One last rant from me on BUL beer.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This (currently) overrated trendy white wine is stealing the Ozzy white wine market at the expense of the Hunter Valley:
http://tinyurl.com/pwvs3w
All the wine producers in the Hunter have to do is (a) source as much locally grown sauvignon blanc in Australia as they can find. Start planting plenty of sauvignon blanc in the Hunter also.
(b) Find a struggling small winery based in Marlborough New Zealand. Pay that NZ winery X amount of Dollars for Licensing rights.
(c) Make shit loads of Sauvignon Blanc wine in the Hunter Valley. Sell it as "Marlborough New Zealand sauvignon blanc." Print a small disclaimer on the label/box saying "Made Under License of Bob's Winery 234 Main Road, Marlborough, New Zealand, by Rip Off Wineries Hunter Valley NSW."
As totally absurd* as the above sounds, this is EXACTLY what currently happens with beer. Stella Artois: (a) 100% made in Australia. (b) License provided by the brewery in Europe. And (c) Sold as Belgium Beer! Packaging references Belgium, Europe, History: Since 1366. Small disclaimer, printed on the underside of the case/slab, or back-label of bottle is the only reference to being an Australian product.
*Actually, maybe not totally absurd; There is an Australian wine product sold as NZ Marl Sav Blanc. It's made from Imported and Local grapes. I noticed it recently at 1st? Choice. (I'll look for it next time I'm in 1st Choice or Dan Murphys, and post details of this so-called NZ Marl Sav Blanc here.) Like BUL beer, the disclaimer about being made in Australia was in very small print. Makes sense, Lion Nathan and Fosters are both heavily involved with wine. What they can get away with in beer, wine also. Hey, everything is probably up for grabs.
I might go into business selling arctic water. I'll register the business name "Arctic Circle Water." All I have to do is pay some Eskimos in the far north of Greenland $100 for license rights. The packaging will have pictures of Greenland, glaciers, umm fake “hollywood-looking†happy Eskimos. Maybe a polar bear. Some disclaimer in small print somewhere; Base of the bottle might be a good spot. Naturally, I'll just bottle it from my sink tap here in Canberra.
It's a joke. At the very least the labeling of these BUL products should be much stricter so that the average person can discern the country of origin without the use of a magnifying glass. Probably a largish Australian Map with Made In Australia written underneath it. Even better though, just outlaw BUL beer. European beer, or French wine, or Italian shoes, or f***ing truffles from Japan, etc etc, should be just that. Made in those countries and EXPORTED to Australia. Not made in some shoddy factory in Liverpool NSW and deceptively packaged to look like an IMPORT. As for the inevitable arguments about global warming, freshness of the product etc. Start f***ing making some nice Australian "fancy" beer. These mega-swill companies that sell "what-looks-like-imported-beer" have billions of dollars to employ the best brewers and marketing people in the country and they can't even create a good locally made product with it's own distinctive branding. Sorry, forgot about Crown...