Wine on the Radio - April 14, 2003        Listen

Appellations 

Here's what Patrick Fegan of the Chicago Wine School has to say about Appellations:

"Many Wine producing countries have evolved methods to identify growing areas.  

They have carefully defined pieces of geography and rules for grape growing.

You can use knowledge of the appellation system for a country to get a handle on wine quality.  

Here's how France does it.

Think of a funnel.

The top is wide like the broadest geographic growing area of the region. This portion represents   wines simply labeled, for instance,   Bordeaux .

Further down the funnel are the districts and you'll see names like Haut-Médoc or Médoc.

We narrow in to the specific village or commune and it's prominently named on the label like "Pauillac" or "Margaux".

In Burgundy , they go even further and use the names of individual vineyards like "Montrachet" or "Chambertin".

As you move through the funnel you find tighter controls, more limited production, more complexity . . . and . . . pricier wine."

Pop the cork™!