10/26/2010 - St Helena, CA--The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) announced today that India has granted Geographic Indication Status (GI) to the Napa Valley Appellation thereby protecting the name "Napa Valley" from mis-descriptive labeling while protecting consumers with truth in wine labeling in that country.
"This is an incredible step forward in our ongoing efforts to ensure that consumers know where their wine comes from--wine labeled with the name Napa Valley, in India, will be from California's Napa Valley," said NVV Board President Bruce Cakebread. "This landmark protection is critical to our wineries as India is an important emerging market."
"This is a great victory as the NVV successfully lobbied the Indian government directly to gain this important status, and along with the Champagne region, is the first in the world to be recognized in India, said NVV's Napa Name Committee Chair Pat Stotesbery.
In 2007, the NVV successfully lobbied the European Union and became the first non-EU wine region to be so recognized, as well as the first American place name to be protected there.
"We work to protect the Napa name year-round. It is stunning how many regions around the globe and here at home seek to use the name Napa in branding where no grapes from the region are in the wine, thereby falsely trading on more than 150 years of quality reputation of Napa Valley's wines," said NVV Executive Director Linda Reiff. "This work with India is important for consumers as well as maintaining the quality reputation of our vintners' wines around the world."
The Napa Valley Vintners is the non-profit trade association responsible for promoting and protecting the Napa Valley appellation as the premier winegrowing region. From seven founding members in 1944, today the association represents nearly 400 Napa Valley wineries and collectively is a leader in the world-wide wine industry. To learn more about our region and its legendary American wines, visit www.napavintners.com.
Contact: Terry Hall, Communications Director 707-968-4217 thall@napavintners.com
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