In a couple of wine classes recently, we were discussing how "jug" wines got their....generic names and why many of them are changing their labels from generic Burgundy to Pinot Noir or generic chablis to White Table Wine.  A little history helps with the answer.

During the California Gold Rush of the 1850's many European immigrants turned from prospecting to winemaking.  They brought with them vine cuttings from their homeland.  With no government agency or laws guiding them, they called their wines after their ancestral homelands' labels (such as  Chablis, Burgundy, Chianti, Champagne).

The knockoff names had none of the varietals required of the origional wines.  For example:  Chablis is made from the varietal Chardonnay, in Chablis, Burgundy, France.  The generic "jug" wine chablis is not Chardonnay and has none of the flavor profile of the varietal.

A little known fact:   On March 10, 2006 the United States signed a trade agreement with the European Union that generic labels will not be allowed on FUTURE wine made in the United States.  (The "Catch 22" is that products with long commercial history will be "grandfathered" until the producers accept to conform on their own.) 

With the expansion of wine trade throughout the world, so goes wine knowledge as well as consumers demanding the "flavor profile" for varietals over the unreliable generic knockoffs. 

So.....are we seeing the decline of generic jug wines?   Only time will tell.

Marie Griffin, West/Northwest Fla Wine Supervisor