Changing the label of Le Montrachet

[Craig Camp]

A 'Heretic' Ruffles Feathers in France

[carpet bagger]

Maybe they should evaluate what is in the bottle reguardless of the name by which it goes. The Australian shiraz that has been selected may have been because of the taste, and price not the name. For the most part if a bottle has Montrachet on the label, chances are it will be better than almost any wine with chardonnay on it. I don't see how changing the Montrachet to chardonnay is going to change anything.

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

Nobody who buys Montrachet is going to want to see "Chardonnay" on the label.

But the ominous part of the story, and one that shows how wacky this guy is, is that he says that France needs to develop a brand like Blue Nun. Blue Nun played a very important part in ruining the market for fine wine in Germany. Thirty years ago, top German Rieslings sold for the same prices or higher than top white Burgundies. Today, except for Egon Mueller and Robert Weil, top German Rieslings sell for a small fraction of white Burgundies. . . . . . . Come to think of it, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have white Burgundies selling for the prices of German Rieslings.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

["T"]

To be honest, I enjoy not knowing what grape or grapes are used in a bottle. For me that is the purpose for buying all the different books on wine whether they be about Languedoc, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, or that other place in France......ummmmmmm Bordeaux, yeah that's it. It's all about self education and becoming a better person. I suppose for the passive wine buyer it matters but then maybe not. How would someone who doesn't understand the wine world know what to expect from a grape. Just because they had a right bank Bordeaux doesn't mean they will enjoy a merlot grown in Languedoc. Chablis is very different from Chardonnay grown in the south. But if you like Chablis you will buy Chablis.

Oh man, I've had too much to drink. Does this make any sense at all?

Chateau de Flaugergues Cuvee la Sommelier Coteaux du Languedoc 1999

TN another time. Good night.

[Craig Camp]

The Montrachet example is of course extreme. It would be a sin to destroy centuries of tradition and such a distinct personality for simple commercialism. On the other hand inexpensive wines like Macon Village could benefit from such a strategy and indeed some already use it. For me I would rather drink a good Macon Village than a similarly priced California Chardonnay any day. Perhaps if others knew what Macon was they could compete more effectively against California, Australia and South America.

The important thing to remember is that while Macon Village is just a chardonnay, as are wines from many places in the world, Le Montrachet is not just a chardonnay - it is a chardonnay of a unique place and cannot be duplicated, so it has a right and privilege to its own name. You can take cuttings from the chardonnay vines in Le Montrachet but you cannot transfer the unique characteristics of the vineyard and micro-climate, even though you use the same vines genetically, you can never make Le Montrachet anywhere else. In this sense it is much more important to call it Le Montrachet than chardonnay. Calling this wine chardonnay does not describe it.

[Adam Balic]

On the other hand inexpensive wines like Macon Village could benefit from such a strategy and indeed some already use it. For me I would rather drink a good Macon Village than a similarly priced California Chardonnay any day. Perhaps if others knew what Macon was they could compete more effectively against California, Australia and South America.

'Specially if that Macon Village is Chardonnay. Then the labels could say "Chardonnay (Chardonnay)"...

[Stone]

If there is a glut of French wine as the article suggests, are the prices going down? Isn't high price (or the uneducated public's perception of higher prices for French wines) pushing the switch towards Australian and others (Chilean, Spanish)? Or perhaps those wines are fuller and spicier and play better to the tastes of the masses?

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

Many Macon labels also state that the wine is Chardonnay, many Bourgogne labels state that the wine is Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, as the case may be. Etc., etc.

Where Frenmch wines are blends of grapes, there often are back labels that state the varietal composition.

[ctgm]

Does it really matter what is on the label as long as what is in the bottle is good. I suppose the classic examples are the table wines from Tuscany, which break DOC regulations, whose contents sell themselves rather than the particular plot of land it has come from.

Taking a look at Burgundies (red) from pre-1970, these were always supposed to have Algerian wine added to them to give them structure and weight. Similarly Bordeaux apparently used to use Rioja/Spanish wine to give weight.

Whether this is true is debateable but as long as the wine is good I really don't mind too much.

As an aside I had a great comment from one of my customers. I sold him a lovely full rich Bourgogne Blanc (which stated chardonnay on the label) from Michel Bouzereau. The reply I got back was that he found this Bourgogne a little disappointing as it was made from Chardonnay and not as good as the Pouilly Fume that he buys!!!

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

Does it really matter what is on the label as long as what is in the bottle is good. I suppose the classic examples are the table wines from Tuscany, which break DOC regulations, whose contents sell themselves rather than the particular plot of land it has come from.

Taking a look at Burgundies (red) from pre-1970, these were always supposed to have Algerian wine added to them to give them structure and weight. Similarly Bordeaux apparently used to use Rioja/Spanish wine to give weight.

Whether this is true is debateable but as long as the wine is good I really don't mind too much.

As an aside I had a great comment from one of my customers. I sold him a lovely full rich Bourgogne Blanc (which stated chardonnay on the label) from Michel Bouzereau. The reply I got back was that he found this Bourgogne a little disappointing as it was made from Chardonnay and not as good as the Pouilly Fume that he buys!!!

ctgm -- I have three comments in reply.

First, the reason for putting the varietal on the label is to increase sales. Many people would not buy a Macon-Villages because they don't know what it is, but they think that Chardonnay is a prestige grape, so they will buy a bottle that says that the wine is made from Chardonnay. I don't endorse the logic, but it exists.

Second, you represent one school of thought --- all that matters is that it tastes good. For many of us, thoough there is much more to wine than that -- the infinite nuance that varies with terroir, vintage, and producer and that gives the wine the unique, and in some cases magnificent, character that cannot be reproduced anywhere else.

