Mondo Cocktail: A Shaken and Stirred History Book

In the autumn of 1977, a dispute arose between the People's Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union over the origins of vodka and who was allowed to trade under that name on the world market. Aided by friends in the "free world," Poland sued in the World Trade Court to strip Soviet vodkas of the right to the appelation, arguing that real vodka originated in Poland and that only "polish-style" vodka deserves the name.

The Soviet Union put one of its great historians on the case, and the History of Vodka is the result. Pokhlyobkin argues that Russia's first grain-based vodka was distilled in a Moscow in the 15th century, beating out Poland by a hundred years or so. And while this version of events seemed to settle matters in the 70s, the vodka war in Europe has brokem out again.

Today's fight pits Poland, Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries against Italy, France, Britain and the Netherlands. The "traditioanlists" argue that only vodka made exclusively from grains, potatoes and sugar-beet molasses should be called vodka. They are pressing for legislation in the European Union to force producers who puts "foregin" elements in their vodkas (particualrly grapes) to say so on their labels. The "newcomers" have formed the European Vodka Alliance, and are lobbying for a more liberal definition, contending that vodka's ingredients do not affect its taste. Naturally, the Alliance denounces the proposed legislation as a ploy by the Nordic and Baltic countries to monopolize the $12 billion global vodka market.

Europe has already imposed geographic naming restrictions on hundreds of products. For example, only Greek companies that use goat milk and special production methods can market and sell feta cheese within the bloc, much to the annoyance of producers in Denmark and France. Belgium and Britain spent two decades arguing over what fat to allow in chocolate: Britain wanted to allow any vegetable fat; the Belgians demanded only cocoa butter.

Today, of course, there is no Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the U.S. drives the global vodka market, accounting for close to a billion dollars each year in European vodka exports.