EU-U.S. Wine Deal Criticized

European lawmakers proclaimed winemaking the essence of their culture and recalled the pre-Roman drinking heritage as they criticized a provisional deal with Washington that would increase U.S. imports into a glutted European market.

In an intense debate rife with anti-American clichés about McDonald's and Coca Cola, European Union parliamentarians showed their opposition to a deal signed two weeks ago that aimed to settle a 20-year-old dispute over rules on winemaking and labeling.

Christa Klass of the European People's Party, the assembly's largest group, condemned the interim agreement as unacceptable and said the import conditions for U.S. wine were far too lenient. Several lawmakers joined the EPP in calling for tougher action.

The deal still has to be approved by the 25 EU member states, and with a European wine industry in an overproduction crisis, it could run into more opposition over the coming months.

The EU farmers' organization COPA-COGECA joined the opposition Tuesday, saying the "oenological practices applied in the United States pose a fundamental problem as far as the very definition of wine is concerned." Europeans specifically object to the possibility of adding up to 7 percent water to wine and using wood chips to get that popular oaky, smoked vanilla flavor.

"Water in wine is something which is unimaginable for us and unacceptable to our consumers," said Klass, who represents the German Riesling-producing Mosel region. "We don't need artificial wine."

She said the deal sent a bad message to farmers across Europe as they were fanning out into their vineyards for the fall harvest. "They feel they have been sold off," she said.

Jean-Claude Martinez, right-wing Front Nationale lawmaker from France's Languedoc-Roussillion, said his electorate would not stand for it.

"Our winemakers will revolt against this, and they will have everyone in the south of France on the barricades," Martinez said.

"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."