The Italian
Government banned the use of ‘Tocai’ with
effect from last March but the legal hassles have
prevented the adoption of an alternate name and a
local court ruling last Wednesday, makes it a wine
with no name.
Government officials met winemakers
from Trieste yesterday to try to resolve a dispute
that has made it illegal to call one of Italy's most
distinctive wines anything at all.
Says Stefano Trinco, President of
a body overseeing wine production standards in the
Italian north-east, ‘this situation would be
ridiculous, were it not so serious". He said
in frustration, ’chambers of commerce, which
ought to be registering the 2007 vintage, can't do
so and don't know what to call it!’
For centuries, the wine was called
Tocai Friulano. In the Tokaj-Hegyalja region of Hungary,
wines are produced called Tokaj, also known as Tokay
in England. Two of these dessert wines, in fact, won
Gold medals at the recently held India Wine Challenge
in London and Delhi while Italian Tocai Friulano has
also been sold in many restaurants.
When Hungary joined EU in the 90s,
it was given a concession and it was ruled by the
EU that winegrowers in Italy and France, which used
to produce a wine called Tokay d'Alsace, must stop
using the Tocai or Tokay name.
They were given until last March
to find another name. Friulano was the name recommended
by Italians, since the Tocai is grown in the region
of Friuli Venezia Giulia. In fact, during my visit
to the Friuli last summer, everyone seemed to have
accepted the name ‘Friulano’ though there
was some talk of a few disgruntled producers opposing
the suggested name.
The regional government also passed
a law allowing the wine to be marketed under this
name in Italy. But some maverick producers took legal
action to block the use of Friulano and twice won
their case.
The latest court ruling on Wednesday,
leaves the wine nameless. Taking a cue from an old
Western, ‘The man with No Name’, starring
Clint Eastwood, and a hint from the maverick style
of Australians, the Italians should perhaps agree
to call it…The Wine with No name.
Read an earlier article at http://www.delhiwineclub.com
Subhash Arora
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