Drinking Wines

Have you ever stood in the wine aisle staring at row and row of wine bottles wondering which wine you should buy? Most people will select a wine because they like the label. They are usually drawn to an interesting graphic or clever name on the label. Wine labels are important marketing tools, but there are also facts to be learned by actually reading the label.

Who? The wine label will always tell the name of the winery that made the wine. Wineries often add a proprietary name to the wine. This is usually a marketing tool to encourage interest in the wine.

What? The label will state what type of wine is in the bottle. If it is labeled as a specific type of wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, this means that at least 75% of the wine was produced from Cabernet grapes. Blending juice from other types of grapes is a common practice and often will improve the flavor and aroma of the wine.

When? Vintage is the term used to refer to the year in which the grapes were grown. In the United States wineries are allowed to blend in wine from other years. However, 85% of the volume must be from the year on the label. Not all wines are bottled as vintage wines. If you don?t see a year on the label, it is not a vintage wine. Vintage becomes important when wine from a particular year is known to be of better quality than wine from other years. Vintage is also important in aging wines.

Where? When a wine label states that a wine is made from California grown grapes, 100% of the grapes used to produce that wine must be from California. Other states are not as strict and usually require that 75% of the grapes come from a particular state.

Sometimes wine labels will specify which officially designated viticultural area a wine came from; usually this is a region such as Napa Valley that is noted for high quality wines. When this occurs, it means that 85% or more of the grapes must have been grown in that area.

Some vineyards have become known for producing wine of a superior quality. The winery will want to mention the vineyard on the label. Vineyard specific wines like these need to use 95% or more of the grapes from that particular vineyard.

There are wineries that specialize in ?estate bottled? wines. Usually this would be included on the label. Estate bottled means that all of the grapes were grown by the winery and that all of the wine making processes were also under the winery?s control.

The next time you are shopping for a bottle of wine, take a closer look at the wine label. You will find that wine labels can be quite informative.

Kathy Howe and her husband, Steve Howe, spend much of their free time tasting and enjoying wine. Their interest in wine is reflected in their web site, http://www.cheers2wine.com - a Comprehensive Guide to the California Wine Country. They continue to explore wineries throughout California.

It comes as no news to anyone that the American people love their animals. What did come as a surprise to me is that we also love animals on our wine labels. Yes, a study released earlier this year by ACNielsen confirms that wine labels with animal images are becoming increasingly popular in this country.

I felt compelled to do my own research on this topic so one evening I stopped by my local liquor store to check out the wine selection. Sure enough I was greeted with a veritable zoo of animals on labels. There were Dancing Bulls, Leaping Horses, Black Swans, Little Penguins, Kangaroos, even a hippopotamus courtesy of Fat Bastard Wines (which is French would you believe). This very informal research confirmed that there seems to be a much larger selection of wines with animal labels than ever before.

Critter Labels Rule

In the wine industry these animal labels are affectionately known as critter labels, and the trend began back in 2001 with the introduction of the Yellow Tail brand of wines into this country from Australia. Pictured on the label is what looks like a kangaroo (but which is in fact supposed to be the yellow-footed rock wallaby). These wines had labels that looked striking, were priced very reasonably and they tasted great ? so they became a runaway success. So much so that they spawned an entire new category of wine.

The ACNielsen study has some hard data confirming the popularity of this new wine category. In the past three years there have been 438 new Table Wine brands that have been successfully introduced in the American market (those wines that sold more than $20,000 annually). Of these 438 new brands 77 of them featured an animal on their label, around 18 percent. Combined with existing critter label wines, sales reached $600 million in 2005 out of a total of just over $4 billion, based on ACNielsen sales data from supermarket point of sale purchases.

Critter-labeled wines are on the rise, quickly gaining share in the table wine category, said Danny Brager, vice president of ACNielsen’s Beverage Alcohol team. The sales generated by new brands featuring a critter outperform other new table wines by more than two to one. That’s right, taken across the board new critter-labeled wines have proven in the marketplace to be more popular.

