You’ve been there. You’re standing in the supermarket, or liquor store, and have absolutely no idea about any of the wines in front of you. You look around. There is no floor help anywhere in sight. You have to hit the road NOW for a dinner party. Ayy, what to do??!!  Do not despair. Just like clothing, hair styles, and body language, labels are a winery’s way of communicating the image of their wine to you, the consumer. By perceiving those cues you will be able to blind guess with more confidence—and success!

1. Check Out that Package

Pick up the bottle. Have a look and feel. How heavy is the bottle? Does the quality of the glass feel thin or thick? Is the closure a firm seal with an emblem or a chintzy replacement for shrink wrap? For example, many fine wines are bottled in broader, heavier bottles with wider necks and a deep indentation in the bottom to collect sediment. The more simple wines will have a no frills style glass.

2. The Label: Four-inch Art

The most important signal about the winery is the label. The label will communicate the style of the house. For now, leave aside the analytical part of wine: grape variety, valley, vintage. Try to get a sense of what the label is saying? Does this look like a Coca-Cola corporate-type wine? Is it artisan homemade? Is it for a wine aficionado, chics, millennials, or boomers? Is it flowery, full of animals, or written with ornate caligraphy? This is all about feeling and getting a sense of the wine inside. As consumers we make decisions every day based on this. Tap into what you the label says to you on a larger level.

3. Get Analytical before you invest

Let’s face it, when you invest in the stock market, you are taking a calculated risk if a particular company and its shares will be a winner or not. Choosing a wine by the label is no different. Since you read up on a company’s specs before investing, do the same with a wine.  What variety is it? Where are the grapes from? What’s the vintage? Does the grape variety have more emphasis than the winery? You could be looking at a more generic wine.

Flip over to the back label and read what the winery says about this wine.  Do they describe the vineyards, its management, and tasting notes? Chances are you may have a finer wine in your hands. Or what if it doesn’t have anything other than importer information and website? Could be a wild card.  If it has tasting notes, does it make you want to drink this style of wine? Does it say sweet? Heavy? Peppery? Tangy? Perfect for a picnic or special occasion? Wine, like fashion, all depends on your mood.

4. Compare, Compare

So say you have narrowed down the lot to three different wines all in the US$15 category. What kinda bang are you getting for your cash? Will that Napa Cabernet varietal be as good of a value as an Argentine Malbec? While you could argue this requires an ounce of previous knowledge, generally speaking, many New World countries like Australia, Chile, Argentina and even Spanish wines tend to offer a better price/quality ratio than other places like California or France. Ok, please don’t shoot the Messenger! For the sake of this post, it is a generalization to help pick a wine blindly and quickly. I do realize there are many exceptions to this.

5. Buy Confidently

And now, the decision. You must take one! Like everything in life, once you decide the rest seems to unfold effortlessly. So once you have settled on that wine, go with it. Don’t get stuck on the fence and certainly don’t start second guessing on your way home. If you are taking the wine to a friend’s house for dinner, don’t hand your host/hostess the bottle with a wimpy, “Gee, I chose this by the label. Hope it tastes ok.” Hand it to him/her with confidence. You did your job, now let the wine reveal itself once its uncorked.

My experience in this has been that most times you will end up with a nice drink. A few times I have found some enlightening wine discoveries. And yes,  I have bombed or been disappointed. Those are few and far though. And honestly, the more I do it, the more comfortable I get with delving into the unknown and navigating by the label. Give it a whirl. If you would like to share your experiences with this, I love to hear about it.