An appellation in the south of France is looking to change its name in order to avoid being associated with a uranium leak at a nuclear power station in the same region.
The Coteaux du Tricastin appellation, which neighbors Cotes du Rhone Villages, has resented its association with Tricastin Nuclear Power Centre for some time. Henri Bour, head of the Coteaux du Tricastin appellation, told the French news Web site nouvelobs.com that the region has wanted to change its name “for about ten years.”
If the project goes according to plan, the appellation could change its name within a year, Decanter reports.
“It’s only a question of image,” Bour told news agency AFP. “The idea [to change the name of the wines] is making progress, and I hope it will be achieved before the 2009 harvest.”
The push for a name change follows the intense media coverage of a uranium leak at the Tricastin nuclear site last month.