While placing a critter on a label doesn’t guarantee success, it is important that wine makers realize that there is a segment of consumers who don’t want to have to take wine too seriously, said Brager. Not only are they willing to have fun with wine, they may just feel ?good’ about an animal label presentation. With hundreds of new wine brands being introduced each year, wine makers realize that they need to stand out from the crowd if they are to make an impression. The easiest and most cost effective way to stand out is with an attention grabbing label on your bottle. The wine industry has also realized that there is an increasingly large segment of consumers who are attracted by fun labels. They want to buy a non-pretentious wine and they don’t want to pay a fortune. These are the people who walk into a liquor store and supermarket and have no idea what they are going to buy ? they decide by looking at the labels.

Chasing the Yellow Tail

The Yellow Tail wine phenomenon is the perfect example of this. From Casella Wines, a small family-owned winery in New South Wales, Australia, Yellow Tail went from zero to the number one imported wine in the US in just two years. The first year the Casella brothers expected to sell 25,000 cases of wine here, they ended up selling 200,000 cases. That was back in 2001. In 2005 they sold 8 million cases of wine. Yellow Tail Shiraz is now the #1 selling red wine in America (not just imports but ALL red wine). In the crowded and highly competitive US wine market with over 6,500 wine brands, Yellow Tail has become the #1 wine brand, and it took just five years.

Now, I realize that Yellow Tail’s success is not just because of their label. They have a great product that is reasonably priced ? the Shiraz is just $6.99 ? and they have a very loyal base of repeat customers. But could they have become #1 without their unique label? I don’t think so. One of the biggest barriers they faced was getting people to try the wine in the first place. With what looks like a brightly colored kangaroo on the label on a black background, it is a visually striking label. It was able to break through the clutter at the retail store with this label.

Perhaps the biggest indication of the success of Yellow Tail is the number of copycats it has spawned. Penfolds, Australia’s leading winery, was obviously disappointed in missing out on this opportunity, so they responded with the launch of the Little Penguin brand of wines. There is now a deluge of animal themed wines, so much so that ACNielsen is tracking their sales now. Despite all this new competition Yellow Tail remains the most successful wine brand in terms of total sales.

Labels are a Powerful Tool

While the wine business is somewhat unique there are lessons here that can be applied to any industry. One lesson is that with a high impact label you can make inroads even in a conservative and image conscious industry such as the wine industry. Your label should be working hard for your product. It should be informational, be a sales and marketing piece, carry any necessary regulatory information, and at the same time be eye catching. If you are selling your products at a retail store, then your label needs to perform well in all these areas for your product to compete with other more established brands.

Your label is your sales tool. The success of Yellow Tail wines demonstrates that in any competitive industry a good label can help bring success. Of course, it doesn’t have to feature a critter, but a visually appealing and eye catching label will always help sales.

Copyright (c) 2006 Peter Renton

Peter Renton is the founder of Lightning Labels, Inc. the leaders in digital label printing and custom labels. He writes regularly about the label printing and packaging industry on his blog at http://blog.lightninglabels.com

I must admit, that for many of us, walking into a store to buy a bottle of wine can be a little like visiting a foreign country and not knowing the language. If you?re buying wine for yourself that?s probably not a big deal, although it might be nice to be somewhat knowledgeable so that you?re more likely to buy something you will enjoy. However, if you are buying a bottle of wine as a gift, then being able to interpret information on the label becomes a bit more important. But, first things, first.

