05/11/05 Aussie wine labeling laws

It is helpful to understand what information is included upon a wine label and how a country determines this. Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and on today's program we are going to discuss some of the things you might want to know about Australia's wine labeling guidelines. Knowing a few rudimentary things about the information on an Australian wine label can give you some hints about the wine. As you may already know, Australia is famous for blending wines in a spirit that had not really been exploited prior to their pioneering. Wine blends such as, Shiraz-Cabernet, Shiraz-Merlot and Semillon-Chardonnay, are now commonly consumed by many wine lovers. Australian law dictates that, at least 85% of the grape variety named on the label, be used in making the wine. Those blended wines we referred to, which may contain two or more grape varietals, none of which accounts for 85% of the wine, is why more than one grape is identified on the label. If the label identifies a region such as New South Wales, Victoria or Tasmania then a minimum of 85% of the grapes must have been grown in that area. Even though it is close by do not assume that the labels from New Zealand are the same. New Zealand differs from Australia in that in New Zealand the legal percentages for amounts of grape varietals in blends and regional identity are lower at 75%. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to Wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.