This South African Chardonnay has a small amount of aromatic Viognier added to it. How do I know this? The front label says Chardonnay but the back label shows an ingredients list which includes all the grape varieties in the wine. Now having an ingredients list on a bottle of wine is unusual. Although the EU is bringing in legislation that will mean some ingredients will have to be shown on labels by 2022 there is at present only a voluntary ingredients labelling scheme which uses a QR code to link to the ingredients rather than showing them directly. Co-op branded wines are different. They already show an ingredients list and although this can make scary reading if you’ve never come across the names of some of the frequently used products it is useful to know exactly what you’re drinking. In this case it’s Chardonnay with a little Viognier which results in fresh and fruity flavours of apple pie, banana with a light touch of lemon too.
