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One of the most baffling subjects that confronts the budding wine enthusiast is the deciphering of the myriad of information contained on the bottle label, especially that contained on wine bottles from European countries. Once the basic rules are taken on board it becomes a lot easier. Whereas most New Globe nations place particulars of the grape varieties on the front label, a lot of European regions do not, and as this is the most standard of data for taste purposes why is this the case?

European winemakers tend to place much more emphasis on the location of origin. For instance, a Bordeaux red usually wont say Cabernet or Merlot on the front label, but instead have the name of the chateau exactly where it was created, and generally the portion of Bordeaux exactly where it was produced, for instance Haut-Medoc. Similarly a Sancerre is absolutely Sauvignon Blanc, but an in depth evaluation of the label will leave you none the wiser. For the French the important element is that the wine comes from Sancerre in the Loire valley and for them it is inbred knowledge that white Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc.

Moving south to Spain, red Rioja declares itself as Rioja on the label, not Tempranillo the grape range used, while in Italy most Tuscan reds have no data on the Sangiovese grape that is most broadly employed in these wines. Given this mish-mash of data it is no wonder that a lot of of us head for that bottle with the label announcing it is a Chardonnay Viognier from the Ironstone Vineyard of California.

It is clear then that the Europeans think the most critical element influencing a wines character is the soil, climate and culture of the area where the grape is grown and this is particularly essential to single-vineyard wines who make the most of capturing the essence of a distinct location of land. So whereas a French winemaker will see his wine as reflecting the character of a distinct area, a New Globe winemaker mad about grape varieties will consider that soil is just the growing medium in which the fruit grows, and that the grape variety and challenging function in the winery are what really counts. Nowadays these two opposing approaches to wine labelling are moving closer with each other with New Globe producers emphasising their regionality and its characteristics, whilst European, even the parochial French winemakers possibly prompted by the wholesalers and the supermarkets are labelling their wines much more obviously. webaddress