American winemakers should work closely in collaboration with other New World wine producers on a global basis, opening each other’s markets and uniting against protectionist policies of European Union countries in order to stave off the effects of the global recession.
There is no reason wineries should be working against each other; there is every reason they should be finding ways to work together, especially when it comes to surviving the current economic climate.
Australia should not be seen as the enemy of American producers in international markets; California and Australia have to become more collaborative, not enemies. U.S. winemakers also need to make a more serious effort at exporting. Very few American companies currently export wine because of the stringent international requirements.
American winemakers need to work together rather than separately in negotiating such agreements with the European Union, which has shown a policy of “divide and conquer” when it comes to trade agreements with New World countries.
If one country gives up the right to use the term ‘vintage’ because of the EU’s insistence that it is a historical European winemaking term, it will use that to force the same agreement from all the other New World producers.
In this difficult economic period, it seems certain that the world is facing a winegrape oversupply which will make successful exporting programs essential for all of the world’s key wine-producing countries.
