A rosé by any other name ...

How do we “see through” wine labels bragging naming atrocities beyond average comprehension and begging universal convention to shed light to all?

[Picture of the Jolie-Pitt Provence wine Chateau Miraval]



Shouldn’t informing the buyer what to expect when he opens the bottle be the primary driver in determining what gets said on the label? Unfortunately NO, or not yet!  And so, ununified and varying languages, history, regulations and marketing strategies have ensured bewilderment amongst the masses for generations to come. Sigh!!

As if it isn't it bad enough to have to face a barrage of bottles in various shades of clear (pun intended), green and brown, we are then greeted by a kaleidoscope of labels bearing information of varying degrees of use (personally, I find the alcohol % to be of utmost importance).

Naming and classification conventions vary from country to country and oft even between same country wines from neighbouring areas. Understanding that wines historically develop within and for their local market allows us to forgive the specificity of information that is useless to most. The new world producers are not usually burdened with historical issues and have mostly chosen to label their wines in a way that would maximise sales potential. Hooray for the masses!!

Then there’s the hullabaloo over who calls what when and how on the wine labels. The French, via the EU, fight tooth and nail to reclaim exclusivity for names long lost to the new world wine producers. They say no one else should use “Champagne” or “Burgundy” or …….. this list really does go on and even covers brandies (e.g. Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados). Not far behind are the Portuguese with their "Port" and the Spanish with "Sherry". Sigh some more!! Can’t we all just get along?

I for one, am all for looking past the pretty (and some not so pretty) labels to try and understand what’s in the bottle. Fortunately, there’s pretty much only one sure way to do that. Cheers!!