However, the English/American labeling “Reserve” has no legal significance whatsoever and it might mean anything that the winery, or the winery’s PR firm, wants it to mean–a special seasonal grape variety or blend; a limited run; a kind of wine that the proprietor happens to particularly like and, thus, wishes to sell for a higher price to reflect its value; and so on and so forth.

Traditionally, reserve wine has been set aside, or “reserved”, by the vintner to serve on more special occasions or to special guests, as it is definitely regarded as a higher quality and/or limited quantity wine.

So, when Jesus turned the water into wine at the Cana Wedding Feast, it wasn’t his miracle transformation that the people appreciated so much–it was the fact that he brought out the reserves early!

Especially if you are looking at some fat bastard of an English wine, or a cherry wine from Michigan or a Zinfandel from the Napa Valley, what should you really check to see if you have found, or want to find, some wine that is a “reserve” wine? Well, to begin with, any vineyard in a grape-growing region that has a reputation for a better climate and/or better soil than average for growing wine harvest grapes is always going to charge a higher price for its wines–and that means for you that the wine shop is laying out more money for it, and thus you are going to, too. But, you aren’t necessarily getting a “reserve” wine and you may be disappointed in the taste once you’ve laid down your premium buckage (but then again, you may love it and feel you got a bargain).

For true reserve wines, it’s common for relatively small, new-oak barrels to be used in the aging process. This gives a wine more and richer overtones of flavor. This also means that a reserve wine making vintner will need to purchase more new oak barrels each year. This will increase their costs, and they will pass on these costs to you.

As with most things of higher quality, reserve wines take longer to make. They are aged longer than wines of a lesser god, and the whole process of grape cultivation and fermentation takes longer and requires more care and considerations, too. These extra, more labor intensive steps in the process and the longer storage times mean the vintner endures more costs and less immediate cash flow for making them. As you might have guessed, this means extra costs passed on to you.

Hand picking of grapes to be used in reserve wines is far more common than for other wines. Hand picking makes “perfect” selection of that day’s just-right grapes possible. And, as you have probably guessed, this is more expensive for the vintner, and those costs will be passed on to you in the price of the finished bottled wine.

Reserve wines are produced in small quantities, yet they are the most sought after wines in general, especially by restaurants. This, in addition to the other factors involved in their making, drives up their price even more.

The bottom line is that reserve wines cost you more money–sometimes, a lot more money. But if you truly have a palate that is sensitive to taste and you’re a true wine lover with experience in drinking this amazing beverage, the extra money should be well worth it to you.