In a mad, mad world....A ray of logic?

At least that's what it started out sounding like:

No dodgy medals on wine labels

Yep. It seems that the folks down under have seen the light as it pertains to wineries slapping all sorts of (more or less) meaningless 'medals' on their bottles of wine.

"Under a Winemakers Federation of Australia code of practice to take effect from this year's vintage, gold, silver and bronze medals displaying sponsorships or anniversaries, or awards from obscure wine shows, will not be allowed."

I have commented more than once or twice on this practice and I'm glad to see that I am no longer alone in my thinking. As I've said in the past, there are a few 'competitions' whose judgement on the wine might actually be an indication of the quality inside the bottle. However, there are these sorts of functions every other week and obviously not every wine fair has a fair representation of the wines available in the market place. The point? How much is that 'gold medal' really worth when there were three Chardonnays in the competition? Not much, in my book.

This all points to good until:

"Producers may indicate other awards or promotions on wine labels, but they must be differentiated from show medals by way of shape and colour," Mr Strachan said.

Oh well, it was worth the effort. The obvious response to this legislation will be along the lines of an oval medal instead of round or a gold ribbon, etc...

Maybe this will take root in other regions. One can only hope. I say keep the labels as junk free as possible and save your medals for the website. If your wine is as good as you think it is, people will do the research on their own.