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Understanding
Wine Labels (Part 3)
GENERIC LABELS
Wines
named after their color or after famous wine
places in Europe are known as generic wines. This
category is virtually nonexistent outside the United
States. Although these designations are increasingly
falling into disuse even here, this category has an
interesting history.
Commercial
demand for French wines gave rise to a system of appellations
long before any specified or enforced regulations. As non-French regions
began emulating the most famous and successful French wines, they
also began appropriating the names of the best French vineyards. Although
not alone, California has been especially guilty of this, partly because
of the influx of European émigrés during the California
Gold Rush of the 1850s.
Some
of these immigrants brought vine cuttings from their home vineyards
in Europe with them to California. When they turned from prospecting
to winemaking, they had no local reference or government agency to
guide them, so they called the wines after their ancestral homelands.
Eventually,
use of these knockoff wine names, which had little to do with the
originals, was continued out of sheer economic envy and a desire for
consumer recognition. The copies almost never followed the varietal
requirements, viticultural methods, production limits, nor winemaking
techniques of the originals.
This
chart shows each of the most popular European Appellations (followed
by the English or American generic term). Generics became accepted
wine terms following many decades of, and to the citizens and purveyors
of the originals, irritatingly tiresome, usage in the American market.
The number of planted acres and the approved or traditional grape
varieties are also noted.
| Country |
Appellation
(Generic
Term) |
Acres |
Grape Varietals
(legally
approved or traditional) |
| France |
Bordeaux (Claret) |
247,000 |
RED: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet
Franc, Carmenère, Merlot, Malbec, Petite Verdot, Gros
Verdot |
| France |
Sauternes (Haut
Sauterne)
*genuine always ends in "s" |
40,000 |
WHITE: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc,
Muscadelle |
| France |
Bourgogne (Burgundy) |
12,350 |
RED: Pinot Noir
WHITE: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc |
| France |
Chablis (Chablis) |
2,470 |
WHITE: Chardonnay |
| France |
Champagne (Champagne) |
68,000 |
RED: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
WHITE: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc |
| Germany |
Rhein (Rhine)
/ Mosel (Moselle) |
46,300 |
WHITE: White Riesling |
| Italy |
Chianti (Chianti) |
?? |
RED: Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Colorino
(traditional)
WHITE: Trebbiano (traditional) |
| Spain |
Jerez (Sherry) |
32,000 |
WHITE: Palomino |
| Portugal |
Oporto (Port) |
81,500 |
RED: Touriga Nacional, Tinta
Barroca, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz (a.k.a. Temperanillo),
Tintà Cào, Souzào,
Tinta Amarela, Mourisco (traditional) |
California's
"Burgundy", "Chablis", "Rhine", or "Champagne" were the most popular
labels on vast majority of the Golden State's wines throughout most
of the 20th Century. Although some wineries began extending their product
lines using grape variety names on labels in the 1950s, it wasn't until
the mid-1980s, that varietals began to overtake and replace generics
by consumer demand.
The
only remaining entrenched generic is the one that most galls the Gauls:
"Champagne". This is one of the ironies of wine marketing. The French,
producers of true Champagne, have historically done such an outstanding
job promoting their beverage for celebrations that no American bride
will even consider leaving bubbles out of her wedding reception, although
few fathers of the bride 1"pop"
for the real thing without some reluctance.
Two
primary factors have led to the overall gradual decline of generic
labeling on American wines. Increased consumer demand for varietals
is first and foremost. The general public understands and relates
fairly easily to the flavor profile of varietal grape types. It is
much more of a challenge for them to understand, let alone remember,
the flavors of appellations. Generic flavor profiles are completely
unreliable and even a P.T. Barnum would have difficulty selling generic
wines in this millennium.
The
other factor is the expansion of the commercial wine trade throughout
the world. While some wine references soft pedal the use of generic
labeling as a form of "tribute", the essence of the practice is fraud,
using efforts of others and traditions to which the perpetrators are
not entitled, in order to gain commercial advantage. Wine producers
need to respect the unique traditions and practices of wine-producing
countries, for these are not simply competitors, they are also, more
often than not, wine-consuming countries and therefore potential export
markets.
In
2006, a trade agreement was reached between the U.S. and the European
Union that generic labels will not be allowed on future wine and food
products made in the U.S. (although those with long history will be
"grandfathered" until the producers accept their folly and
conform on their own).
Jim
LaMar
NOTES
1The author is not
too shy to point out that a triple-entendre
is the literary equivalent of a hole-in-one... (pop
= slang for "spend", for "father", and for the sound
of cork removal) BACK
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