Wine Labels Under attack by Brussels...!

Are government wine regulators somewhat akin to restaurant food critics, who feel it is their job to be critical of every restaurant they review? Do regulators feel they must foist obnoxious rules on the wine community or they are not doing the job they are paid to do? North America may have their neo-prohibitionists but it seems Europe has a whole gang of neo....(fill in your own blanks ).They feel
humanity must be saved form this harmful beverage that has been around for thousands of years. The latest outrageous proposal from Brussels will see dramatic changes to wine labels for wine produced in Europe. Calories? Does anyone really care? Does Sally turn to Harry and say look dear 'I know you don't really like this wine, but it has 20 calories less per serving'. When you buy your bacon do you check each label to see which one has the lowest fat content? What fat headed thinking is going on here? Perhaps beverages that have been around for more than 200 years should be exempt from this idiocy. Wine would certainly qualify. What about Sacramental wines? Will they be exempt? Forgive me Father, for I have Zinned. We made a mistake on the label. There are a whole lot more calories in that wine then what shows on the label. Does Father care? If this became mandatory in Canada, it would me a nightmare. Canada is bilingual and all product labels have to show both the English as well as the French versions. Then of course there are the huge costs associated with this folly. Wine is not a standardized product that is exactly the same each year. Variations will occur each vintage. Another needless cost for the consumer. I hope sanity will prevail and bumbling Brussels will back down from this bomb shell.

To Sniff or not to Sniff...Diacetyl in Your Wine!

Ah.. that wonderful process called malolactic fermentation (MLF) may be in trouble with health authorities. Grapes grown in cool climates typically produce high-acid wines. MLF was originally developed in Burgundy to smooth out and make their high acid Chardonnays more palatable. Lactic acid bacteria(LAB) convert tart malic acid into a softer lactic acid. However in warm grape growing regions in the "New World" such as California and Australia wines tend to be low-acid and when a wine maker employs MLF, magically Diacetyl turns up. Diacetyl is a chemical byproduct that produces the typical aroma of real butter, so prized by New World Chardonnay lovers. Producing this chemical cocktail with LAB
is not without risks and sometimes undesirable results show up. The Iowa State University's Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute has a good description of possible problems.
But it is Diacetyl itself that is potentially a health hazard. Ever heard of "popcorn lung"? It turns out that workers in popcorn factories are in danger of getting this condition. Bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung) is caused by exposure to Diacetyl. Currently the FDA is "carefully considering the safety and regulatory issues raised by the use of Diacetyl". Can't you just see it now? Compulsory warnings on the back of all Chardonnay labels stating that "sniffing this Chardonnay may cause more than just sniffles". Of course wine makers could skip the whole MLF process by just adding Bell's butter flavors to their wines.
It seems no matter how many wonderful health benefits wine bestows upon us mere mortal wine drinkers, some misguided bureaucrat has to justify his job by creating another ridiculous regulation. I guess we will never see a label stating that "drinking wine can help prevent tooth decay, gum disease and sore throats".
What next? Would not be surprised that British pubs and restaurants will soon be required to serve wine in glassware with etch marks indicating the "units" of alcohol. Why is everybody picking on wine? Is this a new form of creeping prohibition? Time to sign off and just enjoy another glass of the fruit of the vine.

What's in a Name (Wine Label)??

As you will notice, I have added "DogPile" in my sidebar. It is a handy little search engine bringing all the best search engines like Google, Ask,
Yahoo!search and MSN search, together in a nice little pile. Give it a try.
I am sure you have noticed that I like to keep up on the benefits of drinking wine. Before it was generally known that drinking red wine is good for you, I was merrily drinking wines and even putting up with the side effects of partaking of too much of a good thing. Now I can look back on that and think that I was actually doing myself some good. So type in "Red Wine Benefits" into the DogPile Search engine and watch a few items come up.

And soon France will be sporting some new labels. Hurting from reduced consumption at home and slumping sales abroad caused by competition from New World wines French vintners will be able to present their wines with a new "Vignobles de France" label. Ooh la la! If you can't beat them , join them. You can't please them all though. Vintners in the Languedoc-Roussilon region aren't too thrilled with this new development. After all they have been promoting their single varietal wines for some time now on the export markets and were already producing "vins de cepage" wines. Fortant, The pioneer brand of French varietal wine was the leader and has been producing varietal labeled wines since the 1980's.

Just to help the French out a little I have produced a label for them as shown above. Or how about that Fat Bastard? Be sure to visit Peter Mays' site to get a look at over 200 unusual labels, including the above Fat Bastard Chardonnay. Is it time for the French to put out a "Skinny Bastard" wine?

In New Zealand they are rejoicing over a new wine label agreement. Members of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) signed an agreement on wine Labels. The agreement establishes rules for the what may be allowed on labels regarding product name, country of origin and alcohol content. A small victory for Canada as well, in that to be able to use the term icewine on the label, the grapes must be frozen on the vine.

Meanwhile back on the ranch in the good old USA a new labeling requirement has vintners alarmed and questioning its sanity. A new federal proposal would see redesigned labels to warn consumers who are allergic to certain foods. For a take on one person's enlightened opinion on that, go to this site.

So many good things to put on a wine label, why not simply lump all the negative requirements under "Consumer Beware" with a federal website address where you can go and spend a half hour or so reading all the terrible things that can happen to you when you partake of the "Fruit of the Vine"