Spirited debate about ‘what’s in a name?’

EU farm ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday (24 October) are to debate a proposal from Finland to narrow the ­European ­definition of vodka.

Finland wants to introduce a requirement that vodkas distilled from ­anything other than grain, potatoes or molasses should be called ‘vodka made from’ plus the raw ingredient name.

The proposal is the ­latest to emerge from a European Commission review of existing definitions of alcoholic spirits.

Although the ­majority of world vodkas are made from cereals, ­potatoes or molasses, ­varieties distilled from fruit - often grapes - are also sold as vodka.

The European Vodka ­Alliance, a lobby group ­opposed to restricting the definition of vodka, has ­reacted angrily to the ­proposal, which Finland has put forward in its role chairing the Council of Ministers. Chris Scott-­Wilson of the Alliance said the idea would create an entirely new sales category. "Under this proposal no one in a bar would be served vodka made from grapes unless they asked for it. Who’s going to ask for a ‘vodka made from grapes and tonic’ rather than just a ‘vodka and ­tonic’?"

Scott-Wilson said his group was happier with an idea adopted by the Euro­pean Parliament’s internal market committee this month requiring that ­vodka distilled from anything but grain, potatoes or ­molasses would have to state its raw ingredient somewhere on the label, but not as part of the name.

A Finnish presidency ­official confirmed that bar staff would only be able to sell ‘vodka made from…’ if they were specifically asked to, but said having two ­categories of vodka would not be discriminatory. "This is about information, not discrimination," the official said. "Consumers in Nordic and several other countries are used to their vodka ­being made from certain traditional raw materials. We have to ­inform the consumer if this is not the case."

He said that the Finnish proposal would place no ­restrictions on the raw ­material for vodka defined as ‘made from’, opening the way for new varieties in future. The official added that Finland and Sweden had been promised a new ­vodka definition during EU membership negotiations in the early 1990s. The two ­countries make most of their vodka from grain.

• Farm ministers will also discuss Commission proposals to reform the EU wine sector. A communication was published in June as part of an ­ongoing process to update the European Common Agricultural Policy.

Ministers have so far backed the general idea of reform. Some have, however, expressed fears that the quality and reputation of EU wine could suffer in the bid to compete with New World sales.

France, Spain and Italy have reservations about the idea of digging up thousands of hectares of vines as part of the reforms.

Earlier this month, mem­ber states approved the use of wood chips to artificially age wine, a practice previously banned in Europe but common in New World wine-producing countries.

EU farm ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday (24 October) are to debate a proposal from Finland to narrow the ­European ­definition of vodka.