A growing number of wine regions throughout the world are working to protect the names associated with their geographic locations. Santa Barbara County wineries are joining that effort this week at a meeting in France.
“We are honored to join this esteemed group of the world’s leading wine regions," said Morgen McLaughlin, executive director of the Santa Barbara Vintners. "Santa Barbara County wines, like all those represented in this coalition, are unique. They can’t be duplicated anywhere else in the world and today we come together to recognize that nothing shapes a wine’s character like its location."
The Protect Wine Place and Origin effort was kicked off in 2005 by some of the wine industry's most popular regions, including the Napa Valley and Champagne, France.
Paso Robles area wineries joined the declaration back in 2007, according to Christopher Taranto with the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.
Santa Barbara is one of three regions joining the project this week. Bordeaux and the Burgundy/Chablis region are the other two.