After 20 years, EU still hunts elusive US wine deal
By Wine Atlas, Monday 11 July 2005 :: Wine - United-States :: #36 :: rss
Can you turn water into wine? Or woodchips? The United States says yes, Europe says no. For 20 years the row has kept the two sides from deciding what wine is.
Brussels and Washington have been struggling to negotiate a reciprocal wine deal since 1983 but always found it easier to roll over temporary arrangements than to compromise too much.
The talks have usually snagged on deep-seated differences over which winemaking methods should be recognized for exports, and whether labels like "port" or "sherry" can be used by U.S. winemakers miles from the areas where their names originated.
For EU producers, the United States is their largest export outlet, valued at nearly 2 billion euros ($2.38 billion) in 2003(..)
By Jeremy Smith
Continue reading : reuters.com
