The label can say a lot about a wine, but you have to know how to read it: here's how

- the product category (wine, sparkling wine, fortified wine, etc.)

- the name of the producer or bottler

- the year, when foreseen

- the actual alcoholic strength, i.e. the alcoholic degrees

- the volume of the bottle

- the production batch, useful for traceability

- the words 'contains sulphites

- the origin of the wine.

A lot of information, perhaps too much. But which ones are really needed by those who know little or nothing about wine?

The vintage, for example, matters a lot. Climatic conditions have a profound effect on the quality of the wine and determine its style, balance and capacity for evolution. A torrid summer, a rainy harvest or a particularly cool vintage change the final result quite a bit. But let's clear up a hard-to-die misunderstanding: an old wine is not automatically good. Some wines improve with time, others after a few years simply begin to resemble a liquid archaeological find.

In the case of sparkling wines, it is also useful to check the date of disgorgement, when present. It helps to understand how long the wine has been separated from the yeasts and thus how fresh or evolved it may be in the glass. If we are going to drink a "not vintage", it is good that dégorgement is fairly recent, let's say better within three years, for a vintage we can go much further, always provided we have a good cellar.

Denomination is important, but without turning it into a religion. Of course, DOC and DOCG guarantee compliance with a specification and tell the story of a territory. They can also give an indication of the grape varieties used. But that does not automatically mean that they are better than everything else. On the contrary, some IGTs continue to give far greater satisfaction than certain somewhat overrated and very well placed DOCGs on the market.

The name of the manufacturer also deserves attention. A serious company has a reputation to uphold and this is often a more concrete guarantee than many golden bands. Always maintaining a minimum of critical spirit, because in wine - as in life - marketing sometimes gets ahead of us. And we also go ahead of it.

The wording 'bottled at origin', although not compulsory on the label, helps to distinguish wines produced and bottled directly by the winery from those bottled by third parties. Useful information, certainly, but as always in wine, no label alone works wonders.

Alcohol content is another fact that is less trivial than it seems. It not only indicates the 'strength' of the wine but also, often, structure and concentration. And above all, it helps to avoid the classic moment of bewilderment the next day, when it would be useful to understand whether the problem was the wine or the entire system of one's existence.

As for sulphites, demonised for years as if they were radioactive material, it is worth clarifying. They are preservatives found in many foods: dried fruit, packaged crisps, fruit juices and so on. True, they can create problems for those with specific intolerances, but wine already naturally contains alcohol, which is in itself a preservative. Translated: in many industrial foods, sulphites are present in higher quantities than in many bottles of wine.

Finally, the label may bear indications such as 'organic' or 'biodynamic'. In the first case, these are certifications regulated by European standards; in the second, protocols linked to private bodies. Useful information, certainly, but not an absolute guarantee of quality. And on the other hand, the perfect bottle, unfortunately, has not yet been invented. Or perhaps it has, but it is already finished.

Leave the rest, after a minimum of information, to your personal taste. And also to your wallet, which often remains the harshest wine critic of all.