You read on this blog a couple of posts back that Calistoga is searching for its own AVA name. The EU recently recognized Napa and Napa Valley as GIs, Geographical Indications. Now comes news from he EU business web site that the EU and Australia reached an agreement on names of wine areas and styles.
The agreement states that one year after the agreement is implemented, Australian wineries must phase out terms such as “port”, “Champagne”, and other such misnomers. In return, the EU is protecting Australian place names, certifying certain production techniques and will make it easier for Australian to get certified for export to the EU.
This process aids producers in both regions and should serve as a model for future agreements in the US as well as around the world. A prooduct is know by its name. If others can simply “borrow” a place name, it does two things: It impinges upon the verity of the original region or producing area; and it is misleading for consumers.
The more a consumer knows about the products purchased, the better the producers and manufacturers are. Truthful labeling benefits everyone.
Maybe someday, here in the US, our producers will stop calling wines what they are not. There are still wines labeled Chablis, Burgundy, Rhine wine, and so on. It is time for all winemakers to mature to the point where they call their products what they really are. Calling a wine California Central Valley White Wine for example, does not denigrate the wine in the bottle.
Some producers say that much time and money were invested creating these so called brand names. Maybe. But that does not make a bad situation and a fundamentally dishonest practice any more acceptable. Most consumers are more savvy now about wines, beers, liquors, and all types of foods. One needs only to look at the rapidly expanding trends in natural food products to see that. People in general are more savvy about what they are eating and drinking. It serves no good purpose to have wine as an exception to this trend.

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