Interpreting wine labels is one of the trickiest aspects of understanding wine. Only after a great deal of study and memorization can you anticipate what's in the bottles just by looking at them. Most labels give many different pieces of information, but most wines derive their names, or main identification, from either: the place in which they were made; or the grape used in making them.

Place Names
The French are the champions of place-naming. To them, a wine is, above all, a direct expression of a place. Almost every French wine name you know--Burgundy, Bordeaux, even Champagne--is a place in France. Beyond that, things get confusing, because the other labeling details change from region to region.

Bordeaux. Here, most wines are named "Chateau Something-or-Other." In labelspeak, a chateau, which literally means castle, is actually a winery (even though the "chateau" may be only a garage). Then the label will tell you where in Bordeaux that "chateau" stands. Generally speaking, the more specific the place name, the better the wine. If, for example, Chateau Something-or-Other is in "Bordeaux" (the name of the whole region), that's not too impressive. If the label says it's in the "Medoc," a small area within Bordeaux, that's much better. If the label goes all the way and says the chateau is in "Pauillac," a super-respected little part of the Medoc, then you know you've got a big-deal wine on your hands.

Burgundy. Once again, the more geographically specific the label the better (theoretically). Wines labeled "village" come from grapes grown in the least desirable vineyard tracts of a village. At the next level, some vineyards within a village are designated by the government as "premier cru," literally meaning "first growth." In the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, for example, "Les Cazetiers" is a premier cru vineyard. The wine produced from grapes from this vineyard will be labeled Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers and will bear the words "premier cru." Then, at the "best" level, a tiny number of vineyards are designated "grand cru" or, literally, "great growth." Mazis-Chambertin is one such vineyard, whose name would appear on the label along with the phrase "grand cru." Making everything much more confusing is that even small vineyards in Burgundy usually have multiple owners. So the most important information on your Burgundy label may not be whether the wine is from a grand cru vineyard, but which producer owns the piece of that vineyard which yielded this wine. A great grape in the wrong hands will not produce a great wine. And so, if you don't know the producers, it's to the shop owner or wine steward for advice.

Grape Names
In the New World there has been an attempt to make things simpler. That bottle of French Burgundy won't tell you that the wine is made from the Pinot Noir grape--but California wine will. In fact, the grape name--along with the name of the winery that made the wine--is the most important thing on the New World label. This makes things easy. If you know you like Pinot Noir as made by Napa Ridge Winery, for example, you've got a good start. Some extra details may appear on the label--specific vineyards or "reserve" designations--but the basics are simple.

Most countries follow one model or another: French or Californian. Australia goes by grape variety, as do Chile and Argentina and, surprisingly, the northeastern corner of France called Alsace. Most European countries label geographically--though Italy lobs some curve balls (by naming an occasional wine for a winemaking process, such as "Amarone"). Germany has its own set of quirks; it's geographical, but their very specific labeling also tells you how ripe the grapes were when they were picked, and how much sugar the winemaker fermented into alcohol.

Welcome to the wonderful world of labels. Got about 50 years?

-David Rosengarten