Why Italian winemakers are fighting to banish ‘prosecco’ from your wine collection

In recognition of National Prosecco Day, Rebecca Ann Hughes delves into prosecco's initial boom and why winemakers have decided to ditch the term ‘prosecco’ from labels altogether.

Head to the wine aisle of most major supermarkets in Europe and you’ll find multiple bottles of fizzy white wine labeled ‘prosecco’. It might be as cheap as €5 or it might set you back over €15.

In the early 2000s, good marketing, a push by British importers and a relatively low price meant that prosecco exploded onto the international wine scene.

Fast forward to 2022, and 81.2% of prosecco bottles were exported internationally, according to the Prosecco DOC Consortium.

During prosecco’s initial boom, the Italian government expanded the ‘denomination of controlled origin’ (DOC) to cover the far-away village of Prosecco (after which the wine was named) to establish geographical exclusivity.

While this cemented the area’s claim to the wine, it meant a major production expansion and ambiguity when it came to quality.

Marketing campaigns still strive to paint prosecco production as a bucolic, low-yield, high-quality affair in the rolling hills of the Veneto region. But in reality, much is made at an industrial scale from vines even 100 km away from the ‘prosecco hills’ of Valdobbiadene.

Producers have tried to make consumers aware of the variety in quality. But with mouthful location names like Conegliano Valdobbiadene and obscure EU grades DOC and DOCG (the more strict ‘controlled and guaranteed designation of origin’), it is hard to communicate.

Instead, consumers have understandably caught onto the easily-pronounceable umbrella term ‘prosecco’, now synonymous with an affordable and often low-quality product.

That’s why now, some winemakers have made the radical decision to ditch the term ‘prosecco’ from labels altogether. Instead of focusing on the wine type, they want to emphasize the terroir and production method.

In 2019, 450 million bottles of prosecco were produced in the DOC area, which is mainly flat, while 90 million were produced in the hilly DOCG zone.

Winemakers want to highlight the effect of the steeply sloping UNESCO-designated hillsides of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene on the product.

Col Vetoraz winery, which produces Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superior DOCG, eliminated the identifier ‘prosecco’ from labels several years ago.

“We believe that the current situation of the Prosecco system is oppressing the denomination of Conegliano Valdobbiadene,” enologist and CEO Loris Dall’Acqua told WineNews.

“As Col Vetoraz, we made this choice allowed by the regulations to make it clear to consumers, and to focus exclusively on Valdobbiadene, which, in our opinion, is the only true territorial expression.”

The Confraternity of Valdobbiadene, a collective of enologists and leaders in the wine industry that promotes the DOCG product, is also considering a proposal to drop the term ‘prosecco’ from the DOCG denomination completely.

“We are verifying the loss of perception, by consumers, of the distinctions between the various origins,” Dall’Acqua, who is part of the confraternity, added.

The Consortium of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG seems to be seeking a similar outcome.

Speaking earlier this year to DrinksRetailing, director Diego Tomasi said the body wants to come up with a shorter name for the product.

“Our name is long and not easy to remember,” he said. “So now we are discussing one name – maybe Conegliano Valdobbiadene, maybe CV – we will find a solution before the end of 2024.”

Tomasi also referred to the debate over including the term ‘prosecco’ as a “big, big challenge for the future.”

“We cannot forget prosecco because it opens the way,” he said. “We have another necessity now – to separate Conegliano Valdobbiadene from the normal prosecco.

“And then to put prosecco on the back label, maybe not so big,” he added.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com