Trying to decode what the label on your wine says? Here's our guide to better understand what you're drinking.

If you find the words “reserve” and/or “old vines” on a label, don’t be swayed. They are simply marketing terms. Reserve aims to give a wine an air of quality by signaling it’s in ...

In fact, in the U.S., to label a wine as “Private Reserve” or assert that it’s produced from selected lots, a winemaker—or marketer—is required by law to do nothing more than say that it is.

But you won’t care when you taste the 2008 Omerta Napa Valley Reserve ($130) a deep blood-red, plush, complex wine with violet notes, dark, rich fruit, sage and baking spices.

Gordon Ramsay, seen here at the 2009 Good Food and Wine Show in Sydney, Australia, collaborated with a California master sommelier to create his eponymous wine label. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty ...

Indulging in a tall glass of chilled sparkling wine can be a blissful experience. Refreshing, refined and crisp all at once, a good bubbly is bound to elevate any meal or celebration. That’s why ...

How to Read a Wine Label. ... For example, a claim of “old vines” requires no proof of vine age, nor does a “Winemaker’s Reserve” wine need to be “reserved” by anyone.