TRUTH IN LABELING

Whether we’re buying French or American, cheap or expensive, when it comes to wine, it turns that most of us want the same thing: the truth. Representatives of 15 different wine regions have issued a joint call for policymakers to move ahead with wine truth-in-labeling. Results from a recent poll of US consumers, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, found that Americans, in particular, have very strong feelings about the role of location in making wine-purchasing decisions. Key findings from the poll of 1OOO US wine drinkers include: 79% say they consider the region from which a wine comes an important factor when buying a bottle of wine; 75% say they would be less likely to buy a wine if they learned it claimed to be from a place like Champagne, Napa Valley or Oregon, but in actuality was not; 84% say they think the region a wine comes from is extremely important in determining its quality; 96% say consumers deserve to know the location where wine grapes are grown is accurately stated on wine labels; 98% say they support establishing worldwide standards for all winemakers that would require they accurately state the location where wine grapes are grown on wine labels.

“In over 2O years of polling, rarely have we seen such strong feelings on an issue like this,” said Rob Autry, partner of Public Opinion Strategies. “Consumer sentiment this strong is a clear signal that Americans care a great deal about the location a wine comes from and clearly want ready access to that information when looking at a bottle. The poll was released by the signatories to the Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place & Origin. The organization has since doubled in size.

The 15 international wine regions are Long Island; Champagne, France; Chianti Classico, Italy; Jerez, Spain; Napa Valley, California; Oregon; Paso Robles, California; Porto, Portugal; Rioja, Spain; Sonoma County, California; Tokaj, Hungary; Victoria, Australia; Walla Walla Valley, Washington; Washington state; and Western Australia.