When a traditional wine style is altered by modern winemaking, should the winery have to label it thusly?

Question

Otherwise, consumers coming to the style for the first time will be mislead into believing this is the way it was always intended to taste.

Currently there are no restrictions, for example, on producers of Brunello or Amarone from altering the traditional style with the generic, modern "international" style of winemaking.

What suggestions would you give to regulators for distinguishing between a traditional and a generic "international" style of wine on the label?

For example, say the combination of grape X from region Y traditionally equals style Z that has less alcohol, tannin, or fruit forwardness, and the modern generic style takes it in the completely opposite direction, with no indication on the label of the divergence from the original model. This is at least misleading as to what is meant by style Z, especially for a newbie having it for the first time.

Here are some links:
http://www.thewinenews.com/octnov00/cover.html
http://www.castellobanfi.com/features/wnew17.html (last paragraph)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino (last paragraphs)

Even a regulated area still allows significant variation in style from traditional to "international" within that appellation. And as the the first article notes, rules in Brunello have changed numerous times in the last 2 decades (and are relatively young in the history of Brunello to begin with).

I'm advocating a distinction between an international and traditional style on already regulated labeled wines.

Perhaps even a voluntary distinction on the label between a food wine and a social wine (high alc, low acid, over-oaked international style fruit bomb) would be nice.

another link:
http://www.winemag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=A3017EE5269F4DDAB7210B3F969DA475

Answer 1

I think only traditional style wines should carry the label, it works for most varietals. You can only buy a French Beaujolais but you can buy a Gamay Noir from anywhere they can grow the grape.
I'm surprised about the Italian wines you mentioned, Italy (and France) are the most conservative of wine producing countries.
Do you suggest that some of the Amarone we by from Italy are not produced in the traditional manner. A wine from a different country can't possibly be labelled an Amarone, can it?

Answer 2

You know, I don't think a winery has to admit they've altered a traditional wine. They like to tell you that they've added pear, melon, smoke, whatever but as far as the fermenting process goes , they don't tell you. It would be helpful if the label told you about a process they used that radically changed the taste. Maybe the modern winemaking techniques don't alter the taste that much and that's why the winery doesn't feel the need to tell you about the change.

Answer 3

Most countries have standards on what the bottle should read when it contains grapes from a specific region. For instance, most Italian wines from Tuscany bear a DOC or DOCG marking (abbv) noting that the grapes are specifically grown in that area. However, recently winemakers have started to experiment making wines with grapes from other regions - these wines are frequently referred to as Super-Tuscans. These wines carry a new marking - IGT (abbv).

Recommend reading about the differences in wine books. A good read for someone who has to explain these differences to non-wine drinkers are the books in the "For Dummies" series.