If you’re not an avid wine drinker, buying wine can be sort of intimidating. There are so many different types, and blends, and vintages, and wineries, that it’s hard to know for sure WHAT you’re buying, much less whether or not you’ll like it. You can always read wine reviews, but when you’re standing in the grocery store or wine shop it’s hard to pull out the old iPhone and google. And, if you don’t have an iPhone or similar, you have to just depend on the wine label.
Again, reading wine labels can be tricky. That’s why Behind the Burner traveled to Freemark Abbey Winery in Napa Valley to tell us how to decipher the information on a wine label.
First step – decide what you want. Are you looking for a wine from a particular region? From a particular winery? Or are you seeking a particular varietal (grape)? The name of the wine – Cabernet, Vioigner, etc. indicates the type of grape used in the wine. Not all wines are 100% a certain type of grape – in fact, a wine only has to have 75% of one type of grape in it to put that varietal name on the label.
The year refers to the year the wine is grown. As for alcohol content, the vintner interviewed says that his reds are about 14% alcohol, while the whites are 13% to 13.5%. If there is too high of an alcohol content, the wine will taste funny. Some can pull it off, but with food it is better to go with a lower alcohol wine. A more acidic, fruitier wine is better.
The bottom line is that it is good to have a little bit of education under your belt before you go to buy wine. You have to find out what you like before you can be sure to buy something that works for you. This means you’ll have to do some wine tasting. It’s a tough job, but you owe it to yourself!
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