Careful with your AVAs

[Thomas]

Tom,

Yes it is a semantics debate. That's why I said earlier we are saying the same thing, only differently.

I do agree that the French appellation was put in place to protect the producers whom the government perceived as offering quality. After phylloxera, many changes took place, not the least of which was a proliferation of hybrids and black market wines during the two wars to follow. Appellation, at first, was an attempt of the premiums to distinguish themsleves from the "lower" vignerons, and the fact that Alsace was allowed to add sugar negated the high status of the appellation concept.

Of course, that rotates us right back to the subject of legitimacy. I still cannot see how an appellation without controls offers legitimacy by stating on the label where the grapes came from. Seems to me only those with in-depth knowledge of viticulture benefit from knowing where the grapes were grown to produce a particular wine, and that is not even close to the vast general market for wine that has yet to be tapped in the U.S. To tap that market, we should be talking about screw caps on bottles and not appellations.

But for the sake of ending this seemingly endless debate, I concede we are talking around each other.

You should know I love debating; that and a good red is what keeps my heart alive, throw in some garlic too.