On the 1st September 2011 an update, made the previous year, to the Australian Wine Corporation Act 1980 became enforceable - ruling that ‘sherry’ produced in the country could no longer be labelled as such. The decision was similar to those made in the 90s when the EU sought to inforce geographical indicators (such as Champagne and Burgundy) with their trading partners outside the Eurozone. Overnight, sherry, fino, oloroso, Amontillado (and several others) all disappeared from Australian labels. It was felt that as a category name, whilst ‘Australian fortified wine’ was certainly literal, it was also far too vague – there are many types of fortified wine products. Specificity was required to avoid confusing the consumer. Australian ex-sherry (see what I did there) needed a new name. Enter Apera.