table wine is up to 14%)
• Name and address of the bottler
• Net contents (sometimes on label but can be etched into glass – standard is 750 ml)

California Wine Label

Wines sold in the U.S. must also include the government warning:

(1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems.

A  U.S. wine label must also contain the phrase “Contains Sulfites”. Sulfites (or sulphites) are compounds that prevent microbial growth. It is readily digested in the human body. However, there are certain people like asthmatics who can have  severe reactions to sulfites. 

Wine labels are not just for those who consume wine. Wine labels are often collected, like stamps or baseball cards, by those individuals who do not consume them. There are also those individuals who only choose a wine based on the appealing nature of the label. 

Wine Label Collage

Other things (nice to haves but not required) that you may find on a wine label include:

• Vintage year – the year the grapes were harvested
• Reserve: discloses that extra aging occurred at winery before release
• Estate bottled: company that bottled wine grew the grapes also.

Understanding Wine Labels — powered by eHow.com

If you live in the U.S., foreign wine labels can be quite intimidating.  Let’s take a French wine label as an example. French wine labels promote the region the wine is from. For example a red Burgundy is what we in California call a Pinot Noir. There are a couple of regulating bodies that mandate how French wine is produced. The Appellation d’Origine Controllee (AOC) mandates that certain grapes are grown in specific regions of France. For example a white wine grown in Burgundy is a Chardonnay in the U.S. because Chardonnay grapes or only to be grown in that region per the AOC.

French Wine Label

The Vin de Pays (VDQS) means “country wine”. This designation is usually given to producer who can’t meet the standards of AOC and who want to try working with different varietals. These wine producers are allowed to put their grape varietals on their wine labels. The other body is the Vin de Table, which means “Table Wine”. This is the most basic quality designator in France. 

Labels should not be intimidating. They should be a great source of information. Now that you have a little background on how they are designed and what’s required on them you should feel a little more liberated when you go into a wine shop. 

Read labels and always remember to drink responsibly.