All grapes are not created equal

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SCOTT JAGOW: Some important people from the wine industry came to Washington this week.They’re trying to get Congress and trade officials to do something about a threat to their brands. Lisa Napoli explains.

LISA NAPOLI: They came to the nation’s capital from wine-growing regions in the U.S., Europe and Australia. And their message: All grapes are not created equal.

Winemaker Peter McCrea says some suppliers have been slapping the name Napa on bottles made nowhere near the Northern California wine region, and he wants that to stop.

PETER MCCREA: We want there to be some integrity around the name Napa.

Wine writer Jon Bonne of the San Francisco Chronicle says there’s a wrinkle in that strategy.

JON BONNE: The problem is, do you then protect everything and are you ultimately protecting names that don’t necessarily have that much of a meaning to the actual consumer?

Like, Bonne says, the emerging wine market not yet well known around the world in Paso Robles, Calif.

Not far from there in Los Angeles, I’m Lisa Napoli for Marketplace.