WINE LABELS

  • SUB-TOPICS Of OAK BARREL
    1. Wine Label
    2. German Wine Label
    3. Terms On Label That Are Ambuguous
    4. D.the.V.com Proposed Wine Label
    5. Second Label
    6. Wine Label Producers

1) WINE LABEL

Wine Label Are an Essential Component of a Wine Bottles Packaging. They Can Instantly Grab Your Attention, Tell a Story, Seduce You, Entertain You, Educate You, Inspire You, or Provoke Your and Turn You Off and On to the Next Bottle. Labels Are Generally Paper Usually Glued to Bottle Which Contain Important Information About the Content of What’s Inside the Bottle.  Some Wine Labels Lack Important Information (Some On Purpose) and Some Have Too Much Information.  There is a Knack For Figuring Out a Wine Label, a Almost Forensic Exercise In Thoughtfulness to Negotiate the Label and Locate and Translate the Information.

  • HISTORY– Egyptians Were the First to Label Wine. When Tutankhamen’s 1352 BC. Tomb Was Unearthed In 1952 the Amphora’s Had Vintage, Region and Vineyard Information Caved Into Them. Wine of the 1600’s Had Pieces of Parchment Tied Around the Container With a String. Lithography Was Developed by the Late 1700’s and Labels Could Be Produced In Mass Quantities. Not Until the Mid-1800’s When Glue Was Developed Did Labels Really “Stick”. Over Time Wine Makers Gained More Pride In Their Wine and the Perfect Label Was Needed to Show Off Their Wine. This Brought In the Modern Wine Label Era and Design and Color Become Prevalent. In the Present Day Wine Maker Spent a Lot of Time, Money and Effort to Product the Perfect Label Including Bordeaux “First Growth” Mouton Rothschild Who Uses the Most Celebrated Artist of Their Day to Produce Art Work For Their Label. (Past Artists Include Picasso, Dali, Miro, Balthus and Jeff Koons.)

NECK LABELS/ BACK LABELS– These May Appear On Certain Bottles and Include Additional Information and Usually Optional Including Wineries Back Story, Government Required Information On the Dangers of Drinking While Pregnant or Drinking While Driving, Sulfites Disclosures.

  • WHAT MAKES LABELS DIFFERENT/ ORIGINAL
    • Size of the Label- Small/ Medium/ Large
    • Custom Etched
    • Artisan Hand Painted
    • Cellar-Proof- The Ability Not to Deteriorate Over Time
    • Wrinkle Proof
    • Thickness

“The Front Label Sells the Wine the Back Label Tells the Wines Story.”

WINE EXPRESSION BAR– Small Legion of the Bottom of the Back Label Usually Identifying Sweetness/ Dryness.

  • Scan Codes- Some Producers Are Putting Codes That Can Be Scanned by Phone and Recipients Can Get Fill Technical Information On Their Bottle.
  • INFORMATION REQUIRED By TTB. ON ALL USA. WINE LABELS
    • Brand Name
    • Type of Wine
    • Alcohol by Volume
    • Name/ Address of Bottler/ Importer
    • Place of Origin
    • Volume of Wine In Bottle
    • Health Warning
    • Sulfites
  • INFORMATION NOT-REQUIRED BUT REGULATED By. TTB. ON WINE LABELS
    • Grape Varietal
    • Vintage
    • Appellation of Origin
    • Dosage G./L.
    • Disgorgement Date
    • Elaborated at

The INGREDIENT LABEL

 

The NUTRITION LABEL

“Just as There is Junk-Food There is Junk-Wine.”

  • INGREDIENTS THAT WOULD LOOK BAD ON WINE LABEL
    • Mega-Purple
    • Amount of Sulfur Added
    • Water Backed

WINE LABELS PRODUCERS

  • Blue Label Packaging Company     @Lancaster, Ohio
  • Columbia Label     @Benton City, Washington
  • Mammoth Labels & Packaging     @Columbus, Ohio

2) GERMAN WINE LABEL

Germany Has Always Been On the Forefront of Technical Innovation and That is Also Common For Its Foresight Into Label Management and Requirnments.

