Label of the Land, by Morrie Sinclaire

Let's be honest, most people only view a wine bottle's label to try and aesthetically judge if the wine will be nice to drink. Pictures of vineyard, fancy writing, glossy paper, they all influence the decision to spend money.

While judgments based on appearance alone are fraught with danger, it can also be daunting to try and understand the detail some wine labels supply, particularly traditional French and German labels. However rather than to daunt, the reason for all the information has been to meet consumer demand to know precisely what they are drinking.

The first method of wine identification was unsurprisingly chalk markings on clay Amphoras (an early clay pot). These were found on jars of wine dated as being from 1352 BC. Amphoras would be frequently refilled and so markings were needed to help identify which pot held wine from where, a bit like marking the region of a wine's production. This might sound rudimental but it is the basis for all wine labels.

The region of a wine's production is needed to help with, among other things, expectations on taste. A wine heralded as being from Chablis will taste differently to one from Petit Chablis, and even more so to one from Meursault. While all these areas make wine with the Chardonnay grape, each regional town uses their own vineyards and local winemaking techniques so the wine tastes different.

Of course while the competence of the winemaker plays its part...

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This artcile appears courtesy of Morrie Sinclaire.