The best wine importers.

I remember reading an article in Wine Spectator or Decanter magazine. The point was the French need to export to America and the US consumers do not know how to make sense of what grape is in the bottle. The French were thinking of putting varietals on the front of label to compete in US market. This wine writer recommended putting the varietal on the back and keeping the traditional French system. Viola

 

 

The best wine importers.

via Slate Magazine by Mike Steinberger on 5/6/09

My father swears he once had a girlfriend who sent him a postcard from Paris saying that she liked France but couldn't understand why all the cars had foreign plates. I can't help but think of that story whenever the issue of foreign wines and their often-confusing labels arises. For many Americans accustomed to shopping for Chardonnays and Merlots, the French practice of identifying wines not by type of grape but by place of origin can be baffling, even intimidating, and Italian, Spanish, and German labels can be equally daunting. But while there is no easy solution to the problem of French vehicles bearing French tags, there is a simple, usually failsafe means of determining whether or not a foreign wine is worth buying if you are having trouble deciphering the label: Flip the bottle around and see who imported it. To facilitate this corner-cutting, Slate proudly unveils its wallet-size Foreign Wine Cheat Sheet listing importers whose wines can be depended on to deliver pleasure.

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