Dr Vino's wine blog

French wines have dropped to third place in the American market. What can be done about it? Providing more information on the back label would be a good start.

As if it weren’t hard enough to remember the difference between a Pouilly-Fuissé and a Pouilly-Fumé, consider keeping the Cotes Duras apart from the Cotes de Jura.

Such are the pitfalls of the French appellation system for the American consumer. Appellation wines, also known as appellation d’origine controllée (AOC), account for half of the wines produced in France today, including almost all the top quality wines. Throw in the other categories that use geographical indications (e.g. vin de pays) and then consumers have to further distinguish the Cotes de Toul from the Cotes de Thau and the Cotes de Tarn.

The trouble with geographical indications is that once the hallowed grounds at the top of the hierarchy such as Margaux and Champagne are left behind, the course becomes much more difficult for the consumer to navigate, which often penalizes out-of-the way and good value producers. If you find the system confusing, you are in good company.

“There are so many appellations that I don’t even know them all,” said Michel Rolland at a recent panel at the Vinexpo 2004 trade show in Chicago. Indeed, if this “flying winemaker” who consults at wineries from Napa to Argentina finds the French system confusing, then how about the average American consumer?

Enter the kangaroo. Australian wines have leap-frogged France in the US market based on strong marketing, brands, and varietals such as Shiraz and Chardonnay on the label. Yellow Tail is a case in point. With an indigenous art depiction of a kangaroo on the label, flashy colors, and a price tag of around $5 a bottle, consumers have snapped up the stuff making it the most successful wine product launch in history. Four million cases can’t be wrong, eh?

But France is not going to have as consolidated a wine industry as Australia any time soon. In Bordeaux alone there are 12,000 producers and that number is down about 50% from a decade ago. Indeed, about one wine producer closes in Bordeaux every day. But that will still take a long time to reach the Australian levels and would require a major overhaul of agricultural policy.

So what about better label art or even names that are more memorable to English speakers? Robert Parker, the world’s foremost wine critic, ruled out witty names in his participation on the same panel at Vinexpo. “Gimmicky names aren’t the answer: ’Fat Bastard’ or the ’Pope’s Nose’ should be avoided,” he said.

What the French do need is more information on the label. Parker suggested that the American consumer, who buys most wine at supermarkets, needs at least the name of the grape varietal to accompany the place name of the appellation. However, such action contravenes the appellation rules. So put the varietal information on the importers label on the back, Parker suggested. (That might also help diminish the obligatory US government warning on the back too, he added.)
Parker stated that the appellation rules are overly confining for French producers. But this stands in sharp contrast to the recent trend toward more appellations d’origine. Clearly the producers on the ground, who set the appellation rules anyway, see something positive in the system as the amount of acreage under appellation has increased almost four-fold over the past 30 years (see chart).

Given their popularity with producers, François Loos, French trade minister, told the press at the Vinexpo conference that France was committed to preserving geographical indications in ongoing trade talks. That being the case, doesn’t putting varietal names on the back label represent a middle ground?

Yes it does and more importers should take up this task. In fact, why not design a back label that is super informative with acidity and sugar levels, an indication of when to drink the wine at its peak, a tidbit about the winery, and what types of food pairing would be good? At least the consumer would then have too much information—that he or she knows how to understand and digest—rather than too little.

Wouldn’t the American consumer then have an easier time picking a wine off the shelf? Maybe that Pouilly-Fuissé would be appealing with its 100% Chardonnay aged for 3 months in French oak barrels, with medium acidity levels, low residual sugar and goes great with lobster. Or perhaps the Pouilly-Fumé is just right with 100% unoaked Sauvignon Blanc and crisp acidity levels that goes well with a salad on the deck? Providing more information would help make American consumers make more accurate choices. We might even learn more about the appellations themselves!

As Parker said, “I couldn’t imagine a day without French wine. I mean that quite literally.” Wouldn’t the French be happy if all Americans could say that?

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UPDATE 7/22: through a stroke of luck, a prescient call, or eerie power that I exert over the French wine industry, grape varietals will soon be allowed on the FRONT labels! See story.