Last year numerous people were talking or writing about the necessity of knowing what’s in a wine bottle. We visited one winery that noted the harvest date, pH, TA and Brix level on the label. We asked how many people asked what TA (Total Acidity) meant. The staff member noted that we were the first to ever mention TA. At least three different reactions to this include: 1) People in a tasting room do not want to embarrass themselves by indicating their lack of knowledge 2) People know what TA is and don’t need to ask or 3) People do not care they just want to taste the wine.

In my opinion, visitors to tasting rooms are looking for a great experience not reading the details. Wine lovers are concerned about the quality of the wine and perhaps want to know where the grapes for the wine were sourced.

Numerous wine enthusiasts are aware that designations for wines are dependent on where the grapes are grown. Many designations also include what grape varietals may be used in the wine. Some of the designations include AVA, IGT, DOC, DOCG, DOK and AOC.

These designations do not necessarily refer to quality but rather to where the grapes are sourced and percentage of varietal grapes in the wine. Wines produced in Napa Valley from Napa Valley grapes will be labeled with Napa. Other countries have similar regulations. For the most part, wines from Napa Valley will be more expensive because of the Napa label. So what happens if unscrupulous people produce a wine with grapes sourced from areas outside of the designated area and purposely mislabel the wines? Wine buyers and enthusiasts are duped into buying a wine thinking it’s one thing but getting something else.

In the past this has occurred with the mixing of wine grapes from different regions. Each time it is discovered there is big uproar and then penalties are assigned to those who are perpetrated the fraud. It seems that wineries would know that with the technology available today, eventually they are likely to be caught and suffer terrible publicity. But the fraud never stops completely.

A recent news article notes that two DOK wines from a Republic of Malta winery were tested and found to have been produced with Italian grapes. The article is available at http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Delicata-wines-investigated-over-alleged-use-of-Italian-grapes-in-Maltese-DOK-wine-20120409 .

Several questions come to mind. Do the wines taste as good as they should? Do the wines cost less because they have been compromised? Buyers should never be misled about what they are buying with their hard earned money.

I believe that the wine industry and wine lovers should be more concerned with the accuracy of the current labels and designations rather than adding details that wine enthusiasts may not care about. For those wine drinkers who do want the technical details of the wine, a link to that information should be made available.

Cheers! Kathy