  • 3 CATEGORIES Of TERMS And DESCRIPTIONS
    • Mandatory Declarations
    • Optional Declarations That Are Precisely Defined
    • Other Optional Declarations That Can Be Verified
  • MANDATORY DESCRIPTIONS
    • Country of Origin: “Deutscher Qualitatswein” or “Qualitatswein Aus Deutschland”
    • Region of Origin: 1 of 13 Anbaugebiet
    • Grape/ Variety (Up to 3 Can Be Named
    • Vinetage   |   Style
    • Quality Category   |   Producer/ Bottler
    • ABV. %   |   Quality Control Test Number: A.P.Nr.
    • Contains Sulfites, Contains Milk or Eggs Products, (Albumin, Casein, Lysozyme)
  • OPTIONAL DESCRIPTIONS
    • Recommended Drinking Temperature   |   Food Pairing   |   Aging Potential
    • Analytical Data (Residual Sugar Content/ Acidity Level)
    • Descriptive Information About Wine (Aromas/ Flavors)
    • Information About Producer   |   Awards Given
    • Information About Viticulture or Viniculture

3) AMBIGUOUS TERMS ON WINE LABELS

  • UNREGULATED WINE TERMS THAT COULD MISLEAD CONSUMERS
    • Reserve
    • Vintners Reserve
    • Grand Reserve
    • Private Reserve
    • Private Selection
    • Winemaker’s Selection
    • Old-Vine/ Ancient Vines/ Old Block
    • Authentic, Handcrafted,
    • Limited Edition

TERMS On BACK Of LABEL– Mandatory, This Section of the Label Gives Information About the Production of the Wine. Label Must Indicate the Bottler and Its Location Plus These Optional Description Terms When Applicable.
Produced by- Certifies That Bottler Fermented +75% or the Wine at Started Address.

Vinted by–
Cellared by– Doesn’t Have Winery, But Juice Bought and Cellared.
Bottled by– Didn’t Produce Wine ,But Bought and Bottled.

4) DEMYSTIFYING“The VINE” PROPOSED WINE LABEL

  • Vintage   |   Appellation   |   Soil        
  • Climate   |   Viniculture   |   Blending%
  • ABV.%   |   Residual Sugar %   |   PH.            
  • ML.  |   Wine/ Must Additions   |   Aging          
  • Oaking Regiment/ Duration/ Toast
  • Brix. % at Harvest   |   Harvest Date   |   Cases Produced
  • Winemaker   |   Peak Drinablility   |   Resvaratrol
  • **Any Other Thing That the Producer Might Want to Relay…
  • WINE & PHILOSOPHY?  “Label Transparency?”
    • “Some Winemakers Are Reluctant to Have “Label Transparency”.  This Means Stating In Writing On Their Bottles’ Label Exactly What They Added, Took Out or What Treatment or Procedures They Used During Their Wine Production.  I Feel Winemakers Should Be Completely Open and Use “Label Transparency” by Stating What is In or Isn’t In the Wine.  Let the Wine Consumer Decide How “Processed” the Wine is and if They Want to Consume it or Not. “Label Transparency” Isn’t Required By Law So Wine Producers Don’t Have to State Anything On the Wine Label, But it Would Be Nice.”

5) SECOND LABEL 

SECOND LABEL- Term Used For Wine Bottled That Doesn’t Meet the Quality Necessary to Be Bottled Under the Producers Main or First Label, AKA=Second Wines, Little Brothers.

“Not as Expensive as the Premier Wine, But In Most Cases True to the Wine.”

HISTORY– Second Wine Date Back to 1980’s When Bordeaux Producers Would Declassify Part of Their Crops to Allow Them to Be More Creative Viniculturally.

  • There’s No Legal Definition or No Parameters With Second Wines.
  • SIMILARITIES Of FIRST And SECOND LABLE
    • Same Location
    • Same Climate
    • Same Soils
    • Same Vineyard (Sometimes, Often the Second Rate Blocks)
    • Same Winery Equipment
    • Same Winemaker
  • REASONS FOR SECOND LABELS
    • Expand Portfolio          
    • Increase Volume
    • Wanting to Produce a Style That’s Not Typical of the Current Wines.
    • New Vineyard
    • Substandard Growing Season        
    • Lessor Quality Grapes
    • Wanted to Sell More Wine at a Lower Price.
  • FAMOUS SECOND LABELS
    • Duckhorn (Decoy)     @Napa, California
    • Opus One (Overture)     @Napa, California
    • Darioush (Caravan)     @Napa, California
    • Drouhin (Cloudline )    @Dundee Hills, Oregon
    • Sassicaia (Guidalberto)     @Tuscany, Italy
    • Mouton Rothschild (Le Petit Mouton)     @Pauillac, Bordeaux
    • Lynch-Bages (Echo de Lynch-Bages)     @Pauillac, Bordeaux
    • Rauzan-Segla (Segla)     @Margaux, Bordeaux
    • Palmer (Alter Ego De Palmer)    @Margaux, Bordeaux
    • Leoville Poyferre (Pavillon de Leoville)     @St.-Julien, Bordeaux

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ Sources” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced.