You may not be able to tell a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot about a wine by the label on the bottle. Wine is one of the few products among those we eat and drink that we can trace directly to its source. That’s one purpose of the label.

Under American law, a wine label must identify the country it came from, the alcoholic strength, and the bottle volume. It also should include who selected, produced, or distributed the wine and the grape variety. California law requires the name and address of the bottler.

European wines tend to get still more specific: listing not only country or region of origin but also the estate of origin. The more specific, presumably the better the quality. Many labels also include an indication of dryness or sweetness.

Once a label meets legal requirements, producers look for ways to make their labels attract attention. That’s why you see labels, especially from New World producers (U.S, Australia, Chile), bearing pictures of animals, cartoon characters, or catchy titles in big letters. Old World producers still tend to use more stately traditional labels but are beginning to liven up the visual impact.

So it pays to look carefully at a label. It may tell you a lot about the wine inside. Watch the video to see some label language.