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Wednesday, November 1, 2023
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LEANNE Meredith was among Wangaratta residents who enjoyed decorating their houses and welcoming trick-or-treaters as part of yesterday’s Halloween celebrations. Story page 7 PHOTO: Simone Kerwin
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It’s bubbly relief King Valley Ki V ll winemakers i k praise i A Australia’s li ’ trade d stance, protecting i prosecco
KING Valley winemakers say Australia’s decision to walk away from a trade deal with European Union (EU) was the right one, offering them more security around the grape variety, prosecco, which is worth more than $80 million annually to the local industry. Trade Minister Don Farrell ended talks in Osaka on Monday, after the EU refused to budge on geographical indicators being attached to products
BY STEVE KELLY skelly@ nemedia.com.au
like prosecco wine, feta and parmesan cheese, which would have prevented Australian producers using the product names. Dal Zotto Wines was a pioneer in planting the prosecco grape variety in Australia, and director Michael Dal Zotto said this
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week’s decision will allow growers in the $200 millionplus sector of Australia’s wine industry to continue with certainty for at least the next three years. “It will allow growers to move forward with investment in prosecco as it is the hero variety of the region,” he said. “It takes away the uncertainty and this will be a three year cycle as the EU goes into an election process.” Businesses were faced
with uncertainty if the GIs were implemented and this would have involved a phase out period of prosecco that would have cost millions of dollars in remarketing of the variety. “Now we can look at all the vineyard investments that we were looking to graft or plant, we can now step into that process,” Mr Dal Zotto said. “We feel pretty buoyant that we’ll continue to grow that segment of the
industry, therefore hold more value to the industry overall.” Brown Family Wine Group CEO Dean Carroll said no deal is far better than a bad deal for regional Australia. He said it’s not often all areas of government agree but it’s clear on this issue that walking away is the best option for Australia. “Prosecco is a grape variety and has been for hundreds of years
and attempting to force limitations on Australian producers’ right to use as part of a ‘free trade agreement’ is against the very heart of why free trade agreements exist,” Mr Carroll said. “It’s so pleasing to see how the King Valley region in conjunction with our local MP and industry bodies have been able to work together to get the message heard in all the right places. ■ Continued page 2
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