Grapevine: The 21st Century Sensibility of Reading Wine Labels
Here in the 21st century, we’ve come to expect (demand?) our information in real time, instantaneously available on our hand-held devices. We can reach out to the vast Internet for whatever inspires us at the moment or we can join networks, websites and social media services that notify us when our real-time information becomes stale.
This new world order seems commonplace in 2016, and has permeated many areas of our personal wants and needs.
Don’t have time to check the daily newspaper each morning? Not content to find out what’s going on in the world once every 24 hours? Numerous news services, blogs, newsletters will beep, ping and ring you within minutes of breaking news.
Many industries have jumped on the bandwagon of real-time communications. Some do it well, with dedicated staffs and significant investments in hardware and software. Others are content to hang on to older means of communications, either by choice or financial necessity.
Other industries interface with the general public the old-fashioned way: word of mouth and hard-copy printed materials.
The wine industry is at a crossroads. Many wine companies have embraced technology, from modern-day apps to QR (Quick Response) marketing codes on the back labels of wine bottles. Others continue centuries-old practices that have served them well, including wine bottle label data.
Consumers are likewise at a crossroads in their expectations of wine label data. Millennials have been weaned on the instant gratification of the Internet, digital smartphones and the abundance of electronic device applications that proliferate today. Every other (older) generation is still transitioning from a 20th century mindset of intuitive thinking and information-processing skills.
At some point in the future, these generational differences will meld (or simply fade away as baby boomers transition to the ultimate, heavenly, cloud). Much of the marketing communication in the wine industry hasn’t changed in hundreds of years – especially wine labels.
For several weeks, I’ve been reporting on the confusion presented by wine labels across the wine-producing world. These discussions and comments are available at this newspaper’s website, www.theexaminernews.com/category/columns/grapevine.
Here is this week’s wine label topic: Estate Bottled.
The image many of us have as we sip a glass of wine is a small winery with rows of manicured vineyards surrounding a red-barn winery building, guarded by a frolicking dog and ebullient owner. Every step in making wine takes place on winery property.
In many instances, the truth is very different from this idyllic image. Of the top 30 wine brands in the United States, not one of them grows, produces and bottles its own wines.
The business model for wineries broadly breaks down into four categories: 1) those wineries that grow, process, age and bottle their own grapes; 2) those that purchase grapes from third parties, but continue the production process in-house; 3) those that purchase grapes, outsource processing the grapes, but store, blend and bottle on their own; and 4) those that I dub virtual wineries, in which the owners outsource every aspect of producing their wine.
In the United States, the phrase on a wine label that connotes a vertically integrated winery is “Estate Bottled.” Other terms, such as “Produced and Bottled by,” “Cellared and Bottled by” and “Bottled by” identify other categories noted above.
In France, vertically integrated wineries generally bear the terms “Mis en Bouteille au Domaine” or “Mis en Bouteille au Château.” On Italian labels, look for “Azienda Vinicola” or “Imbottigliato all’origine,” although other terms (Podere, Tenuta, Fattoria), or the lack of any term, do not necessarily connote a lesser meaning.
In the (near?) future, the typical wine label may fall victim to digital technology and QR Codes may eliminate the need for any label terms. A quick scan and a provocative design or illustration may be all that is needed to appeal to the 21st century sensibility of instant bursts of information. It doesn’t sound very gratifying.
Nick Antonaccio is a 40-year Pleasantville resident. For over 20 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
