The Napa Declaration

Published: 23 July, 2008

Representatives from seven leading wine-producing regions met in the Napa Valley last week to sign the Napa Declaration' - an agreement that the great wine regions will speak with one voice' to protect geographical place names.

Whereas, it is acknowledged that there are extraordinary places on earth from which great wine is consistently produced.

Whereas, the names of these places are printed on labels side-by-side with the names of the producers to identify the origin of the wine.

Whereas, wine, more than any other beverage, is valued based on its associations to its place of origin.

Whereas, the names of these places are familiar, and synonymous with quality.

Whereas, we respectfully submit that the place where wine is grown plays a very important role in a consumer's selection process.

Whereas, we are furthermore united in our belief that the geographic place names of wine regions are the sole birthright of the grapes that are grown there, and when these names appear on wines that do not contain gapes from that region, they lose their integrity and their relevance to consumers.

Therefore, be it resolved that we, as representatives of some of the world's leading place names, join together in supporting the integrity of these place names, which are fundamental tools for consumer identification of great wine-growing regions and the wines they produce.

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