Australian prosecco: Brown Brothers upsets Italians

In a recent post on his blog Vino al vino, Franco Ziliani writes about Australian prosecco and Italian products being 'copied' overseas. At 26 comments and counting, a furore has ensued over what the Italians perceive as another episode in their beloved enogastronomic products being imitated around the world.

The more sensitive issue for Italians is not that overseas sources are copying their products, but that Italians themselves are incapable of properly protecting and promoting their culture and quality produce.

My take? Prosecco is a type of grape, so it is permissable that it be used in other wine making regions, Italy or overseas, and that it be given that name. For example, when, in Australia and the rest of the world, you could no longer say "Champagne", we were talking about a regional name and all the tradition and culture that lies behind that wine making technique. That does not mean we can no longer write "chardonnay" on a bottle of sparkling wine, it being the grape variety most used in that style of wine.

In addition, the Italians need to first learn to appreciate their own produce. Prosecco is one of the most bastardised words in wine in Italy, much like spumante, and many Italians drink "prosecco" as an aperitif without knowing what it is, whether that's what's really in the glass and whether it's of quality or not.

As pointed out in many of the comments on Vino al vino, the Italians need to devise a comprehensive system of protecting and promoting their own products. As one reader says, a wine tasting once a year of authentic Italian wine at the embassy in the US (and in any other country for that matter), does not constitute a concerted PR effort in the face of the many imitation Italian products that exist.

The argument is far more complex than I have been able to outline here, but it will be interesting to see if it becomes another example of intellectual property in the wine making world. For my part, I would be interested in trying the Brown Brothers prosecco, if only to taste an expression of this wine from another part of the world. That I would favour it over a good Italian prosecco from Valdobbiadene for all its tradition, culture and quality is another debate.

Vermentino from Australia

An interesting discussion came up on our Ozwine group mailing list on the grape variety, Vermentino. I have just recently had the opportunity to try some vermentino, traditionally a variety from Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy.

I have been sampling some Sardinian wine recently, one of which is a Vermentino di Gallura DOCG from the wine coop Giogantinu. The wine has 13% alcohol and is very soft and inviting, with a thickness on the palate which lets you know you’re drinking hot climate white wine.

I also recently tried a Vermentino from the Montecucco area of Tuscany. It turned up most surprisingly at a dinner I was at recently where French wine should have been the protagonist. Unfortunately I didn’t get the producer’s name, but this was a far more elegant, fresh and subtle example. Really worth a try.

The discussion in our Ozwine group came up with Australian vermentino examples, including Brown Brothers, Foxey's Hangout the White Fox Vermentino and Mudgee growers, Di Lusso, who specialise in Italian varieties (thanks to Ozwin-ers for the tips!).

All this comes down to the fact that after my explorations of Italian vermentino, I will have to try the Australian interpretation of Italian wine, and try some “true blue” vermentino when I’m home at Christmas. It could make for the perfect summer aperitif.