Hardmeyer - City Magazine

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"Then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like
a stone, for the times, they are a changing.”
Yes, the times are changing in many
respects. Oh, honestly, this is not a big
one in the overall big picture. However,
to many wine lovers this evolving change is long
overdue.
There are style differences between American
and European wines; there are also other big
differences, one in particular. When looking at
a label, the American version will tell you what
grape the wine is made from and the French
version will tell you the region where the grapes
are grown. It is one of those “centuries-old
traditions” in wine that in the U.S. we luckily
headed off at the pass and said “no.”
After centuries of winemaking in France, they
have determined that certain kinds of grapes grow
best only in certain regions. Great.
Then they went a step further. The
government then basically made it illegal to grow
any grapes in that region other than the chosen
variety. (When I say “basically,” I mean that you
can grow those “other” grapes, but have to label
it as plonk. Oh, and “plonk” is not a good label to
have.)
In the U.S., when you pick up a “Chardonnay,”
you know that the wine is made with at least
75 percent of that grape. If you pick up a white
Bordeaux, what kind of grape makes the wine?
Well, you won’t get a Chardonnay from
Bordeaux because the only white grapes allowed
are Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. If it is a white
Burgundy, it is a Chardonnay. No Sauvignon
Blanc allowed.
The same thing goes if it is a French Chablis.
(Different than a Burgundy, but the same grape.)
A few more examples: In Bordeaux, the red
grapes basically can only be Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.
You can’t tell that on the label.
In Burgundy, the red grape of choice is Pinot
Noir. The Rhone region features many, including
By Joel Gilbertson
- Bob Dylan
Grenache and Syrah on the red side and Viognier
and Rousanne on the white side.
After years of many people standing in wine
shops and scratching their heads while looking at
wine labels, things are finally changing a bit, and I
think “we” are winning.
Many of the Italian wines now show the grape
variety and, shucks, even the French are slowly
labeling some wines by the grapes that made
them, rather than just the region. Change is slow
but, in the wine business, as in many others, “The
times they are a changing.”
So, take a look at a French label, scratch your
head, contemplate–and taste away!
24 thecitymag.com