Learning to read wine bottle labels can be an intimidating task that you may feel is better left to the professionals. With the following simple guidelines, however, you can assume the aura of a wine expert within minutes and surprise your friends and family with your extensive library of wine knowledge.

Of course, reading the labels does have a practical purpose as well. Without a decent understanding of the wine bottle label, you could end up with a variety of surprising, and often not so good, wines for your table.

Cru

If you are into French wines, one of the keywords that you should look for on the wine bottle is “cru”. This term is used to designate a higher quality in French wine, usually designated for wine that comes from regions such as Bordeaux or Alscace. “Cru” refers to the wine being from a higher quality wine producer, as well.

Old Vines

This will be referred to as “vielles vignes” on a French wine bottle. Wines grown on older vines are said to have more concentrated juices, actually. The result is generally a wine with a more vigorous and intrepid flavor with a denser and richer body. If the wine refers to old vines on either the front or back of the label, it is a good sign that you are going to end up with a quality bottle.

Estate Bottled

The concept here is that the wine was entirely produced at the same location. This means that it was harvested, produced, and bottled at the same estate. Typically a reference for higher quality wines, “estate bottled” generally signifies a wine that hasn’t been shipped around from place to place and often belies a higher quality because of this “home grown” attention to detail. It is a top quality sign.

Wine Awards

This is often a strange point, as there are often many obscure or odd wine awards as well as many legitimate ones. Be wary of the odd sounding awards in particular; this could signify something as monumental as the wine bottle you are holding has won an award at a county bake sale. It could; on the other hand, be a valuable symbol to the wine’s quality should the award be revered.

Grand Vin/Superieur

These two terms on a wine bottle might draw your attention at first and rightly so. This term, however, in French simply refers to the fact that the wine is the primary type of wine produced at a particular winery. It is no indication as to the quality of the wine at all.