A reader asked recently why some wine labels are so complicated to read. "Australian and California wine labels are very simple," he said. "They tell you everything you need to know in a direct way.
"But European labels have words like 'Riserva,' 'Crianza' and 'Superiore', as well as all kinds of appellation terms like IGT and QmP. Are they really necessary?"
Good point -- wine labels are a real can of worms. Ideally, maybe, they would show you only what you need to know. The question is, "what do you need to know?" If all you want to know is what's in the bottle, then, yes, many Australian and other New World labels tell you that pretty directly.
Or do they? Take a bottle of 2002 cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley in California. Is that what's in the bottle? Yes and no, because the prevailing wine law allows the producer to include a percentage of wine from a different vintage, a different grape variety and from a different region. As long as the percentage is within the rules, they don't have to be set out on the label. So your 2002 Napa cab could be 10 per cent from 2004, 10 per cent merlot, and 10 per cent from Sonoma Valley.
Similar rules exist throughout the world. For example, a wine labelled VQA Niagara Peninsula has to have at least 85 per cent Niagara Peninsula grapes, but the rest could have come from anywhere in Ontario. But if it's labelled with a sub-appellation (like Beamsville Bench), 100 per cent of the grapes must be from there.
So even the straightforward labels are a bit more complicated than they appear.
But what about all the other stuff that's on the labels of European wine? The truth is that, while it might not mean a lot to most wine buyers, it can be a helpful guide to what you're getting in the wine. For example, although the word "Reserve" isn't regulated in most countries, it is in some. Australian and Canadian producers can stick the word (and any of its variants, like "Special Reserve," "Proprietor's Reserve," and so on) on labels whenever they want.
But in countries such as Italy and Spain, "Riserva" and "Reserva" (respectively) mean that a wine has undergone a minimum period of aging in barrel and bottle before going on sale. In Washington state, most producers comply with an industry decision to use "Reserve" only on their best wines that have a limited production.
And then there are the appellation terms. What's the difference between an Italian wine classified Denominazione d'Origine Controllata (DOC) and one labelled Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT)? Well, DOC wines are made under much more stringent conditions that tightly regulate the grape varieties that can be used, the maximum yield from vineyards, the minimum alcohol and sometimes the vinifying technique. IGT wines are made under less rigorous conditions.
So is it important to know all this stuff? No it's not, but I think the more you know the more likely you are to be able to select a bottle you'll enjoy. Without the words on the label, you're pretty much stuck with choosing wine by price and label design. It can work, but it's hit or miss.