Wine names: trademarks and AVA's

[Thomas]

Oh Anna, we just came off a whirlwind with Jerry's kids on this one. I played Devil's Advocate to see if someone could come up with a cogent argument either for or against designations and appellations.

In Europe, the controls are quite deep, although they are loosening. I know of no American grape farmer willing to accept being told what to grow, how much and where, even if a group of his/her peers agreed it made sense.

In my never humble opinion, designations, appellations and demarcations mainly serve a marketing purpose. Since the majority of the wine consuming public has no idea what it all means, and since government controls normally wreak more havoc than good, marketing is all that is left. You get your winery into a heavily marketed, and advertised designation concept, and you make it big.

Perhaps, when and if wine becomes an everyday commodity in American households, mor people will become more aware of its production and then they will start to demand some kind of real information based on real reasons. Until then, mainly wine geeks like us have designations to talk about.