For the French, wine labels are serious business. There is no country that imports more wine in bulk for blending with its own production than France, and we know that the French are better at writing strict laws in implementing them. They are very picky about how various wines and wine blends are labeled.

In general though, it seems, that the rest of Europe has stopped complaining about our tendency to americanize wine types. In any case, the producers of Tempranillo Bordeaux have not protested about the failure of some American winemakers to include the final" s "in the name of Sauternes.

However, other U.S. producers still take the old spelling seriously, and their labels always contain the letters”, which makes people wonder if the contents of the bottle are plural. Perhaps the Old World feels like Mark Twain, when he said he had no respect for anyone who only knows one way to spell a word.

From the perspective of the average wine buyer, the use of American winemakers' names, often makes more sense for European labels do. For example, U.S. wineries have grown tired labeling red sparkling "Sparkling Burgundy", while the white sparkling type is called Champagne. Now, by obtaining a simple change in federal regulations, "Sparkling Burgundy" is now synonymous with a new term: Red Champagne.

Another case is American Ports, all of which are at least sweet. But the Portuguese confuse the port name Port name by also selling “dry” Port and a “Pinotage” Port. Another sample is American Tokay (in no way related with the grape of the same name), a medium-sweet tawny-pink sweet dessert wine. The name has a meaning much clearer than the original Hungarian (written Tokaj), which can mean either red wine or white, dry or sweet, or in between.

The simplification work is far from over, however. To drive a vinter crazy, ask him to describe the flavor difference between America’s Rhine wine, Chablis, and Dry Sauterne. Perhaps even between Claret and Burgundy. In general, there is none.

As if the thousands of old wine-catagory names were not enough, a flood of entirely new ones hit the market starting in 1956. U.S. growers had suddenly got busy creating entirely new types of wine by adding non-grape flavored wines for the coke-and-apple pie tastes of modern Americans.

The coined names for these new wines, referring to birds, animals, and to anything but grapes or wine, resemble nothing ever before seen on a wine label anywhere. If their overnight success is any indication of the future, these new products may well remodel all old concepts of what constitutes wine.

The differences in wines, even tiny ones will continue to be reflected on wine bottle labels. Whether those labels make sense or not is another thing altogether. Keep the guide book handy, it maybe the only way to keep track of what is worth drinking…

About the Author: Allison Ryan is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She enjoys researching the history of viniculture, viticulture, and the origins of varietals such as Pinotage. For a wide selection of fantastic wines, check out Wineaccess.com/.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Everlasting Dispute Over Wine Labels

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