Things aren’t always as they seem. Take a simple bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. You might think it’s made exclusively from Cabernet grapes grown in Napa Valley. But, don't believe everything that you read. Your favorite Cab may actually be a blend of several grapes, and knowing what's actually in the bottle is pretty important if you want to know what the wine is like.
Our wine of the week, a 2016 Chappellet Napa Valley Signature Cabernet Sauvignon (about $60 retail), illustrates the point. This is a Wine Concepts favorite - a great wine at a reasonable (for Napa) price. It's full-bodied, intense, and complex, with notes of dark fruits, chocolate and coffee, and a hint of spice. The tannins are firm but pleasant, and the finish is medium to long. It goes great with a thick, juicy steak - but what Cab or Cab dominant blend doesn't?
- Permitted blends. This “Cabernet” is made from 79 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent Petit Verdot and 9 percent Malbec grapes. In other words, it sounds like a Bordeaux-style blend. And that's exactly what the winemaker was aiming for. But, can they really call it a Cabernet? Sure. U.S. wines generally must contain a minimum of 75 percent of the grape variety listed on the label (the EU threshold is 85 percent). So, a wine labeled “Cabernet Sauvignon” could be anywhere from 75 to 100 percent Cabernet.
- Some states laws, such as Oregon, are a little stricter. For example, an Oregon Pinot Noir must contain 90 percent Pinot.
- Appellation. The Chappellet Cabernet happens to be made exclusively from Napa Valley grapes. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
- If the label lists a specific appellation, such as Napa Valley AVA, 85% of the grapes must be grown there. For a political subdivision, such as a state, federal law requires that a minimum of 75 percent of the grapes must be grown there (California, Oregon and Washington have stricter requirements). And if a vineyard is named on the label, at least 95 percent of the grapes must come from that vineyard.
- Alcohol level. What about the 14.5 percent alcohol level on the Chappellet label? As they say, it’s close enough for government work. I don’t know the actual alcohol level for this wine – it could be exactly as stated. But legally a wine labeled as more than 14 percent alcohol can actually vary by plus or minus 1 percent. For wines labeled 14 percent or less the variance may be plus or minus 1.5 percent. So, our wine labeled as 14.5 legally could be anywhere from 13.5 to 15.5 percent alcohol. Why the distinction? The feds tax wines above 14 percent at a higher level.
What to make of all of this? There are a lot of winemaker decisions that factor into how your wine tastes, including blending different grapes to achieve a specific style and the use of oak. The more that you know about what's in the bottle, and how the winemaker makes the wine, the better sense you'll have of what you're buying.
Some other label terms you should know.
- Meritage. These wines are blends of "Bordeaux" grape varieties, with no grape accounting for more than 90 percent of the blend. Only members of the "Meritage Association" may use the term, and a Meritage wine must be produced in limited volumes and be the winery's most expensive wine of its style. Why do they do this? Because some very nice wines that contain less than 75 percent of a particular grape would otherwise be labeled "Table Wine," which suggests a lesser quality.
- Estate bottled. The winery is involved in operating the vineyards that produce its grapes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the winery is a cozy little château surrounded by acres of vineyards. In the U.S., "Estate Bottled" means that: (a) the grapes are from one or more vineyards owned or leased by the winery; (b) the vineyards are within a single American Viticultural Area (AVA); and (c) the winery is within that same AVA.
- Bigger is not better. We recently saw an advertisement bragging that a particular AVA was "one of America's largest." That's a bad thing. Some AVAs contain millions of acres with varying climate and soil conditions, so the appellation tells you absolutely nothing about the nature of the wine. Conversely, a very small AVA - say, Rutherford in Napa Valley -- gives you a good indication of what the wine may be like.
Cheers.