. One particular of the most baffling subjects that confronts the budding wine enthusiast is the deciphering of the myriad of info contained on the bottle label, particularly that contained on wine bottles from European nations article . Once the fundamental guidelines are taken on board it becomes a lot simpler. Whereas most New Globe countries put particulars of the grape varieties on the front label, a lot of European regions do not, and as this is the most standard of details for taste purposes why is this the case?
European winemakers tend to place a lot more emphasis on the spot of origin. For instance, a Bordeaux red normally wont say Cabernet or Merlot on the front label, but as an alternative have the name of the chateau exactly where it was created, and usually the element of Bordeaux where it was produced, for example Haut-Medoc. Similarly a Sancerre is entirely Sauvignon Blanc, but an in depth analysis of the label will leave you none the wiser look into epi labelers company . For the French the crucial 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 utilised, whilst in Italy most Tuscan reds have no details 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 important element influencing a wines character is the soil, climate and culture of the location where the grape is grown and this is specifically crucial to single-vineyard wines who make the most of capturing the essence of a specific location of land. So whereas a French winemaker will see his wine as reflecting the character of a specific region, a New World winemaker mad about grape varieties will think about that soil is just the growing medium in which the fruit grows, and that the grape variety and tough function in the winery are what genuinely counts the link . Right now these two opposing approaches to wine labelling are moving closer with each other with New World producers emphasising their regionality and its characteristics, while European, even the parochial French winemakers possibly prompted by the wholesalers and the supermarkets are labelling their wines far more clearly.