By CHRIS DANIELS
Call your sparkling wine champagne and French lawyers will have you in court quicker than you can say "sacre bleu!"
But it is a different matter when the shoe is on the other foot, as one French company is showing by calling its wine "Kiwi Cuvee".
The offending sauvignon
blanc was spotted recently by Marlborough winemaker Judy Ibbotson in a London wine shop.
"I was blown away," she said. "I feel that using the word 'Kiwi' is a bit cheeky."
Mrs Ibbotson said the wine was cheaper than New Zealand sauvignon blanc and did not taste as good. Its label was clearly designed to imply that the wine came from this country.
Marlborough Grape Growers Association president Stuart Smith said the French winemakers were misleading customers by using the word Kiwi.
"If we tried the same thing, we'd be in court before our feet could touch the ground."
The dodgy label, designed to tempt fans of "new world" sauvignon blanc, would hurt sales of genuine New Zealand wine, he said.
French lawyers take action against winemakers who use words such as champagne, bordeaux and burgundy, saying they cannot be used to describe wine that does not come from those regions of France.
Mr Smith said that since "Kiwi" did not refer to any specific region, it could not be legally challenged. But it was misleading and should stop.
Viva wine writer Joelle Thomson said New Zealand producers often made outrageous claims such as "New world wine made in an old world style".
"It is just less common for the old world to imitate the new, that's all. It's usually the other way round because they have the history."
An English newspaper described Kiwi Cuvee as showing "just what could be done when you find a top-quality French sauvignon blanc and dress it up in Marlboro Man clothes."
