READING THE LABEL

Understanding the bunch of adjectives and romantic declarations carefully placed on the back of a wine bottle can be like watching a movie in a foreign language. Without subtitles. You get the basic idea, but the details remain a bit fuzzy. When choosing a wine it is important to understand what you are reading.

Understanding that each grape variety tastes slightly different to another is important when choosing wine. For example a wine maker may choose to blend a Semillon and a Sauvignon Blanc. The proportion of each grape will appear in descending order for example a Semillon Sauvignon Blanc will taste different to a Sauvignon Blanc Semillon as it is made predominantly with Semillon grapes.

The Variety of wine is also very important on the label. For example if a wine is a Semillon, the wine bust be made with at least 85% of the Semillon grape. In a blended wine, there must be at least 25% of each grape.

Geographical Indications are also important information on the label. For example if the label affiliates the wine with the Hunter Valley, at least 85% of the grapes used must be grown in the Hunter Valley.