Trumping whatever esthetic value a wine label may have, its main function is to inform the consumer. So the producer, winery or winemaker, as well as the legal authority where the wine is sold, have an interest in shaping that information.
For their part, the people who put the wine in the bottle want the consumer to buy it. Consequently wine labels may contain visually attractive or eye-catching graphics or art; descriptions of how the wine tastes, how it was made, or what foods it best accompanies; technical information; or marketing terms such as "reserve" or "special selection."
In the United States, no government body regulates that information to any great degree. For example, the word "reserve" has no legal standing and might indicate nothing at all about the wine itself. Indeed foreign governments may prohibit such language on U.S. wines exported to their countries. The European Union, for example, forbids the word "reserve" on labels of American wines.
U.S. Government requirements
However, wine labels also contain a substantial amount of legal content that is regulated by the U.S. government under the auspices of the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade & Tax Bureau.
The TTB oversees label language on both domestic and foreign wines. For example, the TTB requires that a standard warning about alcohol ("According to the Surgeon General …") be affixed to all bottles of wine sold in the U.S. Consequently, foreign wine producers must create labels that include this warning for bottles of wine they hope to sell in the U.S.
Mandatory information
The TTB requires the following information on all bottles of wine sold in the U.S. Parentheses contain one or two of several possible examples.
- Brand name: The wine’s identity, which may be a person’s name (Robert Mondavi) or a proprietary name (Big House Red).
- Wine type: The wine’s style (sparkling wine) or grape variety (Chardonnay, Merlot, etc.). If a wine claims the name of a grape variety, that wine must be made of at least 75 percent of that grape. Generic or proprietary names (Long Flat White) imply no specific blend of grapes, but a blend voluntarily may be stated by the producer.
- Alcohol content: Any wine with more than 14 percent alcohol by volume must state the alcohol content because the government taxes these wines at a rate four times higher than other wines. For wines of less than 14 percent, the label may state either the actual alcohol content or a designation such as "table wine" which implies alcohol content of 7-14 percent.
The TTB allows a leeway of 1.5% under or over the actual alcohol content for wines under 14 percent. This is for two reasons: 1) Evaporation during aging is not easily controllable, and 2) The common measure of alcohol content, the Ebulliometer, is not entirely accurate.
- Name & address of bottler must appear, preceded by the words "bottled by." The address need not contain a street number.
- Either the term "Produced and bottled by" or "Made and bottled by" indicate that the bottler also fermented at least 75 percent of the wine. Terms such as "Cellared by, "Vinted by," "Prepared by" or "Blended by" indicate various other treatments.
- Net contents of the wine, in metric measurement (750 ml).
- "Contains Sulfites" must be printed on labels of wines containing 10 parts per million of sulfur dioxide which is most wines.
- The standard government warning regarding the dangers of alcohol must appear on all wine labels.
Optional information, also regulated
- Vintage date indicates the year in which the grapes that made the wine were harvested. If used, 95 percent of the wine must come from that year (the 5 percent leeway allows for the topping off of wines, especially of red wines as they age.
- Appellation of origin: California law stipulates that the appellation "California" means that 100 percent of the wine comes from California. Federal and nearly all other state laws require that use of a state name means at least 75 percent of the wine comes from that state.
If a label states an officially designated viticultural area (AVA), the TTB requires that at least 85 percent of the wine comes from the AVA so named (Napa Valley). If a vineyard is named, at least 95 percent must come from that vineyard.
- "Estate bottled" means that the winery on the label grew 100 percent of the grapes on land that it owns or controls, and that it crushed, fermented, finished, aged and bottled the wine in a continuous process.