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Sonoma County Joins Washington in Wine Place Names Pact

Sonoma County Wine2.jpgSonoma County wineries were in Washington, D.C., today to sign the second round of the Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place and Origin. These wineries join vintners from Washington, Oregon, Napa, Champagne, Porto (where Port wine is made), and Jerez (where Sherry is made) who in 2005 initiated the declaration of joint principles emphasizing the importance of location to wine and the need to protect place names.

The joint declaration states: “Wine, more than any other beverage, is valued based on its association to its place of origin — and with good reason…. The names of these places are familiar, and synonymous with quality.”

The document further states: “The geographic place names of wine regions are the sole birthright of the grapes that are grown there, and when these names appear on wines that do not contain fruit from that region, they lose their integrity and their relevance, becoming merely words.”

Winemakers know what they’re doing. They’ve long understood they can maximize the value of their brands by defining their geographic origins and then protecting them jealously by keeping outsiders out. 

As STL has previously discussed (here and here), the trick is in defining the region. Protecting it is the easy part.

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Registered CommenterMichael Atkins in | Comments2 Comments

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Reader Comments (2)

I note with interest that the Joint Declaration takes an odd angle on terroir.

First of all, it limits the protection to grapes grown in the region - so if I get Champagne grapes, ship 'em to California, and use a process different from the traditional to make it bubbly... is *that* still Champagne?

Also, it stops just shy of making the actual terroir claim - there is something special about the terrain etc., and the names are synonymous with quality, and the names are the birthright of the fruit grown there... but no explicit connection between the three.

I'll need to ponder this a bit. In the meantime, a little link-shillery... I blogged on terroir and GI's at http://ipnotions.com/2007/02/terroir-as-shifting-sands.html .

--Ben
March 22, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterBen D. Manevitz
Thanks, Ben. I wondered about this issue in previous posts. I take oyster seedstock from Hog Island and transplant it in Penn Cove, where I harvest the oysters after they mature. How should I describe them on the menu? Hog Islands? Penn Coves? Either? Neither? For now, I think it's an open question.
March 22, 2007 | Registered CommenterMichael Atkins

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