Champagne Leads Salute to Napa Valley
at Vinexpo
Bordeaux,
France - It is history in the making
as Napa Valley joins 2,400 wine makers from
45 countries in Bordeaux this week as the
first U.S. region to be granted Geographic
Indication status (GI) by the European Union.
To celebrate the landmark recognition, representatives
of the Champagne region presented Napa Valley
officials with a special bottle of Champagne
and led a toast to their achievement.
"From now on, the Napa Valley name
will only be used in Europe in wines produced
in the famous U.S. region. This is not only
a victory for our friends in Napa Valley
but for all wine regions around the world
- like Champagne - that recognize the importance
of location to winemaking," said Jean-Luc
Barbier, Director-General of the Comité
Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC),
the trade association of all grape growers
and houses of Champagne.
Champagne and Napa Valley are two of the
original signatories of the Joint Declaration
to Protect Wine Place & Origin, a set
of principles aimed at protecting consumers
by advocating truth-in-labeling worldwide.
The Declaration has been signed by a total
of 13 wine regions, including six American
regions - Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Paso
Robles, Oregon, Walla Walla Valley and Washington.
The other member regions are Champagne,
Porto, Jerez, Chianti Classico, Tokaj, Victoria
and Western Australia.
"We are proud to stand with Napa in
our quest to put consumers first and end
practices that allow for confusing and misleading
labels. Consumers deserve nothing less than
total clarity in the marketing of wine products,"
added Barbier.
While there is still not complete protection
under the U.S. law against the misuse of
semi-generic names such as Champagne, members
of the Napa Valley Vintners Association
have stopped using the Champagne name in
the labeling and marketing of their sparkling
wines.
To learn more about the Joint Declaration,
visit www.protectplace.com
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