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Jenever (Dutch gin) gets protected statusMonday 26 November 2007 EU agriculture ministers have given jenever (Dutch gin) protected geographic status. This means the traditional Dutch spirit can only be distilled in the Netherlands and Belgium and in one or two German and French provinces. Jenever was first made in the Middle Ages. Leiden university professor and chemist Sylvius de Bouve is credited with inventing it, by adding the medicinal juniper berry to distilled alcohol. Today, the biggest Dutch jenever distilleries are in Schiedam, Amsterdam and Groningen. Jonge (young) jenever is the most popular spirit in the Netherlands - some 170,000 hectolitres were drunk in 2005. Young jenever takes its name from the fact it uses newer distilling techniques and contains more grain-based alcohol than the traditional malt-based Oude (old) version. Jenever is the sixth Dutch product to be given EU status, joining the Opperdoezer Ronde (a potato from the West-Friesian region Opperdoes) and four cheeses (Boeren Leidse, Kanter, Noord-Hollandse Edammer and Noord-Hollandse Gouda). © DutchNews.nl Get the DutchNews.nl newsletter in your mailbox: Click here to subscribe
The so calles "geographic protection" within the EU is, in fact, a simple extension of the French "Appellation Contrôlée" for wines and similar measures for cheeses and other foods in various European countries. So Dutch gin does not get a "special protection status" at all! It simply prohibits gin makers OUTSIDE the designated geographical area to call their product "jenever". Everybody (except some Chinese!) will welcome such a decision. BTW, the production of (too much) milk has of course NOTHING to do with the protection of authentic European products. By seo2007 | November 27, 2007 6:03 AM Dutch gin is a protected geographic status just like Cognac. It is specific to a region. Milk is not protected because it is a common commodity. It is not specific to one geographic location and therefore can be over produced. Over production in milk will cause a drop in prices. Why produce something when you can't sell it for a reasonable price. By Hiram | November 27, 2007 7:09 AM Agriculture Council didn't adopt the new Spirit Drinks Regulation yesterday. The decision was postponed to the december Council (17 December). The draft foresees the protection of "Jenever" and "Genever" for producers in the Netherlands, Belgium, in the French departments Nord and Pas-de-Calais and in the German Bundesländer Nordrhein-Westfalen and Niedersachsen. (Editors note: ministers have already agreed to back protection fo jenever but indeed, the formal decision has not yet been taken) By Werner Albrecht | November 27, 2007 8:14 AM Place your comments: |
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So Dutch gin can get a special protection status yet the government FINES farmers for producing too much milk? That's gotta to be the most asinine thing I've ever heard.
By Lonna Brown | November 26, 2007 4:36 PM