Prosecco gains trademark protection in New Zealand

The new free trade agreement signed between New Zealand and the EU which now recognises Prosecco as a protected regional indication is causing headaches for Australian producers of the sparkling wine.  

The term is now being phased out of use in New Zealand for imported wine from anywhere other than Italy.  This comes after thethe Prosecco DOC won its battle to achieve trademark protection in China at the end of last year, after registering the name in the market back in 2014, despite objections from the Australian Grape and Wine on behalf of those producers who make and sell sparkling wine under that name from 120 ha across 11 regions.

The decision in Italy’s favour could well be a reflection of the ongoing tensions between Camberra and Beijing, and another symbolic victory for Italian producers.  According to Wine Australia, New Zealand is the most important country for Autralian exports, accounting for almost half of the market by value, and is also the key export market for Australia’s Prosecco, with an annual value of US$236m in 2021 according to Global Trade Atlas.  

"This protection is particularly significant, since a country so far away from us recognises that we are a denomination of origin, preventing the marketing of 'Australian Prosecco five years after the agreement comes into force'“, said Alessandra Zuccato, head of the Consortium's protection activities. 

Until 2009 Prosecco was generally regarded as a grape variety such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, enabling growers in other countries to plant it and use the name on their labels. However, it is also regarded as a region. Australian “Prosecco” dates back to 1999 when the Dal Zotto family brought cuttings of the grape variety back from Valdobbiadene in Veneto to Australia’s King Valley.  Prosecco sales rocketed in the early 2000s and as a result the Italian wine industry looked for ways to protect their wines from competition and fraud. While geographical regions such as Champagne or  can be protected, grape varieties cannot, so Italian produers decided to change the name of the Prosecco grape to its Friulian synonym - Glera in 20009, and declared that the name Prosecco referred to the DOC, based on the fact that there is a small town called Prosecco close to Trieste.

The Prosecco DOC is now a large production zone, spanning nine provinces. However, when the change was made, Australia already had a significant Prosecco industry, Stefano Zanette, president of the Prosecco DOC, added: "The Consorzio has relentlessly undertaken legal actions against the innumerable evocation cases that took place all around the world, operating tenaciously to structure a solid protection basis. Now these great efforts are finally producing the long-awaited results."

Photography: Alberto Caliman/Unsplash