Sometimes It Pays To Read The Label

By TOM MARQUARDT and PATRICK DARR                                                                                                                                               

Wine labeling can be confusing to many wine consumers. Most Americans are familiar with California wine labels, which prominently displays the grape varietal with the general region as secondary. Other new world wineries follow the same pattern. But Old World wineries still cling to their tradition of focusing first on the vineyard location with no mention of the grape variety. The pride associated with location is paramount.

France, Germany, Spain and Portugal follow this time-tested labeling custom. For example, a wine from the Bordeaux region of France would state that is from either Bordeaux or one of the dozens of sub-appellations that make up this area. A consumer would have to know that a red wine from this region would by law contain some combination of the traditional Bordeaux red grape varieties. If you are not fairly in the know then you are left guessing as to the makeup of your drink. American labels are user friendly, and buyers know what they are getting.

We were pondering this inherent complexity of Old-World wine labels when we came across two red wines from the Northern Rhone Valley, which is very different from the Southern Rhone. The northern region includes wine from villages such as Hermitage, Cote Rotie, and St. Joseph, which are dominated by Syrah. Production volume in the north is a fraction of the south where warmer temperatures produce big crops. Even though the grape varieties aren’t on the labels, it is understood you are getting Syrah in the wines from the north. In the south, you don’t know from the label – it could be any combination of 13 grape varieties, although grenache is most common.

We tasted red wines from the Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage sub-appellations of the Northern Rhone Valley, which lie on the steep banks of the Rhone River. Crozes-Hermitage is larger than Hermitage and fully surrounds its neighbor. Hermitage yields a much

Smaller production and is more highly prized and therefore more expensive.

In general wines from Hermitage are more intense, complex and commonly require a bit

of age. The wines from Crozes-Hermitage are more plentiful and much more consumer-friendly, although their intensity and complexity are usually a bit less.

Here are two wines we really liked:

M. Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers 2019 ($45). Although the label noted this Northern Rhone wine was “meant for laying down,” we found this syrah open and ready for business. Deep cherry notes with some meaty notes and light tannins. Very enjoyable.

Cave de Tain Hermitage Noble Rives 2018 ($75). Big expressive plum and cherry notes with a hint of violets and new oak. This Northern Rhone syrah needs a bit of time and opens up after a few hours.

Beaujolais

With spring quickly approaching, it’s time to consider lighter wines that have oodles of fruit and match well with a variety of food. This is certainly the case with beaujolais, an often-forgotten wine that is great to sip or pair alongside the season’s first grilled burger.

Beaujolais has 12 crus or appellations if you count Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages. Otherwise, a series of small villages or crus are clustered in the northernmost section of Beaujolais and make up the remaining crus of Beaujolais.

The string of villages is strung over a 12.5-mile-long, north/south axis and was selected to present the best of the Gamay grape. We visited the area several years ago and were surprised that wines with such a divergence in scents and flavors were only a mile apart.

Beaujolais crus have enjoyed a recent upsurge in interest, but it has been a bumpy road for the appellation. Beaujolais nouveau was a craze in the 1980s with the region enjoying a huge upsurge in interest and demand. This wine is produced from grapes harvested just months earlier and bottled for release on the third Thursday of November. Unfortunately, some producers abused the newfound interest in their wines and a general decrease in quality led to a collapse of demand by the turn of the century. Today the cru wines are leading the interest by producing wines that in many cases age well and can rival some red Burgundy for quality.

We recently sampled three cru wines from Beaujolais and were very impressed by their diversity of styles. All of the following wines utilized full cluster carbonic maceration and featured colorful labels. Following are our impressions:

Antoine Sunier Regnie 2022 ($25-30). This biodynamically made wine had the brightest fresh flavors of the three samples. Strawberry and cherry notes dominated.

Anne-Sophie Dubois Les Cocottes Fleurie 2023 ($35-40). Big deep and rich featuring cherry and violet notes. Organic and biodynamic.

Bonnet Cotton Cotes de Brouilly 2022 ($45-50) Organic with deep stone fruit notes in a bold style. A little reminiscent of a pinot noir with gamey funky notes. Most complex of the three we tasted.

Many other wines from this region cost significantly less and represent some of the best wine values on the market. If you like Beaujolais-Villages, look for George DuBoeuf.

Wine picks

Antigal Uno Platinum Edition Malbec 2022 ($30). Juicy strawberry and plum notes dominate this textured malbec from high-altitude vineyards in Argentina’s Uco region.

Pasqua Passione Sentimento Rosso Veneto IGT 2021 ($14-18). Corvina, Croatia and a bit of merlot go into this delicious and soft blend from Italy.  You can’t resist a second and maybe third pour of what is a good red wine to quaff or pair with anything from pizza to ribs. Hand-picked grapes are left to dry in wooden boxes, so they lose about 30 percent of their moisture but the juice is concentrated.

Hamel Stratum Red Wine 2020 ($60). Thirty-four percent merlot joins cabernet sauvignon in this interesting blend of estate-grown grapes from the Moon Mountain District and Sonoma Valley. Dense black cherry and plum notes with soft tannins.