Participate in the Wine Authenticity Project 2022

Over the past year, thanks to Wine Institute members, more than 900 diverse samples were received for the Wine Authenticity Project. This effort will help to ensure a bottle of wine’s legitimacy, combat fraud and counterfeits, and most importantly, protect the integrity of the wine and region. Additional information on this effort can be found on the Wine Authenticity Project web page. This multi-year project, began in 2021, is supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

With the help of submitted wine samples, a U.S. wine variety database is being created and will serve as a set of technical criteria for the global regulatory community to determine authenticity. A comprehensive database also will help American wine to be more easily identifiable when being reviewed to enter markets overseas.

Continuing to obtain samples is key to achieving a strong database. There are private and regulatory laboratories throughout the world using a technique known as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that can potentially verify a wine’s origin and variety.

This important set of data is providing a reference for wine varieties and wine production regions. It will not be able to identify a wine from a specific producer or brand since the association with that winery will be anonymized.

For this stage of the project, submitted wine samples must be at least 95% of one grape variety, with 11 varieties currently accepted: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris*, Riesling*, Sauvignon Blanc*, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec*, Merlot*, Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah*, Syrah* and Zinfandel*. Given the samples currently in our database, Riesling wines are especially needed as are those above with asterisks. Blush wines from these varietals are also accepted if they meet the 95% varietal threshold.

As the database robustness develops over the next year, the program anticipates the ability to accept wine variety blends and additional varieties. The ability to take this next step depends wholly on the volume and quality of samples received in the next several months.