Herederos del Marques de Riscal 2000 Rioja

This can be a very intimidating wine label, mainly because there's so much information and because it appears to have two front labels. In this case the top label is the one that will give you all the information.

Herederos del Marques de Riscal — This is the Spanish producer of the wine, and as always is serving as a kind of brand name for the bottle.

Rioja — Unlike the other labels, this wine is designated by the growing region instead of by the type of grape. This makes it a much more traditional European wine label.

DOCa — The DenominaciÓn de Origen Calificada label indicates this Rioja wine has met Spanish regulations designating geographic origin, grape varieties, vine-growing and wine-making methods. Only wines grown in two regions, Rioja and Priorat, meet the DOCa regulation, which is higher than the standard Spanish DO regulation.

Reserva — While this term has no universal definition across different vineyards, it usually indicates that it is one of the producer's best wines.

2000 — The bottle is labeled with the year letting you know that the majority of the grapes in this bottle were grown and harvested in 2000.

Product of Spain — This indicates the wine's country of origin since it will be sold outside of Spain.

Red Rioja Wine — Many wines that are labeled by region instead of by grape varietal are then labeled with the type of wine—red, white, sparkling, etc.

Alcohol Content & Volume — This wine has 13 percent alcohol by volume and is a standard 750-milliliter bottle.

Secondary Label — This wine is unique because of the secondary label on the front of the bottle. What this label tells you is that the vineyard that produces this wine does so using the Bordeaux method and is regulated by those standards. The bottom label also provides the information on who imports the wine.