You can’t keep Koppamurra out of the headlines. After about three years of litigation-punctuated negotiation with Mildara Blass, the efforts made by Koppumurra Wines to license its name as a regional identification have been effectively and permanently stalled by the so-called Koppumurra Grapegrowers Association. The Association has been unable to meet Koppumurra Wines’ requirements, which involve such aspects as a fee per case of wine labelled as ‘Koppumurra’ for a period of years. I still wonder why its members bothered with more than a year’s solid media campaign to convince all and sundry that no other word but Koppumurra would do. Why did they never legally challenge Koppumurra Wines’ trademark? Was the entire case a smokescreen? Watch this space. Meantime, although they’re never going to get fat on the royalties, I declare a win to Koppumurra Wines, especially if the region is ultimately called ‘Wrattonbully’, as some are now suggesting.
