NEWS
CHINA RULED THAT PROSECCO IS AN ITALIAN G.I. DESPITE OBJECTION FROM AUSTRALIA
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
21-1-2022
Source: Prosecco DOC Consortium
China’s trademark office recently ruled that Italian Prosecco should enjoy geographical indication (G.I.) status and should be protected in China, despite opposition from the Australian wine industry which also produces a wine called Prosecco.
The Italian Prosecco DOC Consortium started the G.I. application in China back in 2014, they hailed the ruling that came at the end of last year as a victory and an important international recognition.
Objections to the consortium’s application were lodged by Australian Grape and Wine (AGW), which represents Australia’s wine growers, on grounds that Australian wineries have been making Prosecco wines from the Prosecco grapes since 1990s before the Italian Prosecco DOC was established in 2009.
Prosecco was just the name of the grape currently known as Glera before 2009 in Italy and beyond, not the name of an Italian sparkling wine appellation.
The Prosecco DOC was officially created in 2009 in Northeast Italy spanning nine provinces. The same year the local regulators decided to change the grape’s name from Prosecco to Glera, the idea was to avoid confusion.
But Australian winemakers, many of them of Italian heritage, first planted this same variety in Melbourne’s King Valley nearly 20 years ago and have been making a similar style of sparkling wine.
From the perspective of Australian vintners, they have the right to continue making their own version of Prosecco and export them to other countries.
The Chinese trademark office, however, rejected the Australian opposition by deciding that "Prosecco" is a trademark and a G.I. to distinguish the origin of the product from northern Italy.
This means Australian producers cannot export their Prosecco to China and will have to label them as Australian sparkling wine.
The Ambassador of Italy to China, Luca Ferrari, said the victory was a step forward in the defence of the “Prosecco” denomination.
The international media, however, considered the ruling another incident to reflect the tension between the Chinese and Australian governments which has already resulted in a damaging 218 percent punitive tariffs on Australian wine exports to China.
Prosecco is Italy’s most popular sparkling wine, with global sales soaring from 150 million bottles in 2008 to 600 million in 2019.
A whopping 75 percent of Prosecco DOC wine is exported, Italian vintners are very keen in protecting the name Prosecco in export markets.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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