Understanding
Wine Labels (Part 5)
VARIETAL
LABELS
Wines
named for the primary grape variety from
which they are made are known as varietal wines. Varietal
labeling began as a way for quality California producers
to get away from generic
labeling and
still give credence to their efforts to create wines that
would compete in quality with the finest in the
world.
A TASTE OF AMERICAN
WINE MARKETING HISTORY
For the two decades following American
Prohibition,
most of the wine made in the United States was dessert
wine, fortified by the addition of distilled alcohol to
increase its strength. The majority of wine grape
vineyards had been replanted to grape types that ship
well (to supply the still-legal "home winemaking" demand)
and the best vinifera types were scarce. The demand for
fine table wine could be readily supplied by European
imports. American table wine, made from the best wine
grapes, was a rare find in the 1930s and 40s.
Many
American soldiers returning from World War II had been
introduced to fine wine in Europe. Demand began to
increase. Table wines from serious American producers
attempting to enter the market had no track record to
speak of and there was little basis or support for
geographic appellations. The labeling choices were to
either emulate the Europeans (generic) or work to
establish their own identities, through either
proprietary
labeling or
varietal labeling.
Frank Schoonmaker, a
prominent and influential wine writer who later became an
importer and merchant, despised and condemned generic
labeling in the 1950s and 60s. As an alternative,
inspired by Alsatian wines, he promoted the idea of
varietal labeling. Almaden Winery hired Schoonmaker as a
consultant. In this capacity he was responsible for
introducing and promoting Grenache Rosé in the
market. It became one of Almaden's first, most popular,
and longest-lived product successes.
The
idea of varietal labels began to catch on with the public
in the "wine boom" of the 1970s. During the 1980s,
low-priced Chardonnay, White Zinfandel, and Cabernet
Sauvignon became known as (improperly1) "The Fighting Varietals" which waged an
economic war on the generic wines. The consumer embraced the
varietal nomenclature, as much simpler and easier to
remember and identify: a dozen or two grape types versus
thousands of geographic appellations and vineyards. By
the mid-1990s, "Merlot" and "Chardonnay" replaced
California "Burgundy" and "Chablis," as the respective
consumer buzzwords for red wine and white wine. Generic
labels have virtually disappeared from the wine
marketplace.
Varietal labeling is
also the predominant method of identifying wine types in
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Argentina,
and most all other wine-producing countries of the New
World.
THE FRENCH TAKE
VIGOROUS EXCEPTION
The Appellation
Controleé
system of wine identification is the bread-and-butter of
French wine. The whole premise of AC is that
terroir, the site selection and ecology of the
vineyard has more to do with the flavor and character of
the wine than does which grape variety is used. The
regulatory agency INAO has always strongly discouraged
any label references to grape variety and publicly stated
in the 1990s that they planned to eventually eliminate
any varietal labeling of AC wines, even those of Alsace,
where varietal labeling was practically
invented.
Mixed vine varieties
exist in many vineyards throughout France. The historical
tendency to use aliases and local names for types adds to
the confusion. Repeated anecdotal episodes that indicate
the superiority of certain vineyards, relative to
neighboring ones, makes wine lovers question, "Why?" The
growers offer a self-serving and simplistic logic. Where
both vineyard treatments and wine making methods are
similar, climate identical, grapes not distinguishably
different, it must, by default, be the vineyard and
therefore, the soil. The concept of terroir seems
to justify commercial variations without explaining or
even allowing inquiry into scientific ones.
Advances in
ampelography, using techniques such as DNA
"fingerprinting", have greatly improved the ability to
distinguish between and identify grapevine species and
clones. This should lead to improvements in both
selection and verification of varieties throughout the
wine growing world.
The community of
growers and regional marketers have overly-emphasized the contribution of soil
composition as a factor to wine flavor, often presenting it a paramount when it is merely contributory. There
are even attempts to equate flavors with soil types: chalky
taste from chalky soil, flinty flavor from flinty soil,
etc. This traditional view began centuries before Pasteur explained the science of fermentation and the awareness of, let alone the ability to recognize and differentiate grape variety was in its infancy.
