Europeans turn up noses over wine deal http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050928/IBWINE28/TPInternational/Americas EU Lawmakers criticize EU-US wine trade deal http://newsfromrussia.com/economics/2005/09/27/63825.html EUROPA: Agriculture: Wine [pdf] http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/markets/wine/facts/index_en.htm EUROPA: Protected Designation of Origin/Protected Geographical Indication http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/qual/en/1bbab_en.htm Home Wine Making [pdf] http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/content.php?category=Winemaking Free the Grapes! http://www.freethegrapes.org/ The relationship between the Continent and the United States is perhaps best viewed through the various cultural and political exchanges, which have transpired through the efforts of both the public and private spheres of influence. These initiatives have included those that have been largely beneficent, such as the Marshall Plan, versus some cultural imports, such as EuroDisney, which have been viewed with outright hostility and disdain. In a related development this week, a number of members of the European Union’s Parliament began to express strong reservations about a provisional deal with the United States that would increase imports of American-made wine into an already glutted European market. While the deal still has to be officially approved by the EU member states, the voices of opposition have already begun. If approved, the agreement would allow the import of American wine made by methods that are banned in Europe proper. Some of these methods include the use of ion extractors to reduce the wine’s acidity, the addition of water before fermentation, and the addition of oak chips to speed up the aging process. Speaking on behalf of many who are critical of this potential agreement, Jean-Claude Martinez, a French politician, remarked “We have been making wine since the Roman Empire, and not for a couple of hundred years like the Americans. Wine is a civilization, it is a fine art.” The first link will take users to a piece from the Globe and Mail’s Wednesday edition that discusses the proposed agreement between the European Union and the United States. The second link takes visitors to additional coverage on the wine agreement from this Tuesday’s edition of Pravda. The third link leads users to a site from the European Union’s website which provides information about the distillation, consumption, production, and market situation of wine throughout the entire EU. The fourth link leads to a related site that provides information on the various products that are protected under the auspices of the EU, including such notable favorites as Clare Island salmon from Ireland and Allgauer Bergkase cheese from Germany. The fifth link leads to a guide to home winemaking provided by the department of viticulture and enology at the University of California-Davis. The sixth and final link leads to the homepage of the Free the Grapes organization, which is a grassroots coalition of consumers and wineries who seek “to remove restrictions in 22 states that still prohibit consumers from purchasing wines directly from out-of-state wineries”.