Don’t let the title deceive you, because this post is not what you think it’s going to be about. We at Catavino have already laid out our rules of disclosure, and hope that we’re abiding by a code of conduct that is both fair and even handed. But ironically, this is not the type of disclosure I want to talk about. What I want to ask everyone is this: should a winery be honest with the consumer about their winemaking practices? Should they honestly tell us how a wine is made? Should they honestly tell us everything they do? Does it really matter? And if it doesn’t matter, why bother telling us anything at all?

I ask this question after coming off three weeks of wine tasting, while listening to over fifty wineries try and convince me that what they do is different and sets them apart from others. I’ve heard how they use X type of oak on there wines in various combinations and with various ages of barrels. I’ve listen to the way they gently set their grapes in boxes of no more than 12-15 kgs, restricting themselves to only one layer, or maybe two at the very most. How they cold macerate their wines for 1, 2, 3…day, or that handpicking grapes is ideal, but adjusting acidity is bad. Don’t forget that pumping over is also bad(sometimes), but of course, gravity is good. Etc..etc…etc…snore………………………

The truth is, I’m sick of it!!! Not because I’m bored with the process, but rather I don’t know what to believe. Every winemaker I meet seems to have a new and revolutionary way of draining their wine from one barrel to the next in hopes of causing less trauma. One day I expect to hear that some new winery will …