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…

Varietal differences between Shiraz and Cabernet sauvignon wines revealed by yeast metabolism

This study investigated if compositional differences between Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties could influence the production of yeast-derived compounds. This work was based on the analysis of 40 experimental red wines made in triplicate fermentations from grapes harvested from two consecutive vintages in New South Wales (Australia). Grapes were picked at three maturity stages using berry sugar accumulation as physiological indicator, from nine commercial vineyards located in three different climatic regions (temperate, temperate-warm and warm-hot). A range of 30 yeast-derived wine volatiles including esters and alcohols were quantified by HS/SPME-GC/MS. Ammonia, amino-acids and lipids were analysed in the corresponding grapes. The juice total soluble solids (°Brix) in addition to the wine alcohol and residual sugar levels were also measured. The influence of grape maturity on wine ester composition was also variety dependent, particularly for higher alcohol acetate and ethyl ester of branched acids. This study highlights that varietal differences observed in Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines involve fermentation-derived compounds irrespective of the site (soil, climate, viticultural practices).

Read More

La zonazione viticola e i compiti dell’amministrazione regionale

Solo attraverso un adeguato intervento di estirpazione e reimpianto dei vigneti è possibile preservare, adeguare e valorizzare il patrimonio viticolo e le produzioni che da esso derivano.
Il reimpianto dei vigneti è pertanto da intendersi come una normale pratica agricola, alla pari della rimonta di stalla in campo zootecnico, ma può assumere toni problematici quando, come si verifica adesso in Toscana per una serie di circostanze legate alla profonda trasfor­mazione della viticoltura avvenuta negli ultimi 30 anni, troppi impianti giungono contem­poraneamente a fine ciclo produttivo e devono essere rinnovati.

Read More

The FEM grapevine crossbreeding program for resistance to the main ampelopathies: towards climate-resilient varieties

The technique of crossing, whether free or controlled, has always been a source of variability allowing the selection of new varieties with improved fitness.

Read More

METAPIWI: unveiling the role of microbial communities in PIWI grapes for sustainable winemaking

The METAPIWI project advances viticulture research by examining microbial communities in PIWI (fungus-resistant) grapevines compared to traditional Vitis vinifera. It investigates how these microbes influence spontaneous fermentation and the production of distinct metabolites and aromas.

Read More

Free and bound terpene profile of recovered minority white grape varieties by GC × GC-TOFMS

Climate change presents a significant challenge for actual viticulture. In this context, recovering minority grape varieties can be a crucial strategy to ensure resilience, particularly those capable of maintaining quality and aromatic complexity under water stress.

Read More