EU-U.S. Wine Deal Criticized

European Lawmakers See Deal As Setback For Vintners, Consumers

(AP) 

"We have been making wine since the Roman Empire, and not for a couple of hundred years like the Americans," he said. "Wine is a civilization, it is a fine art."

Under the provisional deal reached by EU and American negotiators in Washington two weeks ago, the two sides will mutually recognize each other's winemaking practices, setting the stage for more detailed talks on protecting geographical indications, names of origin and the status of low alcohol wines.

The U.S. administration is to ask Congress to change the status and limit the use of 17 European names on American wines.

The names, Burgundy, Chablis, Champagne, Chianti, Claret, Haut-Sauterne, Hock, Madeira, Malaga, Marsala, Moselle, Port, Retsina, Rhine, Sauterne, Sherry and Tokay are considered "semi-generic" in the United States. Once Washington has changed their status, American exporters will benefit from simplified certification of their wines in the EU.

Water dilution is largely banned in the EU, as is the use of oak chips, and European winemakers would consider it unfair to have to compete with imports using such practices.

"Imports approved with very different practices could undermine our own culture,"said Maria Esther Herranz Garcia from Spain's fabled Rioja region.

"How long can the EU go on banning the use of oak chips or the use of water if it is allowing imports of wine using those practices?" she said.

Two-way trans-Atlantic wine trade is now valued at $2.8 billion a year.

If the agreement is approved, Martinez said it would turn wine "into a chemical product, a kind of Coca Cola."

French Liberal Democrat Anne Laperuze added: "I don't want a McDonald's type Chardonnay."