Last week the taxpayer-funded Sydney Opera House announced with great pride but a minimum of either sensitivity or intelligence that it welcomed Champagne Pommery as its new wine partner. The New South Wales wine industry has chosen to take this news as a direct and personal insult – something with which I entirely agree. In times like these, when our wine industry and our economy are struggling like hardly ever before, we need to support our local industries and remember that we are in fact a community, despite the myriad efforts to divide us. There are plenty of exceptional wineries in New South Wales and those involved in making this decision on behalf of the Opera House need to get back in touch with the everyday reality facing those perhaps less privileged. The architectural icon of Australian culture should be serving and promoting Australian wine, period.