THE hottest drop in the Australian wine industry might be forced to change its name if Italian grape growers and winemakers get their way.
With Australia busy negotiating a new free trade agreement with the EU, the Italians are hyper-busy demanding Prosecco follows the French examples of Champagne and Burgundy being exclusive only to wine coming from those geographical areas.
But Australian winemakers descended on Canberra this week, urging the Federal Government to defend their burgeoning Prosecco market, which has more than tripled in value in the past decade to $205 million – and counting.
Trentham Estate chief executive and chief winemaker, Anthony Murphy, insists Prosecco is a grape variety – although it has been largely changed to Glera since 2009 when the Italians decided to also create a Prosecco geographical area.
The EU is now looking at using the FTA to repeat the French success story which reclaimed Champagne as a defined and historical geographic area.
The appeal of the Prosecco grape was first recorded by Roman historian Pliny the Elder in about 50-60AD but he made no reference to a region called Prosecco.
And in 2022AD, Mr Murphy still uses the same argument: that Prosecco has simply been a grape variety, long before the Italians launched a plan to geographically hijack the brand.
“Hopefully sanity will prevail, but Australia’s wineries and grape growers purchased the variety in good faith and brought Prosecco here and started to grow a lot of it,” he said.
“At Trentham Estate we started our first plantings about 10 years ago – this vintage we expect to crush about 90 tonnes of Prosecco, and that level is going up every year,” he said.
“To be fair, we should be able to use the name Prosecco because it is the name of the grape, nothing else, and for us it is the biggest seller in our The Family range.
“It wouldn’t be good for us, or for the industry, to suddenly lose that brand.”
Mr Murphy said that no sooner has Australia’s wine industry built the brand up to make it such a successful drink than all of a sudden, the Italians say it’s not.
“All the Italians want to do is sell more of their product, and I understand that, but we have done all the right things, so it’s getting a bit tricky here,” he added.
“If you look around our wine industry, you can see the shift to Prosecco has been a significant investment across the board, especially when you consider the variety wasn’t that popular in the beginning – so that meant more time and money invested into marketing.
“But unlike champagne, Prosecco is not a long time going through the process from grapes to winery shelves, it comes onto the market early.
“And for us, and many others I would think, it is a good style and good variety that fits the modern consumer – it’s not too alcoholic, is light and zingy and very successful. As Prosecco.”
Grape and Wine Australia chief executive Lee McLean says the Prosecco/Glera variety has been skyrocketing in popularity but that doesn’t alter the fact Prosecco is a grape variety name, just like Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.
He added: “The European Union’s approach to this issue is motivated by a desire to protect Italian producers from competition and nothing more”.
There are 20 regions across Australia that grow the grape, with production concentrated in Victoria’s Murray and King valleys, communities are built around the varietal’s production and therefore relying on it for a source of income.
“These producers were in Canberra to make sure our politicians understand decisions relating to Prosecco have significant consequences for businesses, regional communities and ultimately people,” Mr McLean said.
“Prosecco isn’t just a bargaining chip for our negotiators.
“If we don’t back our producers now, there is a real risk other varieties such as Vermentino, Fiano, Nero d’Avola and Montepulciano will be next in the firing line.”
He says Grape and Wine Australia is standing shoulder to shoulder with Australia’s Prosecco producers and is working with industry to #SaveAussieProsecco.
