Temecula man fights Mexico over name

TEMECULA, Calif., March 14 (UPI) -- A Guadalajara, Mexico-based group representing agave growers, tequila producers and distributors is arguing with a U.S. man over the name Temecula.

Temecula, Calif., resident John Wagoner perfected his recipe for an alcoholic beverage distilled from the pina, or core, of blue agave plants and named the 100-proof concoction Temecula after his hometown, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But the Mexican government says it holds all rights of the name tequila.

Making a spirit called tequila is "impossible to do in any other part of the world than Mexico -- not in South Africa, not in Europe, not in the United States," said Ramon Gonzalez, director of the Tequila Regulatory Council.

Temequila is "phonetically similar" to fool tequila buyers into thinking it's the Mexican-made liquor, according to Gonzalez.