Australian Wine Geographic Indications

An Australian wine-growing region, sub region or a zone is officially described as a Geographical Indication or a GI, in short. The GI of a particular Australian wine growing region can either be a list of map coordinates, grid references or roads and natural land marks, which out lines the boundary of that particular region, on a map.   

The purpose of having GIs is to secure the use of regional names under international law, the use of a GI is limited to describing Australian wines produced only in that particular region, for example like Bordeaux, Burgundy. In order to protecting the integrity of the label and safeguarding the consumer, an Australian wine carrying a regional name should be made using a minimum of 85% of fruits from that region.  

Australia first started using Geographical Indications in 1993, when the Australian Wine and Brandy act was updated, enabling the country to fulfil her two agreements with the European Community on Trade in Wine and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). These agreements were a response, to a surge in Australian Wine exports to the EC countries during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The act prevents the use of a GI to an Australian Wine if that wine is not actually produced in that region.  

The list of Australian Wine growing GIs starts from the zone known as South Eastern Australia, which is located in an area south east of a line from North Queensland to Ceduna in South Australia. Whole states, as well as 28 zones with contiguous boundaries within each state, have been declared as GIs.  

Of the 61 regions been identified; most have been entered in the Register of Protected names, while rest still are in the interim or proposal stage. Until it is defined under the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act and gets entered onto the Register of Protected Names, a GI does not have any legal status.