Kiwis see red over French wine label

 
Try to name your sparkling wine 'Champagne' or your locally made round of cheese Brie de Meaux and before you say 'Bollinger' the French legal system will have torn you to pieces.

Now, in an antipodean twist on the French system of Apellation d'origine Controlee (AOC) that protects food and drink by geographic indicators, an Australian tribunal has blocked a French winemaker's attempt to register a name that gave the impression its wine was from New Zealand.

The antipodeans saw red when the wine-maker Lacheteau, which is based in the Loire Valley, labelled its sauvignon blanc 'Kiwi Cuvee', an apparent attempt at the sort of wit that sees Australia and New Zealand give their wines such names as Mad Fish and Kite Runner to widen their customer base.

The wine is sold under the Kiwi Cuvee label in Europe and in supermarkets in the UK. But when the French wine-maker attempted to register the name in Australia, the New Zealand Winegrowers successfully opposed it, arguing that the description was likely to lead customers to believe the wine came from New Zealand.

In fact about the only thing Kiwi about the wine is the label, which is made in New Zealand, by NZ winemaker Rhyan Wardmann. The label does specify that the wine is made in France, but in much smaller type than the Kiwi Cuvee logo on the bottle.

Philip Gregan, president of the New Zealand Winegrowers, told The Times; "The term 'Kiwi' has a very strong association with New Zealand and our view is that it should be reserved for New Zealand wines."

He added that "the thought had occurred to us" that if the situation was reversed, the French would have had no hesitation in stopping a Kiwi winemaker from implying its wine was made in France.

France has always been aggressive about protecting its gastronomic and wine heritage. Any sparkling wine made by the champagne method must be labelled Methode Champenoise rather than champagne, and over 300 other wines are also protected under the AOC scheme, including chablis and bordeaux. In addition, 161 French foods have been awarded European Union 'signature foods' recognition which gives them officially protected status. The UK list of EU protected foods includes Cornish clotted cream, Whitstable oysters and Stilton cheese.

But what is good for the force fed goose does not seem to be good for an antipodean gander, at least not in French eyes. Lacheteau aruged that the word 'Kiwi' was not a colloquialism for the origin for the wine, but the NZ Winegrowers argued that it was deliberately emulating a NZ product.

In its statement to the tribunal, the organisation said: "Sauvignon blanc is the archetypal New Zealand wine variety and screw cap bottles such as (Lacheteau) uses, while being the preferred choice for New Zealand wines, are anathema to traditional French winemakers."

In his ruling, trade marks hearing officer Terry Williams said the name would cause confusion in Australia, especially to the more discerning customer who would be more likely to ask for a wine by reference to a place of origin but could misunderstand the wine's name 'on wine lists in restuarants and bars' .

"Customers in such places might ask for wine by variety, for exmple a Clare riesling or, less formally, a Kiwi sav blanc," Mr Williams said.

Mr Gregan said it was a 'delicious irony' that the greatest wine makers in the world were attempting to capitalise on the popularity of New Zealand sauvignon blancs by trying to disguise their wine as something other than French.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," he said. "We have no doubt that they were capitalising on New Zealand's reputation as a producer of great sauvignon blanc.

"It's an incredible irony that one of their wine makers is trying to pass itself off as a New Zealand wine. It's a delicious irony, really."