UNDERSTANDING WINE NAMES

Varietal, Meritage, proprietary and place names: what does it all mean?

We can start with the fact that here at Goosecross we make a wine called ÆROS. Other Napa Valley wineries have released wines called Insignia, Opus One, Rubicon and so forth. What do the names have in common? They represent wines of great distinction to be sure. Typically, these bottles contain what the producers consider to be the highest expression of their artistry in the vineyard and the winery - you might call it the cream of the crop. Yet the name doesn't tell you anything about what's in the bottle. These are proprietary names, which are a relatively recent phenomenon in California wine history.

Varietal VS. Proprietary
As you know, most of the wines here in California, like other new world wines, are named for the grape variety that makes them, such as Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon. For a long time in California we equated the varietal designation with quality. The emergence of proprietary blends and Meritage-style wines was just a natural part of our maturation as an industry. Following prohibition, it took until the early 1970s for a few pioneers here in the Napa Valley to begin producing proprietary blends-- and it came from a desire for artistic freedom on the part of our winemakers.

In America, when we name the wine for a variety such as Cabernet Sauvignon, the requirement is a minimum of 75% which gives you a pretty good idea of what's in there. The federal government, which regulates these things, is interested in truth in labeling. However, from a winemaker's perspective it can be somewhat limiting. What if the Cabernet Sauvignon tastes better if we blend in 40% Merlot this year? Then we can't call it Cabernet, but we can create a proprietary name -- and that's exactly what we've done with ÆROS and what other producers have done when they develop proprietary labels. Since the name doesn't identify a grape variety the winemaker has complete artistic license when it comes to blending-as long as he uses grapes, of course!

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