Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2020 9 History and innovation of terroir 9 Politics meets terroir. The story of Prosecco – Are GI’s just a protectionist racket?

Politics meets terroir. The story of Prosecco – Are GI’s just a protectionist racket?

Abstract

The recent Free Trade Agreement negotiations between Australia and the European Union have again put the issue of Geographical Indications (GIs) in the spotlight. Australia has long demonstrated its understanding of GIs and maintains a clear and rigorous GI protection system for wine. For many years, Australia’s wine sector was a strong advocate for GIs and a strong system to protect the rights of users. However, in recent times, trust has been eroded by the move by the European Union to legislate away the use of the grape variety ‘Prosecco’ and create an artificial region called ‘Prosecco’. This effectively downgraded the value of the GI Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco by removing the legitimate terroir link between the region and the product. In Australia and other countries, this was perceived as a cynical attempt to remove the rights of other producers to use the traditional variety Prosecco and has been strongly resisted. In this paper, we use the case study of ‘Prosecco’ to explore the importance of GIs and how the national political agendas can impact on the validity of the concept. Recent developments in international law and practical experience in recent Free Trade Agreement negotiations allow the authors to develop a hypothesis that GIs are being used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. Their very credibility is being eroded as protectionist ideology is driving short-sighted political decision making to devalue the whole concept of GIs by de-linking terroir from the GI. This limits the acceptability of the GI concept and potentially will lead to a consumer backlash as the integrity of the system is questioned. This study also investigates the international legal developments and the implications for these on GI protection.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: March 23, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type: Video

Authors

Anthony Battaglene1*, Damien Griffante2, Lee McLean1

1Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated, Canberra, ACT, Australia
2Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Contact the author

Keywords

Geographic Indications, grape varieties, regionality, Prosecco, wine trade

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

Contaminations croisées avec les produits phytosanitaires dans les vins bio. Sources potentielles et mesures de prévention.

Organic wines, although resulting from a production method based on the non-use of synthetic phytosanitary products, are not always free of residues. These residues can result from cross-contamination during production in the field or in the cellar, during the production or aging of the wine. In recent years, with the improvement of analysis techniques, a molecule, phosphonic acid, the main metabolite of fosetyl-al (banned in organic farming) is regularly quantified in organic wines and its origin is not clearly identified.

Read More

Gestión de la mitigación por las empresas vitivinícolas: combinar sostenibilidad y rentabilidad

The transition to a decarbonized economy requires companies to adopt mitigation measures. The wine sector is one of the most affected by climate change and, therefore, interested in its mitigation. The question is how this process develops. To address this, we build on a previous study [1], which identified different types of Spanish wineries based on their sustainability approach.

Read More

Untangle berry shrivel environmental risk factors and quantify symptoms with AI – GeomAbs meets BAISIQ

Berry Shrivel (BS, Traubenwelke) is a sugar accumulation disorder of grapevine of unknown causes, having a great negative impact on grape quality and incalculable risks for yield losses, and for which no reliable curative practices are available.

Read More

Under-vine management effects on grapevine vegetative growth, gas exchange and rhizosphere microbial diversity

The use of cover crops under the vines might be an alternative to the use of herbicides or tillage, improving grapevine quality and soil characteristics. The aim of this research was to study the implications of different management strategies of the soil under the vines (herbicide, cultivation or cover crops) on grapevine growth, water and nutritional status, gas exchange parameters and belowground microbial communities.
The experimental design consisted in 4 treatments applied on 35L-potted Tempranillo vegetative grapevines with 10 replicates each grown in an open-top greenhouse in 2022 and 2023. Treatments included two cover crop species (Trifolium fragiferum and Bromus repens), herbicide (glyphosate al 36%) and an untreated control.

Read More

Unveiling the fungal diversity of Falanghina grapes and the role of autochthonous Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces yeasts in wine fermentation

Falanghina, a typical wine from the Sannio (Campania region, Italy), hosts a complex fungal microbiota that significantly influences both fermentation dynamics and sensory characteristics.

Read More