Wine knowledge is importantMany people staying away from European wines for the simple fact that European wine labels are difficult to understand. Most of the US wines labeled by grape variety, European wines is typically labeled by region of production. Two wine lovers have no ideas that while they are requesting Pouilly-Fuisse they are basically ordering wine made from 100% chardonnay grape. The European wine industry is struggling with an identity crisis. Imports to American wine market are down, partially due to the decline in the dollars value and the fact that Americans do not understand European wines. The California” grape glut “ pales to the overproduction of wine in Europe. The EU is planning to spend over 20 billion dollars to pay growers to rip out over a million acres of vines to curb the excess. For the adventurous consumer, the ones that want to learn about labels, overproduction offers a cornucopia of great wines at reasonable prices. So, wines from across is labeled by the place of origin. French Bordeaux is typically labeled by the chateau producing the wine or simply” Bordeaux AOC”for lesser quality wine. Italian and Spanish wines are labeled by the region as well. Names like Barolo, made from the Nebbiolo grape, Chianti, made form Sangiovese and Rioja mainly made from Tempranillo.It .It can be confusing and when it comes to German wines the confusion deepens even more with the terms like” Qualitswein mit Prodikat”. Because of this vast number of choices European wine exploration is much like a treasure hunt. You can sample a lot of rocks before you find a gem. If you are on a lookout for a gem I suggest you find a good wine shop and your chances of striking gold will improve dramatically. WINE COMPETITIONS There are at least 35 types of wines placed in front of you, each labeled with the number for you to decide whether it is worthy of an award. The only information is given to the testers is the grape variety and the vintage. If you repeat this scenario tree-four time daily for four days, trust me you will spit out all the wine, even the good ones! Major wine completions require panels of four or five judges to evaluate over a hundred wines each day giving the best medals of gold silver or bronze. In US, each year over 400 wines are submitted to the California State Fair of which only a few hundreds will receive medals. Judges are wine professionals who must pass a rigorous all day test involving the identification of wine quality, faults and varietals. The competitions are exhausting but one that everyone enjoys. Wineries submit wine to these competitions hoping to gain the marketing advantage a medal brings. In a wine industry there is a saying “gold means sold!”.A medal winning wine must be free of faults, balanced and typical for the varietals. A gold medal tells the consumer that the judges felt the wine was exceptional. Silver is given to very good wine lacking the completeness of gold quality. Bronze indicates an enjoyable wine, free of faults but without complexity. A medal is no guarantee that you will like a wine but you will know that someone did. Cheers! Life is a Matter of Taste!
© Copyright: Бэлла 2, 2010.
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