And if prosecco was used to then describe the wine, it was no doubt mentioned as a grape name. This situation remained relatively unchanged until the 1960s” says Stefano Ponte in a research paper on prosecco. “In the 19th century, viticulture was still a secondary activity in this area, and small-scale production was mainly aimed at self-consumption. Wine has no doubt been made here since Roman times, but that this creates a historic base for the DOC Prosecco is doubtful. Some people are of the opinion that prosecco has always (for a long time) been the name of the wine so the DOC is based on a long tradition but that argument is hard to understand. It is also curious to note that even people in Italy still sometimes use prosecco as the name of the grape. It is also planted in Argentina and some other countries. Australia is the big hold-out that still has not abandoned the prosecco name for the grape. New Zealand recently signed a trade agreement with the EU that (among other things) means that they will, in a few years’ time, no longer use that grape name and no longer make prosecco. And since the EU is actively protecting its geographical denominations through trade agreements, prosecco is forbidden as a grape name in more and more countries. It is a protected name in the EU, and the grape name prosecco can no longer be used. That Prosecco is a DOC (now with some DOCG sister-regions) has significant consequences. Glera / prosecco grapes brought to the winery after harvest, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography It seems clearly to have been a move in support of his home region. He was born in Conegliano and is now president of the Veneto region. These rule changes were signed into law by the then minister of agriculture in the Berlusconi government, Luca Zaia, a Lega Nord (Northern League) politician. Much of the land in the newly added extended DOC is flat. The landscape in the original Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area is quite hilly, sometimes with steep terraced vineyards. The new DOC Prosecco region extended from the Slovak border almost all the way to Verona. The Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOC covered a rather small arear around the two towns. The creation of the DOC Prosecco also included a vast extension of the geographic area. Trieste only became part of Italy in 1922. It used to be part of Slovenia (and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) where they made, and still make a wine called “prošek”. It was almost 150 kilometres away from the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene region and did not produce prosecco wine. The village of Prosecco, from where it takes its name, was actually located near Trieste, at the very eastern edge of Italy. The details of the creation of the new Prosecco region in 2009 are curious. And so on.Īperol spritz and campari spritz with prosecco in a bar in Conegliano, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography Nero d’avola and montepulciano are two other grapes in the line of sight. You can read more about that here: Italians grab Vermentino now (by José Vuillamoz). The more recent EU ruling on the grape name vermentino becoming exclusively Italian is another example. Aligoté, altesse, clairette, gewurztraminer, gringet, jacquère, mondeuse, persan, poulsard, savagnin, sylvaner and trousseau are also excluded from vdf labels.) The Alsatians want to keep that for themselves. Except if it is a wine made from the riesling grape. In France, now after the wine law reform, you can put the grape name on the label of a bottle of vin de france (previously vin de table). Italians seem particularly deft at this game, but they are certainly not alone. Today, that discussion is over, it is from a legal standpoint a region.īut the story is interesting from a historical point of view, and it is also a telling illustration of how the wine industry is sometimes guided more by protectionist initiatives than good reason. Photography BKWine Photographyįor some time there was a discussion of whether prosecco is a grape name or a wine region. Road signs, "strada del prosecco" and vineyards in Conegliano Valdobbiadene, copyright BKWine.
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