The Wine Bore Thread - Extended

[Aquanexus]

Hi all,

It's nice to see such enthusiasm on the wine bore thread. Before moving to Switzerland I'd been working at the Experimental Winery and regularly assisting with an 'Introduction to Wine' course at Purdue University. If there's any interest I could collect some of my presentation materials from the course and we could meet weekly to have a course and tastings and the end of each presentation.

There's been a lot of information from Planthead on what basic characteristics to expect from wine varietals, and while I think that's a great crib note for wine shopping there's so much more to the subtle aromas and characteristics of wine dependent on the 'terroir', production method, etc...

I'd just like to drop a quick note, for complete wine nouveaus on the classification systems used for European wines, which might make a handy list when you go shopping for a gift, or even for an ejoyable evening at home. So here goes:

Basically the tiered quality ranking system runs along the lines of:
Table Wine
Regional Wine
Quality Tested Wines
Highest Quality Tested, Compliance Guaranteed Wines

Across the EU most nations conform to this tiered format with their own naming systems, here they are:

France
AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee) -- Wines designated AOC are of the highest quality and have passed the tight regulations on grape growing and controlling the alcohol content.
AO VDQS (Appellation d'Origine Vins Delimites de Qualite Superieure) -- These are regulated in the same way as the AOC wines, considered less quality and are beginning to be phased out of the classification system.
Vin de pays -- These wines have 100% of one type of grape grown from a specific region only and are strictly regulated.
Vin de table -- This "table wine" varies in alcohol content and is of the lowest quality usually, for everyday occasions.

Italy
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) -- Denotes the highest quality Italian wines. DOCG measures insure that each bottle is counted, providing an exact measure of production, and contains a government seal that is applied by hand. It is a costly procedure, usually reserved for expensive wines.
DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) -- Wines that fall under the DOC category must be made in specified, government defined zones, in accordance to particular regulations that are intended to preserve the wine's character that is uniquely derived from the country's individual regions.
IGT (Indicazione di Geografica Tipica) -- Generally denotes ubiquitous tables wines grown in specific regions throughout Italy.
VdT (Vino Da Tavola) -- Mainly comprised of Italian table wines, whose criteria is only that they be made from grapes grown in Italy. These are often made by blended grapes from separate regions.

Spain
DoCa (Denominación de Origen Calificada) --This status guarantees that wines from an area have consistently performed at the highest quality level for a number of years.
DO (Denominación de Origens) -- Wines carrying the DO label must meet the approved government standards. It is this regulation which in part ensures the wines from each of the regions within Spain maintain their unique local characteristics.
VT or VdlT (Vino de la Tierra) -- A notch lower, but these wines must, in the same way as DO approved wines, carry a vintage date and regional identification.
VM or VdM (Vino de Mesa) -- These wines fall outside the DO system. They are table wines that do not carry vintage dates or regional identification. More often than not, they are a blend of wines from many regions and vintages.
VC or CV (Vino Comarcal) -- These wines may carry a vintage date and the name of the area from which they originate. These wines are typically made from grapes or blends of grapes not approved by the local Consejo Regulador.

Germany
QmP (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat) -- The regulations are as QbA with the additions that the grapes have to be solely from the district stated and no alcohol enrichments or chaptalization have taken place.
QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) -- These wines have to obey the regional appellation laws. These laws ensure that the wine is from one specific wine-growing region, is made of approved grape varieties and reached sufficient ripeness for a quality wine.
Landwein -- Enhanced Tafelwein, which has to be made with grapes from one of the 19 specific districts, which is specified on the label. The wine has to be marked as "Trocken" (dry) or "Halbtrocken" (medium-dry).
Deutscher Tafelwein -- Denotes the lowest quality German wines, not many are exported.

Austria
DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) -- The wines must conform to the legal definition of “Qualitätswein” (quality wine) and are selected by a process of rigorous blind tasting to ensure a high wine quality.
Prädikatswein -- “Certified” wine. Prädikatswein wines are the highest quality Austrian wines and are produced from specific grapes grown in a selected region.
Qualitätswein -- Wine of quality. These wines are light and simple, derived from less-ripened grapes grown in a specific wine region.
Tafelwein -- Table wine. There are two types of tafelwein wines: landwein and tafelwein.Landwein wines are table wines that are made from officially designated grape varieties.Tafelwein wines are simply table wines.

Portugal
DO (Denominação de Origem Controlada) -- The only classification of Portuguese wines. Each of the 39 DO wine denominations require thorough testing and are given a certified test number, which must be displayed on the bottle. DO Porto and Madeira each have separate governing bodies and regulations.

It's plenty of info I know, but I often tell people who have no knowledge of wines to start off by determining what taste/smell characteristics they like from their wines and then buy according to this ranking. Keep in mind that there are many poorer wine producers (esp. across Europe) who can't afford to get certified, but produce amazing wines themselves. This is just a starting point for the layman at the wine store. This is a little background on old world wines (French wines have their own Bible sized booklet), which are a good place to start tasting. Many newcomers & prissy connosieurs find it difficult/refuse to palate the New World wines with their bold earthy tones (see, Malbec, Pinotage, etc...).

As my boss always said (and he's dined with Kind Carlos & Jacques Chirac), he'd almost never spend more than $20 or 30€ on a bottle of wine. I've had a glass on Romanee Conti Premier Cru which was valued at about $1300 a bottle, I can tell you that the taste of the wine does not necessarily improve linearly (or exponentially as wine merchants would have you believe) with the price. Leave the winos to blow their own money, and be smart with yours.

If you have any questions about wine I'd love to help, just feel free to ask here or shoot me a message. Please remember I've not worked long in the industry, so while I know how to make different wines, and how they are produced, I'm nowhere close to being even an amateur (au contraire, my wines often tasted like jet fuel/moonshine).

P.S. Mods can feel free to combine this with the original thread, I just thought I'd put out an offer for a course, and that this was too long a post.