Useful tips for recognizing a good wine by reading the label.

You love to accompany your meal with a good glass of wine, or you like it as an excellent aperitif, but you don't know how to choose. Here are the useful tips.

Before choosing a good wine, you must read the label very carefully which contains lots of useful information to help you understand which product it is and if you are making the right choice.

How to recognize a good wine by reading the label.

Usually each bottle of wine has two labels; the front one shows the name of the wine, the area of origin, the vintage, the name of the vine or the name of the wine, the denomination of origin and the winery, while the one on the back shows other information. There may be indications on food combinations, serving temperature or on the organoleptic characteristics of the wine, but we also find some details on the qualities of the wine itself.

What are the denominations of the wines?

The wines can be of the following denominations:

1) generic good wine

2) varietal

3) IGT

4) PGI

5) PDO

6) DOC good wine

7) DOCG

These last two types, i.e. DOC and DOCG wines, must also bear on the band the mark that allows traceability, printed by the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato.

Specifically, the generic wine is the one with the wording wine and then "red" or "white" without further information, the varietal is the classic table wine and can bear the vintage and/or the grape variety of origin or the geographical indication. The meaning of DOC wine is denomination of controlled origin, which in the case of DOCG also becomes guaranteed, and differs from an IGT wine (Typical Geographical Indication) because it must respond to a different production specification.

The specification identifies the places where the wine is produced and establishes the quantity of grapes that can be used as well as the minimum alcohol content to be respected. Not negligible also to respect other characteristics inherent to the color, taste, perfume.

Wine bottling company Best

On the label it is mandatory to indicate who bottled the wine. In other words who is legally responsible. If the producer is different from the bottler, the former may not be mentioned. In this way the consumer is better protected by knowing who to contact in the event that there is any anomaly. If the wine is imported, what must be included on the label is the name of the importer. The ICQRF code is used to trace the bottler for which it can replace the wording on the label.

Nation of good wine production

To better protect the producing country, the European Union has introduced as mandatory the mention of the Member State where the wine was produced. For this reason, on the bottle of wine you will find the specification, for example, 'produced in Italy'. If, on the other hand, the wine is produced from a blend of wines produced in several countries, the wording 'European Community wine' will be used.

Nominal volume of the  wine bottle best

The nominal volume represents the quantity of wine present in the bottle. The quantity can be expressed in litres, milliliters and centilitres, abbreviations are permitted (without the point) followed by the letter e, which means estimate.

Example: 750ml and; Contents 750ml and; Net Content 750ml and; Cont. 75 cl and; Net cont. 75 cl

Alcoholic strength of the wine

Alcoholic strength of wine is the percentage of alcohol contained in the wine and in the wording can be preceded by the terms 'actual alcoholic strength' or 'actual alcohol' or abbreviated with 'alc % vol'.

Example: 12.5% vol; Actual alcohol 12.5% vol; Alc 12.5% vol

Wine packaging date BEST

Reference is made to the production lot, or to the sales units, in this case bottles, produced or packaged in almost identical circumstances, so that a sequence can be traced.

Allergens present in wine BEST

In reality it is in particular the sulphites present in wine, on which the European Community has opened a long debate. The writing 'Contains Sulphites' must be inserted on the label whenever the concentration exceeds 10 mg/l, in other words almost always. Alas, almost all wines contain the wording "Contains Sulphites".

According to the standard, there is no difference whether the sulfur dioxide was added or whether it developed naturally during fermentation. The criterion is purely quantitative. The possible presence of milk and/or eggs must also be indicated on the label, no matter in what quantity.