Your first consideration should probably be where you will be shopping. If you live in a state where alcohol sales are controlled or restricted, your options may be limited. I happen to live in Pennsylvania where consumers are only permitted to purchase packaged wine and alcohol from state-operated Wine and Spirits Stores or a privately owned Pennsylvania Winery. You may, of course, travel out of state to purchase a limited amount of alcoholic beverages, but these purchases are subject to an 18% state tax. (However, I can?t say that I know anyone who has traveled out of state to buy wine and actually fessed-up, claimed their booty, and paid that outrageous tax.) To find the best selection of wine in a state where alcohol sales are controlled, check on the internet for information and locations of any retail outlets. For example, PA has premium wine stores and you can get a listing of their locations by checking out the PA Liquor Control Board web site.

If you live in a state with more liberal alcoholic beverage laws, you probably have more options available for buying wine: Large retail chains like Wal-Mart and Target, large drug store chains, supermarkets, independently owned liquor stores, specialty wine shops and wine warehouses. You can buy excellent wines at all these venues, but the independently owned stores have the potential to vary in the quality and quantity of their inventory. One of the best avenues for selection and price is a wine warehouse and if you?re really lucky, you live in a state where you can order wines online from a wine distributor.

Not all wine shops are created equal so there are some issues you should be concerned with when choosing where to purchase wine. One consideration is how the wine is stored. Exposure to excessive heat, wide temperature fluctuations, and bright spotlights may cause deterioration, so take note of any wine that may be stored next to radiators or heating vents. You should also observe the general aesthetics of the store. Are things well-organized, and neat or is the merchandise dusty and in disarray? A sign of a quality wine shop is when a store carries more than one vintage of a particular wine. This would indicate the shop owner is interested in the depth of their offerings as well as the breadth.

Every retail store has organization and a wine store is no exception. Even though all those bottles may look deceptively similar, a closer look will probably reveal some system of how the wine is displayed. They may be broken out in such wide categories as the type of wine i.e. red, white, or sparkling. They may also be categorized by region: Napa Valley, Sonoma, Loire, Finger Lakes, Italian, South African, etc. or by varietals: Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chenin Blanc, etc. Getting an idea of the layout of the store will at least help you find a particular section you may be interested in.

Now on to the label?

There are laws that mandate what information must be included on a wine label. These laws vary from country to country and are based on where the wine is marketed rather than where it is produced. Much to the dismay of the producer, this may mean that one wine will have several different labels. After the label is designed it must be approved by various governmental agencies.

Most wines bottles will have two labels affixed to it. In addition to these labels providing the legally mandated information, they are intended to help market the product. The front label is designed to attract the consumer?s attention by the use of marketing tactics such as logos, interesting graphics, color and lettering. The back label will often try to entice your senses. A Pinot Noir that I have in my inventory but have not yet tried states ??Rich in texture with a lingering finish and versatile enough to compliment just about any cuisine.? It caught my attention! These optional endorsements are not governed by law.

Labeling requirements for the United States are established by the Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. These requirements include:

Identifying brand name or brand identification- This may be the owner?s name, trademark name, winery name, growing area, appellation or grape variety. The brand name must not be misleading as to the quality, origin, age, or grape varietal. In the U.S., a wine cannot be labeled a particular varietal unless it contains at least 75% of that varietal. For example a wine may not be called zinfandel if it only contains 74% zinfandel grapes.

Class of wine, type or designation- The wine is labeled with the class number or with a description similar to those described here:
Class 1 - May be labeled Light Wine, Light White Wine, Table Wine, Sweet Table Wine Red Table Wine, or something similar. A Class 1 wine must have an alcohol content between 7% and 14% by volume.
Class 2 - May be labeled Sparkling Wine or something similar. A Class 2 wine has been made sparkling by a natural method only.
Class 3 - May be labeled Carbonated Wine or something similar. Class 3 wine has carbon dioxide injected into it.
Class 4 - May be labeled Citrus Wine or something similar. A Class 4 is wine that was produced primarily with citrus fruit.
Class 5 - May be labeled Fruit Wine or something similar. A Class 5 wine was produced primarily from fruits other than grapes or citrus.
Class 6 - Wine that has been made from agricultural products such as vegetables.
Class 7 - May be labeled Aperitif Wine or something similar. A Class 7 wine has an alcohol content of not less than 15% by volume; the grape wine has been compounded with added brandy, alcohol, and flavored with herbs and natural aromatic flavoring.
Class 8 - May be labeled Imitation Wine or something similar. A Class 8 wine contains man-made materials.
Class 9 - May be labeled Retsina Wine or something similar. A Class 9 wine is a grape table wine that has been fermented or flavored with resin.

