It's Dinner Time: Do You Know Where Your Wine Is From?

The recent scandal over cheap French merlot mislabeled as slightly-less-cheap pinot noir for sale in the United States under Gallo's Red Bicyclette label is a sign that consumers should be wary about what we're drinking - and another reason to trust importers who forge relationships with the growers before bringing the wines to market here in the United States.

Here's more of my take on the Red Bicyclette scandal, in today's Washington Post.

Comments

[Steve Winston, The Spanish Table]

What E&J Gallo has failed to address is what steps have been taken to ensure that the rest of their import portfolio is true to the varietal listed on the label. Companies this big put huge pressures on their supply chain and tend adopt a position that they are not responsible when a supplier cheats. They know people cheat, the Gallo family’s shirttail relative, Fred Franzia and Bronco wines got busted putting zinfandel leaves on top of totes of lessor grapes and paid a $2.5 million fine.