A W(h)ine By Any Other Name…

In a blow to New World wine producers – NZ included – the European Commission is seeking to place further limits on wine label terminology. “Champagne” and “port” are already off limits, now the Commission hopes to extend its “geographical protection” to standard terms such as “vintage” and “reserve.” As one trade analyst notes the move is colonial hubris: “The global language of food and wine is European because Europeans took the language and their food and wine with them when they settled all over the world […] It’s a bit rich for them to claim rights over terms which have become generic.”