Alcohol content by volume- The alcohol content must be listed on the label only if it contains more than 14% by volume. Wines that contain more than 14% alcohol are taxed at a rate four times higher than those containing less alcohol. These are considered ?fortified wines? even if the high alcohol volume is attained by natural fermentation. For wines with an alcohol content of 14% or greater, a 1% variation is allowed. Wines that have less than 14% alcohol by volume are permitted a 1.5% variation. Wines containing less than 14% alcohol must state it on the label or be labeled by the appropriate class or description such as ?light table wine?.
Net volume of contents- In 1977, the U.S. government mandated that metric measurements be used as the wine industry standard. The most common bottle volume is 750ml. If the volume does not appear on the label look for it molded into the glass bottle.
Name and address of the bottler, producer and country of origin- This information is required on all American wines and the words ?bottled by? must immediately precede the name and address of the bottler. The term ?produced and bottled by? may be used if the bottler also made no less than 75% of the wine by fermenting the must (juice) and clarifying the wine. ?Made and bottled by? may be used if the named winery fermented and clarified at least 10% of the wine or if the winery changed the class of the wine by fortifying it, adding carbonization or making it a sparkling wine by adding a secondary fermentation process. When the words ?cellared?, ?vinted? or ?prepared? are used it means that the named winery cellared, clarified or barrel aged the wine at that location. ?Blended and bottled? indicates that the named winery mixed the wine with other wine of the same type and class at that location. The country of origin indicates where the wine was produced and not necessarily where the grapes were grown.

One of the most baffling subjects that confronts the budding wine enthusiast is the deciphering of the myriad of information contained on the bottle label, especially that contained on wine bottles from European countries. Once the basic rules are taken on board it becomes a lot simpler. Whereas most New World countries put details of the grape varieties on the front label, a lot of European regions do not, and as this is the most basic of information for taste purposes why is this the case?

European winemakers tend to put more emphasis on the place of origin. For instance, a Bordeaux red typically wont say ?Cabernet? or ?Merlot? on the front label, but instead have the name of the chateau where it was made, and usually the part of Bordeaux where it was made, for example Haut-Medoc. Similarly a Sancerre is totally Sauvignon Blanc, but an in depth analysis of the label will leave you none the wiser. For the French the important factor is that the wine comes from Sancerre in the Loire valley and for them it is inbred knowledge that white Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc.

Moving south to Spain, red Rioja declares itself as Rioja on the label, not Tempranillo the grape variety used, whilst in Italy most Tuscan reds have no information on the Sangiovese grape that is most widely used in these wines. Given this mish-mash of information it is no wonder that many of us head for that bottle with the label announcing it is a Chardonnay Viognier from the Ironstone Vineyard of California.

It is clear then that the Europeans believe the most important factor influencing a wine?s character is the soil, climate and culture of the area where the grape is grown and this is particularly important to single-vineyard wines who make the most of capturing the essence of a particular area of land. So whereas a French winemaker will see his wine as reflecting the character of a particular region, a New World winemaker mad about grape varieties will consider that soil is just the growing medium in which the fruit grows, and that the grape variety and hard work in the winery are what really counts. Today these two opposing approaches to wine labelling are moving closer together with New World producers emphasising their regionality and its characteristics, whilst European, even the parochial French winemakers possibly prompted by the wholesalers and the supermarkets are labelling their wines more clearly.

James Pendleton is a lover of the better things in life. For more information on wine visit Wine Capital.