As of early August 2007, there were two proposals introduced by the federal government that would require wine producers to put nutrition information labels on all wine bottles sold in the United States. Just like the label you find on a bottle of mayonnaise.

Is this really a good idea? I fail to see the overwhelming benefit in forcing all producers to slap a label on wine bottles that for the most part provides useless information. Although wine is certainly a beverage and an agricultural product, it is also a thing of mystery and art. Unlike mayonnaise producers, there are countless small boutique and family-run wine producers crafting a product out of passion and tagging a label onto their works of art somewhat demystifies and defaces that product.

“But,” you may ask, “won’t the labels provide useful information for people who are watching their diets?” Not in my opinion. Below is a sample nutrition label for an ounce of red wine.

What you see on this label are mostly zeros which, in my opinion, is the percentage of useful information present.

in addition to the fact that it will add clutter—and yet another thing for European winemakers and drinkers to scoff at—the mandatory labels will also prove to be a financial burden for small producers. If we do a cursory analysis of printing costs we find that for 10,000 cases of wine, equaling 120,000 bottles, labels that cost 4¢ each will end up costing $4,800. That figure doesn’t even take into account the cost of sending a sample of wine to a laboratory, no matter how small the batch, to be analyzed. In the end it will simply mean higher wine prices for consumers who drink value-driven wine.

The reaction from the wine industry is mixed. Many large producers who can easily absorb the cost support the measure as a consumer’s rights initiative. Smaller producers, however, along with some trade organizations oppose the government proposals.

Ultimately, it’s a question of sensibility and aesthetics versus the consumer’s right to information about what they are imbibing. But I believe that these measures go a little too far and simply add more bureaucratic nonsense to the lives of small producers.

The comment period on these measures is open until October 29, 2007 allowing you to have your say on the matter. Simply visit www.regulations.gov and do a simple search for all proposed rules under the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and submit your comments.