This $20 cabernet has quality written on the label

Knowing a little about how wine labels are regulated can help crack the wine price code. Take this wine, for instance, where two innocuous label statements suggest that the wine is likely a superior product.

The first quality indicator is known as a “single vineyard designation.” Single vineyard wines tend to be given the best handling, the best barrels, and the most attention from the winemaker because the finest wines have been named for their smallest possible region of origin down to the vineyard level for centuries. This concept is also baked into every nation’s wine regulations. Wines that name their vineyards are subject to stricter standards, so it’s only worth doing for vineyards whose quality potential can command higher prices.

The second quality indicator here is another regulated statement: “estate grown.” Wineries may not call their wines estate grown or estate bottled unless they own the land on which the grapes were grown. This is an important quality factor since most wineries do not own enough land to grow all of their own grapes and independent growers are not incentivized to take every possible step to improve quality.

» READ MORE: Tequila barrels give this sauvignon blanc its signature zip

These factors help explain why this wine, from a famous vineyard planted in the 1880s, tastes so good for the price and has such a long, resonant finish. Deep, dark flavors of chocolate-covered cherries are accented with subtle barrel notes of vanilla and espresso.

$19.99; 14% alcohol

PLCB Item #1477

Sale price through Jan. 1, 2023 – regularly $25.99

Also available at:

Canal’s in Mt. Ephraim, N.J., - $21.99

Traino’s Wine & Spirits in Mt. Laurel, N.J. and Voorhees, N.J. - $24.99

Total Wine & More in Wilmington, Del., and Claymont, Del. - $25.99