It pays to change

Jun 26 2009 by Helen Savage, The Journal

ON August 1, Europe will change the way its wine is labelled. In France, for example, vin de pays will cease to exist.

It will become wine of “protected geographical indication”, which is magnificently clumsy Euro-speak for “wine which really is what it says on the label”. So the next vintage of my wine of the week, La Différence Carignan, will no longer be sold as “Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes”, but as “Pays des Côtes Catalanes” – in big letters – with “Indication Géographique Protegée” in much smaller wording underneath.

This may sound horribly complicated, but it will put former vin de pays on a level footing with aristocratic “appellation contrôlée” wines such as Bordeaux, Chablis and Sancerre, which are already made under the same rules, designed to protect the integrity of local produce.

I suspect that most consumers won’t notice much difference. Few of us stare at the small print. Brand names won’t change and a clear indication of a grape variety – the appeal of most vin de pays – will still dominate the label. Far more important, the quality of wines in this category, which account for most of the southern French wines on the supermarket shelves (as well as a few from farther north), is getting better, almost with each new vintage.

Wines that are blended from different regions will be sold as “Wine of France” (thank goodness something’s simple!) Their producers will be free to show grape varieties and vintage dates on the label – unlike the “Vin de Table” that they will largely replace. This should enable them to compete more effectively with the big-brand wines from Australia, South Africa and the Americas.