Before American Wines Were Labeled With Grape Names

  American wine wasn't always named for its varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc.).

 

 

  Early wine making in America was driven by European immigrants bringing their culture to the New World. It was the mid-20th century before America started developing their own premium wine identity.

  From the end of Prohibition in 1933 through the 1960s it was about white and red jug wines that were usually blends of different grapes. Sonoma County reds were often Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Cabernet, maybe Alicante Bouschet and Charbono. The wines might be labeled as Chianti, Claret, Gamay or Burgundy. Gamay and Burgundy were supposed to be lighter reds. White jug wines could be called Chablis or Rhine Wine, with the Rhine generally sweeter. Gallo, Carlo Rossi, and Italian Swiss Colony were popular brands. These wines rarely had a vintage year on the label.

  This naming infuriated some people, as they believed American wineries were pretending to be European wines. That's not the reason. A lot of American wine was made by immigrant families from the Old World and this is what they knew. Popular premium wines from Europe were Burgundy, Bordeaux, Riesling, and Chianti. American wineries copied known names to give the buying public an idea of what was inside. 

Fortified to 20% alcohol
Probably Mission grapes
No doubt a bad headache

  Varietal labeling got a slow start pre-WWII with California Chardonnay pioneers, the Wente Brothers, labeling it as Pinot Chardonnay. When the father of modern wine in California, Robert Mondavi, launched in the mid-1960s most wines were labeled by varietal.

  In the 1960s, Petite Sirah was still the main grape of Napa Valley. Yes, even Napa has a jug wine heritage. 

  One issue with the early switch to varietals was identifying what was in the vineyard. Often they were field blends meaning several varieties of grapes were planted together. There's no doubt some wines were mislabeled.  

  Before 1983 the feds regulating alcohol said you only needed 51% of a particular grape to label the bottle with the name. That is, the bottle of Louis Martini Zinfandel to the right could legally be 49% Petite Sirah, for instance. The law now is 75%. Oregon has a state law making it 90%.