The Cámara de Bodegas Exportadoras de la Patagonia Argentina, which brings together companies from the wine-growing provinces in the south of our country, has the need to publicize the current commercial threat that wine producers in Argentine Patagonia are facing.
3 March – For over 50 years, the wine producers of the Patagonian region have developed a characteristic product, which has gained prestige and market both in the country and abroad, through its uninterrupted exports. Likewise, PATAGONIA has been officially recognized as a Geographical Indication since 2002, conferring the region’s producers a right to its exclusive use.
For many years our chamber has been working silently but steadily to prevent private actors from successfully seizing the PATAGONIA brand in different international markets in category 33, corresponding to wine and profit from the prestige and commercial penetration achieved by the wines of this region. This effort has involved the investment of considerable resources destined to file legal actions to protect something that we consider to be the heritage not only of our wineries, but also of Argentina itself and of all Argentines.
“We have been working tirelessly for some time to prevent various companies, including two large global businesses such as Viña Concha y Toro S.A. of Chile and Patagonia Inc. (and its subsidiary Patagonia Provisions) of the United States, from registering and using the PATAGONIA trademark in wines in different markets, appropriating the efforts made by the region’s producers. The commercial use of the PATAGONIA brand by third parties would put Argentine wineries operating in the south of the country in an unfavorable commercial situation. Since PATAGONIA is a geographical indication recognized by Argentine legislation, and only wine originating in Patagonia should be considered as such, no private person (whether Argentine or foreign) can legitimately appropriate a concept that only corresponds to products from the region and it is part of the cultural and geographical heritage of our country and from whose use third parties could benefit by reaping the commercial fruits of the prestige achieved by the products of the region”, said Rubén Patritti, President of the Chamber.
“For this reason, we have recently held meetings with the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, and the National Institute of Viticulture (INV), to inform them of this situation and request their technical and legal assistance. Likewise, we have received the support of Bodegas de Argentina for efforts at the national level and we will ask the Corporación Vitivinícola Argentina (COVIAR) for financial resources to face the growing legal costs involved in defending our rights,” added Patritti.
A few days ago, the president of the INV, Martín Hinojosa, issued resolution RESOL-2022-1-APN-INV#MAGYP ratifying that the Patagonia Geographical Indication (GI) has been recognized under the terms of Article 4 of the Law No. 25,163 and therefore it has been protected since December 16, 2002, by Resolution No. C.37 of the INV and can be individualized indistinctly as IG Patagonia or IG Patagonia Argentina.
Hinojosa reported that “the INV is the Agency responsible for the application of National Law 25,163, which establishes a system of recognition, protection and registration of Argentine geographical names to designate the origin of wines and spirits of wine nature” and added that “this law not only allows us to act in defense of our national heritage, but also protects the interests of consumers regarding the products they acquire and the producers of certain regions or areas, whose products have achieved recognized prestige attributable to their origin.”
Hinojosa recalled that “in 2014 the Federal Court of Appeals of General Roca issued a final ruling declaring the nullity of the registration of the Patagonia brand in our country. In its recitals, the Chamber stated that the Patagonia brand cannot be registered for wines because it has the potential to mislead the consumer not only about its origin but about the qualities that the collective consumer unconscious attributes to Patagonian products, hence the possibility of error about the positive attributes associated with those qualities is a more than evident fact”.
Hinojosa explained that, over the years, the INV has complied with the dictation of the regulations that recognize and protect the Patagonia Geographical Indication or Patagonia Argentina both in the domestic and international markets. “This resolution is intended to save specific situations and protect the many wine producers in the region who repeatedly request the right to use the IG Patagonia for vineyards and wineries located in that geographical area. Because, without a doubt, the terroir of origin is the essential source of the qualities of a wine, which gives the grape produced its typicity and potential characteristics,. Thanks to the intervention of man with his intelligence and the technological means at his disposal, these factors revealed and give identity to the final product, in this case, of Patagonia Argentina” concluded Hinojosa.
The Cámara de Bodegas Exportadoras de la Patagonia Argentina is conformed by numerous companies, among which are: Bodega del Fin del Mundo, Viñedos de la Patagonia – Malma, Familia Schroeder, Grupo Peñaflor, Primogénito, Familia Aicardi, Humberto Canale, Fincas Patagónicas , Contra Corriente, Casa Yagüe, Miras, Noemia, Chacra, Aniello, Del Río Elorza, Aicardi and Bodega del Desierto.
