OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 7.45pm
A CAPE vineyard has given up using its “Haute Provence” wine label after French opposition to the designation forced the wines off shelves in Europe.
Johan Mulder, a director of La Provence vineyard in the Franschhoek wine region outside Cape Town, told SABC public radio that mounting legal costs has forced the vineyard to concede defeat.
Mulder said French authorities blocked a trademark application by La Provence as it objected to the use of the name of a French wine region by a South African vineyard.
“Their actions resulted in our products being banned in Europe. We had our products taken off the shelves,” he said. “We decided it was not worth our while to continue fighting as legal expenses are very high overseas”.
Wines from La Provence — considered a top wine producer — will now on be sold under the name Augusta.
But Mulder said he believes his vineyard has a right to the La Provence name as it is how Protestant Huguenot settlers who fled Catholic persecution in France and settled in the Franschhoek valley called their new home.
“The name La Provence has been associated with the farms in this region for more than 300 years,” he said. Also, he added, La Provence was not trying to pass its wines off as French as the bottles stated clearly that Haute Provence wines are produced in South Africa.
“I can understand it from their point of view that they are protecting their industry, and obviously the world owes them a debt for their contribution to the wine industry,” he said.
“But at the same time the French Huguenots came from France to escape persecution and it seems that the persecution continues. The debacle follows on the heels of a protracted battle between the European Union and South Africa over the use of the term “port” and “sherry” for fortified wines produced in South Africa. –AFP