Wine from a Consumer’s Point of View

I thought that it might be interesting to take a look at wine from a consumer’s point of view. Most wine consumers are confronted with an impossible task when selecting wines. There’s no factual information about wines posted for the wine consumer. It’s much easier to choose a can of peas or a pack of bacon than it is to pick a bottle of wine. On that can of peas or pack of bacon you have easily understood ingredient labels. On the wine label you have strange phrases like, ‘Hints of Floral, Notes of Black Cherry, Flavors of Strawberry or Aromas of Vanilla. On the can of peas you have a picture of peas; you can see the bacon through the clear package. The wine label is a graphic artist’s heaven, but has little to no info that helps the wine consumer.

So, what info should the retailer have prominently displayed to help their wine customers? Facts, facts and more wine facts!

At a minimum, I would suggest a sign with the following heading…”HOW to READ a WINE LABEL”.

Federal Law requires every American wine producer to tell the wine consumer HOW their wine is made. Since there are only four(5) choices, the wine retailer should list those choices from best to worst. Those choices are: 1) GROWN, PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED = Best; 2) PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED; 3) VINTED & BOTTLED; 4) PRODUCED & BOTTLED; 5) BOTTLED.

Since the factory wineries refuse to tell the Wine Consumer that their wines are ‘Filtered’, the sign should state that any bottle of wine that is sealed with Plastic, Aluminum Foil or a Screw-Top is a ‘Filtered’ wine. By the way, those phrases Hints, Notes, Flavors and Aromas are only found on Filtered wines. If it’s an ‘Unfiltered’ bottle of wine, the word Unfiltered will always be clearly printed on the label and the bottle sealed with sealing wax; that fact should be noted. The alcohol level is very important and reflects the ripeness of the fruit or vegetable. The best wines run about 12% alcohol; that fact should be noted.

Fortified wines are wines with an alcohol level over 13.5%. Think Sherry, Marsala and Ports. These are manufactured wines; the factories add distilled alcohol to their wine products and call them ‘fortified’.

There are three types of sweetness levels in wines; Dry (no sweetness), Medium Dry (takes you to the sweetness level of the fruit) and Sweet (factories add sweetness to the wine).

In regards to Sparkling Wines, a ‘real’ sparkling wine can ‘only’ be created ‘dry’. Living yeast make ‘real’ sparkling wines, so they will consume all the sugars and carbohydrates. On the wine label will be clearly printed the words “Fermented in the Bottle”. Sweet sparkling wines are made by wine factories and no living yeast is used. Instead, the wine factories inject their bottles with carbon dioxide like a soft drink; sweeteners are added before the wine bottle is wired shut.

In closing, please remember, knowledge is power. Right now, all the power rests with the wine factories. Currently, you are at a huge disadvantage. Please take this basic and necessary information that I have given to you and apply it to your life and share it with your friends and family!

Thank You… “The Green Winer “