Removal of varietal names from Alsace wine labels?

Interesting article from Decanter by Panos Kakaviatos;
http://www.decanter.com/news/286258.html

Salute

The lack of varietal labeling is probably the main reason that Australia is cleaning up in the USA volume wine market while France continues to lose ground. The Burgundians seem to have realized this and I've seen AOC Bourgogne labeled "pinot noir" or "chardonnay". It seems very odd that things are moving in the opposite direction in Alsace.

-Paul W.

Indeed eliminating the name of the varietal from the label would be catastrophic. A clear disservice to consumers as well as to the wineries. Aux barricades, mes amis, aux barricades!!!!

Best
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

It's not that things are actually moving in that direction, it's that one guy (Deiss) wants it to.

The proposals coming out of the INAO last year were more friendly towards varietal information whilst preserving the place based denominations for AOC wines. I sense that producer pressure has diluted a lot of the more sensible proposals but disallowing varietal information in Alsace would be really retrograde.

Deiss is widely regarded as an eccentric and I cannot believe that his views will prevail over those of the likes of Olivier Humbrecht and Laurence Faller.

Here’s another version of basically the same article. I find paragraphs five and six pretty interesting.

http://www.wine-business-international. ... forms.html

Salute

Somehow I think if Jean Trimbach says "no," it will stick.

So what has Deiss upset is that Burgundians get more for their grands crus than Alsatians. And making it more difficult for the consumer to tell what he is buying is supposed to help increase demand (and therefore price)?

No wonder the French are losing the worldwide wine market.

-Paul W.

The day that the AOC or INAO just becomes a marketing “tool” is the day I’m going to regret. The AOC or INAO was originally set up to guarantee consumers that a certain agricultural product is produced in a specific region or area (when it comes to wine this is why they are so hung up on the specific vineyard site) and the manufacturing of such a product is governed by strict and stringent rules and regulations. (Nothing more).
Out of all the French wine regions, Alsace was the easiest to learn, they included the grape variety on the label. So if they want to put more focus or attention on the specific vineyard site so be it, but (in smaller font characters anyway) the name of the grape variety should be included on the label.

Salute

So what has Deiss upset is that Burgundians get more for their grands crus than Alsatians. And making it more difficult for the consumer to tell what he is buying is supposed to help increase demand (and therefore price)?

I am a convinced terroirist but Deiss is so extreme as to be almost demented. He misses the point that everyone likely to buy a Burgundy grand cru knows that it is made from Pinot noir, if it is red, and from Chardonnay, if it is white; but I do not think that the Burgundians would lose a single cent in revenue if they mentioned the grape variety on the label or back label.

By contrast, the multiplicity of Alsatian varieties makes mention of the variety indispensable for mono-varietal cuvées, which are the vast majority. I know that Deiss is making varietal blends from his grand cru sites; I defend his right to do so if he is happy with the results but I see no reason why others should be obliged to imitate him. I am sure he will not win this one.

The day that the AOC or INAO just becomes a marketing “tool” is the day I’m going to regret.

Amen.

The quite sensible three tier proposals from the INAO about a year ago were more tolerant of mentioning varieties and seemed to reconcile terroir designation of top and middle market wines with greater commercial flexibility for mass market varietal blends. However, I fear that there has been a lot of backtracking under producer pressure.

A better approach would be a regulation calling for Alsatian wines to show the amount of residual sugar in each bottle. We've found over the years that's the main bitch about Alsatian wines with our customers is what is their sugar content?

A better approach would be a regulation calling for Alsatian wines to show the amount of residual sugar in each bottle. We've found over the years that's the main bitch about Alsatian wines with our customers is what is their sugar content?

I fully agree that is the priority. The Zind-Humbrecht "indice" scale purports to take account of subjective sweetness by taking account of the acid/sugar balance. The principle is great but the only problem is that the consumer needs a key to understand.
For some reason, few Alsatian producers seem prepared to follow.

Other regions, e.g. the Loire, have a similar problem.

Zind Humbrecht is best known in Alsace for giving an indication of sweetness, but IMO this is a much better way of communicating the information:

The big advantage over the ZH scheme is that you can see at a glance the bounds of the scale and what the scale refers to, despite it being very discrete. Might be even better if it said something like "1/4" by the arrow, so the perceived sweetness can be recorded in writing easier too. The producer is Sipp Mack.

Here’s an interesting article;
http://www.stylegourmet.com/wine/wlang002.htm

Salute

I do not think that the Burgundians would lose a single cent in revenue if they mentioned the grape variety on the label or back label.

In fact they are doing just that. I've seen a lot of Bourgogne these days labeled both "Appellation Bourgogne Controllee" and either "Pinot Noir" or "Chardonnay". I don't know if the regulations for villages, premier cru, and grand cru allow for varietal labeling, but if so I'd do it if I were a producer.

As you said, in Alsace, where you have several traditional varietal wines produced, each with a distinct flavor profile, the consumer needs varietal labeling to tell what you're buying.

Deiss can call his blended grands crus Edelzwicker if he wishes.

-Paul W.