TREASURY WINE ESTATES HAS JUMPED AHEAD OF EVERYONE, INCLUDING BUREAUCRACY. STARTING IN 2016, THE GIANT’S WINES WILL INDICATE CALORIES ON ITS LABELS, WHILE THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IS STILL LEGISLATING THE NEW WINE LABEL

The European Parliament has been increasingly insistent on demanding wine producers to indicate calories on the labels of their bottles of wine on the market. Pending a definitive law on what should be indicated on the back label, one of the biggest wine groups in the world, Treasury Wine Estates, has decided to jump ahead and provide the calorie intake on the whole range of wines it produces, wrote the UK magazine "The Drinks Business" (www.thedrinksbusiness.com), to allow consumers to have all the information necessary to make the right purchasing choice.
Treasury Wine Estates has accepted the challenge that comes primarily from the consumer world, while earlier another wine & spirits giant, Diageo, made the same promise, not for wine, but for the spirits sector, where in addition to indicating calorie intake they also indicate other nutritional aspects. It is important to note that TWE will provide calories for all the wines on the market by 2016, not directly on the label, but on a dedicated website, which is indicated on the label, starting with the European market and continuing on with the American, Asian and Australian markets.
“We realize that consumers are increasingly interested in accessing data on calories, to make informed choices on the shelf”, explained Dan Townsend, general manager for Europe of Treasury Wine Estates, “and we have an important impact as our wines are sold in over 70 countries. We believe that a commitment to provide this information about our brands is a positive step that leads the wine industry to respond to consumers' interests”.