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+--- Thread: Shellgame (/thread-12692.html)
- hotwine - 08-08-2004
I don't know about you folks, but I'm encountering more business practices every day among some people in the wine trade that appear sleazy. Dishonest. Deceptive. I'm talking about using words like "estate bottled" on a wine label for juice that was purchased from another producer. Or "vinified by" as a euphemism for a wine that was produced from purchased grapes. Or giving a wine a varietal name when a full 25% is swill from some underdeveloped country. Or some salesman hawking "limited releases" that are really plonk with fancy labels. We need a scorecard!
- Innkeeper - 08-08-2004
Foodie is more of an expert on this stuff than moi, but has been trying to teach me. As I understand it "estate bottled" does not mean the same as "estate grown." "Vinified by" means nothing. As far as varietal content, it varies from state to state and country to country. In California it has to be 75% varietal, but the appelation has to be 100%. So if it is a Napa Valley wine, all the grapes have to come from Napa Valley even if 25% of them are of a different variety.
The bottom line, to add to rant, is that it is ridiculous to have be a detective to figure out how what is in the bottle got there.
- Thomas - 08-08-2004
Hotsie,
Some wineries probably cheat, but not many. But the stuff you speak of is allowed by federal regulation.
Esate Grown and Estate Bottled is confusing but they should be essentially the same thing: only can use the words on a label if the grapes were grown and the wine was produced by the same people who own the vineyard and the winery.
According to federal regulations, "Vinified By" "Vinted By" generally mean the wine was bought as bulk and then bottled by the one who holds the license, which doesn't even have to have a winery facility.
"Cellared By" is about as meaningless and, I think, the wine can be bought already bottled.
According to federal regulatiuons, any winery in the USA can put the grape variety name on the label so long as the wine includes 75% of that grape variety and 25% of whatever it wants to blend in.
According to federal regulations, an appellation on a label reflects that 100% of the grapes in that wine were grown in the label-specified region.
IK, generally, the states have little influence on wine regulations, other than taxes, shipping and that sort of intervention. Federal regs take precedence.
My personal caveat: I have been away from these regs for some time now, and they could be slightly altered, but not by much.
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 08-08-2004).]