Third, you are badly misinformed about the adulteration of Burgundy pre-1970. It was a not uncommon practice (and still exists to a much lesser degree today), but not at the great estates. Moreover, the wines that were doctored did not taste good, IMO, although I know not everyone would agree with me on that. I found them to be hot, jammy, and muddy. The practice of adding Hermitage to Bordeaux is a nineteenth century practice that did not carry over into the twentieth century and it is unclear exactly how common it was.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

[Scott]

There is only 1 problem labelling white burgundy 'Chardonnay', it ignores the unspoken tracts of Pinot Blanc that occupies many vineyards.

To illustrate the point, Dominique Laurent released his top white (not that it's much good), La Forge Meursault 1998, with a release stating it to be 100% pinot blanc.

Might throw a spanner in the works??

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

There is only 1 problem labelling white burgundy 'Chardonnay', it ignores the unspoken tracts of Pinot Blanc that occupies many vineyards.

To illustrate the point, Dominique Laurent released his top white (not that it's much good), La Forge Meursault 1998, with a release stating it to be 100% pinot blanc.

Might throw a spanner in the works??

There's also some Pinot Gris and even Aligote (especially in and around Savigny-Pernand-Corton) in some wines.

[ctgm]

First, the reason for putting the varietal on the label is to increase sales.  Many people would not buy a Macon-Villages because they don't know what it is, but they think that Chardonnay is a prestige grape, so they will buy a bottle that says that the wine is made from Chardonnay.  I don't endorse the logic, but it exists.

Second, you represent one school of thought --- all that matters is that it tastes good.  For many of us, thoough there is much more to wine than that -- the infinite nuance that varies with terroir, vintage, and producer and that gives the wine the unique, and in some cases magnificent, character that cannot be reproduced anywhere else.

Third, you are badly misinformed about the adulteration of Burgundy pre-1970.  It was a not uncommon practice (and still exists to a much lesser degree today), but not at the great estates.  Moreover, the wines that were doctored did not taste good, IMO, although I know not everyone would agree with me on that.  I found them to be hot, jammy, and muddy. The practice of adding Hermitage to Bordeaux is a nineteenth century practice that did not carry over into the twentieth century and it is unclear exactly how common it was.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

Claude,

(1) Yes I suppose you are right about the varietals being there to help sales.

(2) Get off your high horse! I very much look for the nuances that you mention and having made wine I well understand these.

(3) I am not sure where I am badly misinformed as I never said that the great estates used this practice. It was common in lesser burgundies and in particular beaujolais (where algerian wine and rhone wines were used). However this practice DOES NOT exist today and has not since 1973 when EU law outlawed it.

[ctgm]

Claude,

going back to the varietal being stated on the label, what is your view on the fact that a certain percentage (20% I think) can be of a different variety as to that stated. I have a friend who makes a "Pinot Noir" in the Argentine and uses 10% Cab Sauvignon.

Presumably a Bourgogne Chardonnay can have 20% Aligote in it - or not as the case may be.

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

On point number 2, I don't understand how you can say you agree with my statement if you say it doesn't matter what's on the label if what is in the bottle is good. There is a major difference of mentalities there and I am sorry if you are unable to recognize it.

On the problem of adulteration, the Marquis d'Angerville, Armand Rousseau, Henri Gouges, and others pushed for the appellation controlee system back in the 1920s in order to combat the problem of wines from other regions being sold as Burgundy. Selling wine from out of the region under the label of the various Burgundy appellations has been illegal since then (and even before, but it had to be attacked by a different means). I have no idea what action you are referring to by the EU in 1973.

The fact that it is illegal to sell wine that is labelled differently from what is in the bottle does not mean that the practice has ceased to exist. For example, I have come across some producers who clearly add cassis and other liqueurs to the wines. One prominent American wine critic even recommended wines to his readers that he admitted in print had been so altered. And I believe that another prominent American critic highly regards another producer who clearly was doing so when I visited his cave about seven or eight years ago. From my point of view, such wines are repulsive.

As more evidence that adulteration continues, when I am in Burgundy in the fall, I have seen tankers with Italian license plates. What do you suppose they are doing there -- buying Burgundy in bulk to satisfy the tremendous demand for it in Italy?

Finally, there have been a number of recent scandals in Burgundy (and other parts of France) involving prosecution of negociants selling inferior wines under more prestigious labels. For the most part, these were not major houses, but one, Chanson, had a good reputation for quality.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review

[Claude Kolm/The Fine Wine Review]

Claude,

going back to the varietal being stated on the label, what is your view on the fact that a certain percentage (20% I think) can be of a different variety as to that stated. I have a friend who makes a "Pinot Noir" in the Argentine and uses 10% Cab Sauvignon.

Presumably a Bourgogne Chardonnay can have 20% Aligote in it - or not as the case may be.

The rule is not across the board. For example, in red Burgundy, nothing other than Pinot Noir is allowed. For most white Burgundy appellations, the new rules require only Chardonnay to be planted, but grapes from existing vines of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris can be used (and in some cases, Aligote, also). The bans on replanting anything other than Chardonnay appear also to be somewhat loosely enforced.

To some extent, my thoughts vary with the type of wine, but on the whole, I find monocepage wines, namely red Burgundies and Rieslings from Germany, Austria, and (some producers in) Alsace to be most interesting because they are the most transparent. I very much like the wines of Southern France, for example, where many different varieties are blended, but because of the variations in blend from one property to another and from one vintage to another, the wines lack some of the fascination of Burgundy or Rieslings or Cornas and Hermitage.

Best regards,

Claude Kolm

The Fine Wine Review