Soil composition impacts the smell and taste of wine far less than grape variety and probably less than many processes and decisions of wine making, such as fruit processing and yeast selection. It
is not the mineral content of soil that influences wine
flavor so much as a particular soil's capacity for water
retention and drainage and, moreover, how the grower uses
that knowledge to manage the quantity and timing of
getting water to the vines.
Ongoing research in
Australia, California, and Europe points to varietal
(and clonal) selection as the prime flavor factors in grapes and wine.
THE
LEGALITIES
According to the Federal labeling laws set by the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, a wine must be made
from a minimum of 75% of a particular grape variety to
use that grape name on the wine. The wine must also
qualify for and use an approved appellation of origin,
whether foreign or one of the American
Viticultural
Appellations.
The minimum content
requirement was increased in 1973, from 51% to 75%
varietal content. This change has been a mixed blessing
for both consumers and producers. Are wines that have
more varietal authenticity also better tasting? On one
hand, the change dictates increased purity in wines made
from delicate-flavored grape varieties like Chardonnay.
On the other, this somewhat ties the hands of wine makers
who excel at blending as a method to render more complex
wines. This restriction has led to the creation of
Proprietary
branding, such as used by the Meritage
Associates cooperative and on the individual labels of
the "Rhône Rangers."
There is a very large
list of varietal grape names of which the BATF approves
for use on wine labels, although many are yet to attain
commercial significance. Some semi-varietal names or
names with seemingly varietal significance have had their
credentials pulled and will no longer be seen on wines
produced in America.
|
Popular
Name- |
-Last
Date *Legal
to Bottle/Use- |
-Legal
Replacement Name |
|
Pineau
de la Loire |
January
1, 1997 |
Chenin
blanc |
|
Pinot
Chardonnay |
January
1, 1997 |
Chardonnay |
|
Grey
Riesling |
January
1, 1999 |
Trousseau
Gris |
|
Muscat
Frontignan |
January
1, 1999 |
Muscat
Blanc |
|
Muscat
Pantelleria |
January
1, 1999 |
Muscat of
Alexandria |
|
Napa
Gamay |
January
1, 1999 |
Valdiguié |
|
Pinot
Saint George |
January
1, 1999 |
Négrette |
|
Sauvignon
Vert |
January
1, 1999 |
Muscadelle |
Johannisberg
Riesling |
*January
1, 2006 |
White Riesling
or Riesling |
*Legalities change: for example, the change to Riesling was originally supposed to be implemented on 1/1/1999 and just the other day (it's now 2008), I drank a bottle of wine from a California producer labeled "Johannisberg Riesling 2006".
|
"Gamay
Beaujolais" has been confusing to the public for a long
time. While the couplet is easy for non-French-speaking
Americans to pronounce and seems both poetic and
romantic, there is no wine grape variety by this name.
The grape required by the French AC to be grown in the
Beaujolais region is the Gamay Noir variety.
Ampelographers have
determined that the variety grown in California and
thought previously to be Gamay Noir is actually
Valdiguié. Adding to the mire, clones of
Pinot Noir that produced light-flavored fruit were
formerly allowed, in California, to be labeled "Gamay
Beaujolais".
Although given an
extension for the present, no wines bearing the name
"Gamay Beaujolais" may be bottled after April 9, 2007.
Until that time, the name may be used, but only if the
wine is made from at least 75% Pinot Noir and/or
Valdiguié grapes and a statement to this effect
must also be printed on either the front or back
label.
THE FUTURE OF WINE
LABELING
Worldwide trends in wine labeling are taking two
directions simultaneously. One is toward more "branding"
of appellations, wine producing estates, and vineyard
names. This method protects the exclusivity of the
producers, favors pricing limited only by demand, and
requires more knowledge and awareness on the part of the
consumer.
The other direction
points toward increased use of varietal labeling. This
makes for more competition among brands, popular pricing,
and greater appeal to a generally less knowledgeable
consumer. Both methods will probably continue to grow in
usage and, in time, may eventually meld so that all wine
labels will then reveal both the vineyard location and
the grape varieties used.
Jim
LaMar
NOTES
1. Preferred use of the word "varietal" is as an adjective (examples throughout this article); although popular usage of the word as a noun began circa 1983-85, this usage should only refer to qualified wine, never to grapes. The noun "variety" should always be used to reference grapes; e.g., In the market place, varietals often compete with proprietary blends, made from mixed varieties. BACK
