Napa Valley has received the Geographic Indication (GI) status from the government of The People’s Republic of China.

The GI status will protect the illegal labeling of wines as being originated from Napa Valley.

The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV), a non-profit trade association responsible for promoting and protecting the Napa Valley appellation, has been trading wines to China for over 14 years and exporting nearly 25% of its wineries’ wines to China.

This forced NVV to seek recognition for the wines in that country and hence approached the Chinese government.

The NVV members and staff held many meetings with the Chinese government, explaining the unique attributes and the limited production of Napa’s wines, to achieve the GI status.

NVV executive director Linda Reiff said they were happy to know that China, the emerging wine market, has decided to grant Napa Valley the GI status.

"This is an historic milestone for the Napa Valley appellation and speaks to the global respect for our region’s reputation and high-quality wines," Reiff added.

"Having the Chinese government’s official recognition protects the integrity of the Napa Valley brand, and does so fairly early-on in our efforts to develop this tremendous market."

Besides China, the Napa Valley has also received GI status in European Union, India, Thailand, Canada and Brazil.