The French, who have bequeathed so much to the world of wine, are especially good at giving it mind-numbing confusion: Is Chateauneuf-du-Pape a region, a winery, or a gynaecological clinic in the Alps? (Answer: a region) What’s the difference between a Pomerol and a Lalande-de-Pomerol? (Answer: about $400) Why doesn’t my bottle of Chablis tell me what grape it’s made of? (Answer: Chablis is always Chardonnay, vous paysan stupide).
It took France centuries to craft such obfuscation. The good news for Canadians is that our wine industry is getting there after only a few years.
Take for example the simple question, “Where is Beamsville?” Last week I wrote about some excellent Chardonnay at Daniel Lenko Estate Winery from the Beamsville Bench. There is just one problem if you want to go yourself: Beamsville doesn’t exist.
It used to exist – it was founded in 1779 just west of St. Catharines. But in 1970, Beamsville was amalgamated into the Town of Lincoln, which also includes the wine-making villages of Jordan and Vineland. The whole area is part of the Niagara Region. Today, some maps mention Beamsville but some only show Lincoln.
Lincoln town hall may not be so good at promoting the wine industry – its responsible for perhaps the worst tourist video I have ever seen. So matters became more muddled when a consortium of local businesses decided that Lincoln wasn’t a sufficiently snappy moniker. So they renamed the area “20 Valley” as part of a flashy advertising campaign to attract visitors. They have all sorts of road signs in the area and a website with a great map, but now the same place is called three different things.
Confused yet? Well I haven’t gotten to the wine appellations. Appellations are a way of classifying wine by its geographical origin. If the grapes come from one specific place (an “appellation”), the winemaker can put that name on his label. Some appellations command great prices because they are famous (like Pomerol), whereas others are virtually unknown (like Lalande-de-Pomerol).
The winemakers alliance in Ontario recently decided that Niagara merited over a dozen distinctive geographical appellations. Unfortunately, their system is a mess. Daniel Lenko’s winery would qualify for at least three: Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment and Niagara. There’s no Lincoln appellation, but there is a “Lincoln Lakeshore”. There’s no 20 Valley appellation, but there is a “20 Mile Bench”. Huh?
Ontario wineries are getting ahead of themselves. Why would any sane person care if a Riesling is from St. David’s Bench instead of Vinemount Ridge?
If the quality is consistent, then the prestige associated with appellations will naturally follow. It takes time. But at the industry’s infancy, such precise distinctions in geography are pretentious and confusing to your average wine drinker. When I asked Daniel Lenko if he would use the Beamsville appellation, he actually snorted. “That stuff’s for snobs. No one knows what it means.” Maybe the French will understand.
Matthew Sullivan is a lawyer with the Department of Justice in Toronto. He writes a weekly blog entry here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at matthew@lawandstyle.beta-site.ca