Things You'll Need:
- A wine bottle
- An eye for detail
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Step 1
Find the proprietary name – This is often added by a wine maker for marketing reasons and really has no informational value. You might see words like, "Reserve Cuvee," or "Special Reserve," but there’s really nothing special about them. They are unregulated terms and a wine maker could label his entire production run "Special Reserve" if it wanted, which doesn’t make it very special.
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Step 2
Look for the varietal – The varietal portion of the label might say Merlot or Chardonnay. In most New World countries, wine that falls under whatever wine regulating organization that exists there must be made from at least 75% (or 85%) of the named grape varietal. The remainder may be made up of other grapes, or anything else.
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Step 3
Find the vintage – This is the year the grapes were harvested and is printed on the label.
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Step 4
Determine the geographic origin - This is The place the grapes came from. For regulated wines, this means that most (75%) or all of the grapes come from the named retion, like "Napa Valley" or "Alexander County." Unregulated, cheaper wines, especially wines out of California, don’t always follow this rule. For instance, California "Chablis" certainly does not come from the Chablis region of France.
