(Some) French Wine Just Got More Accessible (Maybe)

As of yesterday some French winemakers can start labelling some of their wines with the varietal or just with a brand name if they wish. While the big estates covered ounder the AOC system will remain their usual inscrutable selves, producers of "vins de table" or "vins de pays" will now be encouraged to market their wines however they wish.

Posted by: Alder on July 22, 2004 2:49 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Wine News

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Comments (4)

Derrick Schneider wrote:

07.24.04 at 1:05 AM

The other piece of this decision is that VdP's and VdT's will be able to use oak chips to flavor the wine. Rats; can't find the link that gave me the more in-depth story. Thought it was on the New York Times, but it doesn't seem to be.

Alder wrote:

07.25.04 at 9:03 AM

Here's a copy of an articlefrom the AP news that discusses the wine chips aspect. Can't find the NY times one for you.

Ryan wrote:

07.26.04 at 7:39 AM

I just had the chance to try 2 of these new varietal-driven wines.

http://www.vinesugar.com/reviews/comments.php?id=127

http://www.vinesugar.com/reviews/comments.php?id=126

They were horrible! I'll give them one more chance but if that goes to be a similar experience, I'm crosssing the entire line off my list. Jeez, this stuff was REALLY bad.

Alder wrote:

07.26.04 at 10:28 AM

Youch. Those are some pretty harsh reviews. I've always had mixed luck with Vin de Pays d'OC but they're usually better than Zero stars.

(I wouldn't trust W. Wong any farther than I could throw him).