Sean wrote:Ian, sorry. I addressed you because you had quoted me. I saw the story about “Cornish†pasties on the ABC news this morning. I thought you were making a link between that and my comment about the “Claret†label.
It sounds ridiculous or even trivial at first, but I guess when it comes to food or wine in the EU it is big money. So protecting “traditional expressions†not just region names is important to them, because there is a lot of money at stake. Maybe it should be important to us too if we are ever to be taken seriously as a wine producing country with real wine regions, etc.
Sorry about my initial reaction - I quoted your bit because it tied in with the range of things that were banned, and was itself the tip of the iceberg of the things they were trying to ban. I remember James Godfrey mentioned that during the negotiations it was a struggle even to be able to use the word "vintage" - things were literally that difficult, and if you checked out the link to Philip White's blog you would have seen "tawny" is also one of the words we can no longer use.
Sean wrote:I suppose to wear their shoes for a bit, how would you feel about some US wine producer making a rich tasting, sweet oaked, 15% alc red and labelling it a “Barossa†shiraz? And justifying that by saying it is just a wine style, not a region being referred to?
Something like this?:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2010/ ... 98800.htmlhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 980336.eceI think it's perfectly understandable the EU should do everything to protect their brand, but my question is just how far can they go before it gets to the point of being absurd? References to places like Barossa, Champagne, Burgundy, etc I think are pretty clear cut, even if it's just to make sure consumers aren't mislead into associating something with a place they really shouldn't. That said, in this country we have some of the worst examples of it, like Fosters/Treasury trademarking the Kalimna, Rothbury and Seaview appellations and reserving them for wines made from who knows where:
http://drinkster.blogspot.com/2009/06/r ... -more.htmlWhen the arguments drift to what are basically wine styles/appearances & processes I begin to find some reasoning rather murky - "Claret", "Sherry" and "Port" traditionally have strong associations with Bordeaux & Oporto which is in my opnion fair enough, and while I hate us having to give up descriptions like "Fino", "Amontillado", "Oloroso", etc, there's a natural connection with the country of origin's language to provide some justification.
However, when the arguments drift to what I feel are broader terms, like the words "tawny", "vintage" and the names of grape varieties, I can't help wondering just how much of this is genuine protection of the EU's "traditional expressions", and how much is neutering their international competition because of their own insecurities and petty jealousy? That's why the banning of the word "Cornish" in relation to pasties made here to me seems heavy handed to say the least.
So what's the next thing the EU will get around to trying to ban the use of? Can they all of a sudden decide that we can't call our barrels "Hogsheads" & "Barriques" anymore because they figure it will disadvantage what we can say in our wine descriptions/technical data? Will "Bolognese" & "Napoletana" one day have to be replaced with "a sauce of primarily mince & tomato" and "a sauce of tomato, basil and garlic"? Will they ban us from using the names "Brie" and "Camembert" to describe those cheeses made here, to be replaced by a full technical description of every ingredient they're made up of?
As far as Penfolds using "Claret" for this promotional magnum, to be honest I don't really have a problem with it. I can see where it can either be viewed as a clever marketing exercise (the issue you mentioned about small retailer's pricing versus the big grocers is nothing new, it's been the case for a number of years now and they've been complaining about it - if anything this exclusive offer gives them a chance to get some sales from people chasing the magnums and deciding it's worth the extra) or a romantic tribute to the old bottles while there's still time to use the word. Personally though, I rather like the idea that it's a final "screw you" directed at the Europeans after the hell they've given us in those negotiations, even if it's not the case.
Cheers,
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
