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<pre>Don't worry the concept cannot be applied to Australian olive oil for a
long time to come (that is not quite true as I think Mudgee is
following through their wine regional name with one for olive oil but
I'm not sure). The regional names are controlled by the producers with
some government input and they decide whether the oil or wine or
vinegar or cheese or ham or whatever is fit to carry the regional name.
I'm not sure whether they could call themselves Chianti ( Not regional
name) but I doubt it. For Australia there is no traditional base to
work from. The system would be impossible. For wine there is a growing
traditional base and it would for example be possible to establish a
system for the Barossa based on the Shiraz grape. With olives no one
has had the experience yet to say the the Hunter or some other regional
area of similar climate and soil combines with certain varieties to
produce a characteristic oil.

Having said that the regional names have enormous problems when they
are too successful. One of the most famous is Burgundy. The prices for
Burgundy are outrageous but the naming system is frozen as no one is
game to touch the goose that lays the golden egg or rather dozens of
golden eggs. The same goes for Chianti where many of the best wines are
called "Super Tuscan" and have a low classification because they have
broken out of the Sangiovese dominance.

In Australia there are other problems too. The regional names concept
is a mixture of cooperation and competition that is based on the
culture. It hardly exists in Britain in spite of European law applying
there too. The producers cooperate to promote the regional name but it
is not a cooperative and they all sell in competition with each other
but realise that it is in none of their interests to degrade the value
of the regional name by dumping poor quality product onto the market.
In Australia the brand dominates and a doubt whether brand owners would
cooperate. It is not impossible as Champagne demonstrates (dominated by
large international brands) but unlikely.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.
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