SOME WORDS ON WINE labels, such as “Chardonnay” or “Sonoma,” have real meaning and convey specific and genuinely useful information. Others, such as “Private Reserve” or “Hand Selected Lots,” do not. In fact, in the U.S., to label a wine as “Private Reserve” or assert that it’s produced from selected lots, a winemaker—or marketer—is required by law to do nothing more than say that it is.
Words do have selling power, of course. Take the Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, created by the late Jess Jackson in 1982....