Wine label
/ˈwaɪn ˌleɪbəl/
A wine label is the printed or otherwise affixed information panel on a wine bottle that identifies the wine and communicates key legal and marketing details such as producer, origin, grape(s), vintage, alcohol content, and volume. It functions both as a regulated document required by wine laws and as a branding and design element that helps consumers recognize and choose wines.
Examples
- A shopper compares two bottles by reading their wine labels to see which one lists "Riesling, Mosel, 8% vol" versus "Riesling, Pfalz, 12% vol" to anticipate sweetness and style.
- A sommelier uses the wine label on a Burgundy bottle to explain that "Appellation Gevrey-Chambertin Contrôlée" and the producer’s name indicate a Pinot Noir from a specific village in the Côte de Nuits.
- A winery redesigns its wine label with bolder graphics and a clearer vintage statement to stand out on retail shelves and better communicate the brand.
Etymology
The term "wine label" combines "wine" and "label." "Wine" comes from Old English "wīn," borrowed from Latin "vīnum," a word of earlier Mediterranean origin also related to Greek "οἶνος" (oinos), all meaning wine. "Label" derives from Old French "label" / "labeau" / "lambel," meaning a strip or band, likely from a Germanic root related to Old High German "lappa" (rag, cloth), which evolved in English to mean any attached tag bearing identifying marks. In the wine context, identification began with stamped or painted marks on amphorae in antiquity, progressed to handwritten tags on early glass bottles in the 17th–18th centuries, and developed into the modern printed, glued-on wine label in the 18th–19th centuries, later formalized by national and regional wine-labeling laws.