The problem statement:
   There is no way to uniquely identify, and quickly and easily find back a specific wine and all relevant
   information about that wine.

   This lack of wine market transparency has important consequences for consumers and companies.

The information on the wine label varies greatly

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Wine is a complex product for the consumer:

- it changes with every vintage

- personal taste is different for every individual

- its characteristics depend on many different types of information: producer, wine type (white, rose, fortified, …), grape variety (chardonnay, pinot noir, riesling, …), vintage, geographical area and vineyard, quality level (appelations in France, quality levels in Germany, …), production process (late harvest, barrique, aging time, wine style).
 

The name of the wine by which the consumer identifies the product, contains any set of elements of the above. Depending on the area some of this information can be quite complex, ill-defined, or missing.

Different labeling and classification systems are being used in different wine producing areas worldwide.
 

Historically, the wine industry has been strongly rooted in the local culture and traditions of winemaking. However, there are major differences for major wine-producing countries and regions. For example: consider the differences between France and Australia, between Germany and South Africa, even even between Bordeaux and Bourgogne.

As a result of this, the importance of different types of information required for identifying a wine varies greatly depending on the country and type of wine.

For example: in new world countries, wines are often branded by grapetype; whereas in traditional French wine areas, vineyards and/or producers are branded much more strongly.
 

The label contains some - but usually not all - relevant information required to understand the characteristics of the wine. Such information includes a.o. the geographical origin (vineyard), grape constitution, and vinification process. Information can also be implicit (e.g. the grape varietal planted in a wine producing area), but often the wine producer may not even mention the mix of grape varieties from which the wine was made.
 

Illustration: In some cases even the wine producer is not clear from the wine label. Low profile wines may mention several companies without making clear to the consumer who is responsible for growing the grapes, vinification, bottling, branding, marketing and distribution? The result is that the consumer can not identify the product with any winery brand name.

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