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Change is coming to the US wine industry

Boony Doon Vineyards, known for excellent wines, quirky branding, and for using the screw top closure, will be listing ingredients on their labels starting in 2008. The list will include grapes used in the wine and any additional ingredients used in production.

The 2007 Ca’ del Solo Albariño and 2007 Ca’ del Solo Muscat scheduled for a February 2008 release will feature an ingredients list on the label.

What could be the complaint against listing ingredients on a wine label? There are two that I can figure, one is tradition the other is esthetics.

Just as the move away from cork closures is economically attractive, it challenges the traditional ideals of wine. Between 5% and 10% of wine is lost every year due to bad corks. If you've ever opened a corked bottle, you know what I mean. Screw tops are convenient for the purchaser, and save money for the vintner. As cork becomes more expensive and screw tops make more headway in the marketplace we'll be seeing more and more of them. They are here to stay. "It's only fair to say, however, that using screw tops, even for expensive wines, is not an intrinsically bad idea. To the contrary, many top winemakers laud them." (Washington Post, 10.13.04) The advent of screw tops is a challenge of perception only. Enjoying wines is a millenia old pastime and it does not change readily. The combined perception of "screw top=cheap, low quality" vs. "cork=quality, likely expensive" is slow in changing.

One lady at a tasting of boutique wines in Hawaii several years ago challenged the GM of a winery using screw tops with, 'You're taking the mystique out of wine.' Changing long held traditions and waiting for acceptance in the market place can be challenging, but it is happening.

Wine is all about esthetics, the esthetics of flavor, smells, bottles, labels, pouring, drinking, and all the little pleasures associated with enjoying wine. Perhaps some winemakers and marketers are concerned that adding ingredients to their labels will take the mystique away, will give their wine products more of a mundane or everyday character. They are mistaken. Wine makers have been very creative with labels for quite a long time, and will continue to be. Labels have always been a perfect palate for artists and creative connessieurs. Adding an ingredient list in small type to a label ought to have zero effect on the buyer. If winemakers are adding things that they aren't proud to put on their labels, it is time to change their production processes. The truth of a great wine will always be about what is in the bottle not on it, flavor, smell, the entire experience. In addition, it appears that Bonny Doon is just slightly ahead of coming legislation that will mandate ingredient disclosure on the label.

This move by Bonny Doon is another opportunity for winemakers to increase the public's interest in wine and wine making through disclosure on the label and education in the marketplace. Ingredient lists will add another criteria by which consumers can make wine buying decisions.

Americans' love of wine continues to grow every year, with domestic and foreign wines enjoying excellent sales. I encourage this kind of innovation - including ingredient lists on lables is an excellent idea. Americans love new things, new labels, new brands, new flavors. The wine public loves to experiment - wineries should embrace the idea of providing new experiences to consumers in addition to their foundation brands.