![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/P6160569-500x334.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an issue in the wine world that I think needs discussion, and it\u2019s tasting panels in appellations.<\/p>\n
Throughout the wine world, appellation laws exist. There are various reasons for them.<\/p>\n
The most important, is to ensure integrity in labelling<\/strong>. If a wine has a name of a place on it, then it should come from that place. If it says it\u2019s from a specific vintage or variety, then this should be true, too.<\/p>\n Then there is the creation of brand equity<\/strong> in the appellation: it acts not only as a guarantee of origin, but also as a guarantee of quality. If a wine is awarded an appellation status, it is saying that the wine is good and typical.<\/p>\n The appellation also acts as a marketing<\/strong> tool. There will typically be a local association or body associated with the appellation who will coordinate regional marketing initiatives and provide support (sometimes also technical in nature, too) for the members.<\/p>\n The appellations of France are perhaps the best known. Anyone who has studied wine will have pored over the different AOCs (for appellation d’origine control\u00e9e). This term was changed to AOP (appellation d\u2019origine prot\u00e9g\u00e9e) in 2009 and Vin de Pays was changed to IGP (indication g\u00e9ographique proteg\u00e9e) at the same time, but the older terms are still widely used.<\/p>\n The French system differs from the typical approach in the New World, in that not only does it designate the geographical boundaries of the territory, but also has other rules. It legislates the grape varieties that may be used. For example, Chablis allows just one \u2013 Chardonnay \u2013 while Ch\u00e2teauneuf du Pape famously allows fourteen. It also governs yields and interventions such as irrigation, or even the method of frost protection. The cahier des charges<\/em> specifies the rules of the AOP or IGP. Its goal is to protect the regional identity of the local wine.<\/p>\n Across the EU there are now standards for PDOs across all manner of agricultural, food and drink products.<\/p>\n The new world regions have also adopted appellation systems, but this is usually simply a matter of where the grapes come from. The prestige attached to having a named geographic indication (GI) has caused parcelling out wine regions into ever smaller locales to be somewhat of an aspirational activity on the part of some new world regions. Often this is done prematurely, and with little scientific backing, although a good example would be the work done on identifying Gualtallary in Argentina\u2019s Uco Valley as a GI, which was based firmly on good science.<\/p>\n Once a name is part of an appellation, its use is protected and regulated, and you can\u2019t use it on your label anywhere, unless you are part of the appellation.<\/p>\n With wine appellations, though, people can\u2019t seem to resist having a tasting panel, which all wines seeking the appellation have to pass. I think this is a grave mistake.<\/p>\n I was in Quebec at the weekend, and as I was visiting producers, there was quite a bit of discussion about the new Vins de Quebec IGP<\/a>.\u00a0This is a small, young wine region, and it\u2019s great to see it grow and develop, and the IGP is part of this growth. But they have decided to have a six-person tasting panel which any wines aspiring to be IGP have to pass. In theory, this seems like a good idea. In practice, I\u2019ve seen these sorts of tasting panels cause chaos all around the world.<\/p>\n