Top Spanish Chefs Support Wine Origin Campaign
Some of the world’s leading chefs and sommeliers, including Spanish chefs Ferran Adria and Jose Andres have given their support to a coalition calling for truth in wine labelling. Both Spanish chefs have signed an open letter lending their support to protect wine place names. Others who have given support are The French Laundry’s Thomas Keller and Pontus Elofsson of Noma, Joel Robuichon, Wolfgang Puck and Alain Ducasse.
The Spanish Chef, Jose Andres, who has restaurants in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Washington DC said, ‘We support the Joint Declaration to protect wine place and origin because place names are central to understanding the foods and wines we work with every day’.
The United States has agreed, in a deal signed last year between US and Europe, to prevent new wine producers from using the names ‘port’ and other semi-generic names such as Sherry and Burgundy. However, the agreement has a ‘special clause’ that allows producers in the market before March 2006 to continue the practice in some cases.
The Declaration to Protect Wine Place and Origin, a coalition first formed in 2005, has the support of 15 wine regions including Champagne, Jerez, Porto and Napa and according to the Napa Valley Vintners Association, producers from countries as wide ranging as Germany and China have put ‘Napa’ or similarly misleading labels on their wines.
The coalition hopes that, with the support of chefs and food and wine experts this will persuade lawmakers to better protect wine place names.
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