Recognizing Wine's Taste of Place – Second of Five Parts |
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<< Previous • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • Next >> "But as time went along, in the mid-1990s, we made the move away from 'Champagne' to 'sparkling wine.' We felt that we no longer needed the term, that Schramsberg had established itself as a brand."
Yet Gary Heck, owner and president of Korbel Champagne Cellars in Guerneville, clings fiercely to the use of California Champagne on the labels of Korbel sparkling wines, which were first produced in 1882. "It is unfortunate that they (the declaration signers) took such a position when we have been legally producing California champagne in this country for over 123 years," Heck said via e-mail. "Excellent methode champenoise quality and solid marketing, including the trademark 'Korbel California Champagne' and trademarked slogans like 'For People Who Know Champagne' and 'The Wine Lover's Champagne,' have propelled Korbel to annual sales of more than 1.2 million cases. "In all likelihood, we (Korbel) have done more to promote the term 'Champagne' in the United States than any producer from the Champagne region of France. Because our labels bear the appellation of origin – primarily California but occasionally Russian River Valley or Sonoma County – in direct conjunction with the word 'champagne' as prescribed by regulation and have done so since 1937, consumers know Korbel is made in the United States." Heck says that the CIVC (Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne), or , EU and NVV (Napa Valley Vintners) were all formed after 1940. "Where were these people back in 1882?" he wrote. Pressure from the EU prompted Australia, Spain and South Africa to abandon the use of semi-generic place names for wine. Even Australian producer Penfolds had to drop the word 'Hermitage' from its famous Grange red wine, in deference to the Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage regions of the Rhone Valley. The Spaniards also caved in, replacing 'Spanish Champagne' with 'Cava,' which means cellar in Catalan. The issue, however, is far more complex than protecting place names, according to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, a lobbying association for California wineries. In fact, it's one big ol' can of worms, worthy of a book on the subject. It involves U.S. foreign policy and trade agreements with the EU and other countries. It includes ongoing negotiations with the World Trade Organization, and is affected by policies in place with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and TTB. Tinkering is under way with international trade- related intellectual property agreements. Why don't California winemakers simply relinquish their holds on semi- generic terms and end the debate? For one, wine-related trade negotiations also affect the names used for beer, cheese, vinegar and other products; decisions made on behalf of wine could have a domino effect on other goods. Also, vintners like Korbel's Heck have a tradition of their own to maintain and a customer base that knows his products by how they're packaged. They may not even know that there is a difference between true Champagne and sparkling wine; change won't come cheap. The complications also include the fact that American wineries' collective focus has been varietally labeled wines rather than geographically based labels, which are used in most of Europe. The U.S. wine industry is young and Europeans have been making wine for centuries; we're still figuring out where to grow which grapes. Especially in California, Oregon and Washington state, vintners are creating federally recognized American Viticultural Areas, or appellations, that drill down to the distinctive growing sites within larger regions and the reasons for labeling the wines from them to shout their sense of place. << Previous • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • Next >>
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