How do you read wine dates?

If there is no expiration date listed, then check the vintage date. The vintage date is the year that the grapes were harvested for that particular bottle. If you have a bottle of red wine, add 2 years. For white wine, add 1 year, and for the Fine wine:10-20 years.

What do dates on wine bottles mean?

Dear Sean, You are correct that the date on the bottle of wine is the year that the wine grapes were harvested, otherwise known as the vintage. Some wines are made very quickly and released within weeks or months from the time the grapes were picked.

What does L and a date mean on a wine bottle?

The two most common coding systems start with an “L” printed on the back label along with a 4 or 5 digit number. In the 4 digit code, the first digit after the “L” indicates the year followed by the day of the year the Sherry was bottled.

How do I know if my wine bottle is expired?

Check the Vintage Year If there’s no expiration date, the vintage date is the next best thing. This is the year emblazoned on the wine label and lets you know what year the grapes were harvested for that particular bottle. If you have this date handy, you can estimate the expiration date easily.

How do you read a wine bottle?

The mandatory sentences on wine labels

1. A brand name.
2. Indication of class or type (table wine, dessert wine, or sparkling wine)
3. The percentage of alcohol by volume (unless it’s implicit — for example, the statement table wine implies an alcohol content of less than 14 percent)
4. Name and location of the bottler.

Where is the printed date on wine?

These wines are not meant to be aged. Check the label for a date first. Look at the front label and then the back label to see if you can find the date. It will usually just be a year, such as 1998 or 2014.

Do bottles of wine have a sell by date?

Unopened wine can be consumed past its printed expiration date if it smells and tastes OK. Red wine: 2–3 years past the printed expiration date. Cooking wine: 3–5 years past the printed expiration date. Fine wine: 10–20 years, stored properly in a wine cellar.

Do wines have best before dates?

A bottle of white wine will be fine for 1 – 2 years after the best before. Bottled red wine will last for 2 – 3 years after the best before. As ever, the best approach is to look, smell and taste the wine to assess whether you want to drink it or not. It is safe to consume well after the printed best before date.

How long is a bottle of wine good for?

If you were responsible enough to remember these precautions before you hit the hay, a bottle of red or white wine can last approximately between two and five days.

What is the year on the wine bottle?

vintage
The year on a wine bottle refers to the year in which the grapes were harvested, ie the year of vintage or the vintage year.

What does the year on wine mean?

A wine’s vintage represents the year in which the grapes that were used to make that wine were grown and harvested. It doesn’t have anything to do with the year the wine finally comes to the market, but instead the year the ingredients in the bottle were grown.