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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, specially that contained on wine bottles from European countries. As soon as the fundamental guidelines are taken on board it becomes a lot simpler. 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 fundamental of information for taste purposes why is this the case?

European winemakers tend to place far more emphasis on the place of origin. For instance, a Bordeaux red usually wont say Cabernet or Merlot on the front label, but rather have the name of the chateau where it was created, and generally the element of Bordeaux exactly where it was made, for example Haut-Medoc. Similarly a Sancerre is completely Sauvignon Blanc, but an in depth analysis of the label will leave you none the wiser. 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, while in Italy most Tuscan reds have no data on the Sangiovese grape that is most widely utilized in these wines. Provided this mish-mash of information it is no wonder that many 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 crucial element influencing a wines character is the soil, climate and culture of the area exactly where the grape is grown and this is specifically critical to single-vineyard wines who make the most of capturing the essence of a particular region of land. So whereas a French winemaker will see his wine as reflecting the character of a distinct region, a New Globe winemaker mad about grape varieties will contemplate that soil is just the developing medium in which the fruit grows, and that the grape selection and difficult perform in the winery are what really counts. These days these two opposing approaches to wine labelling are moving closer together with New Planet 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 a lot more clearly. analyze flexible packaging machinery