Winenews’, the official organ of the Margaret River Wine Industry Association, is upset at the dramatic failure of the four motions its constituency put to the annual general meeting of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. According to the corporation, they we were defeated in percentage terms (weighted against tonnes crushed) by 96:4, 97:3, 98:2 and 97:3. The first of the motions, to immediately prevent Australian cask wines made from such grapes as sultana and muscat gordo being labelled as ‘Riesling’, is an emotive issue with which the Australian wine industry broadly agrees. But Jock Osborne, Corporation Secretary of the AWBC, says timing is the key, since the Australian wine industry already has an agreement with the European Union to phase out the word ‘Riesling’ as a generic name by the end of 2000. Were it to be removed earlier, the Australian wine industry would lose a valuable negotiating point with the EU, which is also presently requiring the removal from Australian wine labels of terms such as ‘tawny’ and ‘creamy’. Words such as these are included on a list of ‘protected’ terms, several of which are, according to the AWBC, of general use. Osborne says that to immediately remove ‘Riesling’ is ‘not be a practical option’ for most Australian wineries affected and claims: “Nobody is saying we should continue to call sultana by ‘Riesling'”.
