Recently re-elected Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has actively defended the use of the term prosecco for Australian wine producers during a recent meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
As it stands, Australia is one of the few major wine markets globally that still permits the use of the term prosecco instead of glera as the name of the grape variety, in spite of the fact that the variety was only officially renamed under European law in 2009.
According to the prime minister, who wet with von der Leyen to discuss a Australia-EU free trade deal, “the naming rights of those products are related to migrants from Europe who’ve come to Australia and produced products that they continue to call feta or prosecco because they’re based upon the heritage. That’s something that the Europeans should be proud of, in my view. We are very proud.”
Over recent years, the Italian Consorzio Di Tutela Della Denominazione Di Origine Controllata Prosecco has steadily ramped up attempts to have the GI Prosecco registered in import markets to the exclusion of the use of the term as a grape variety. This includes an attempt in 2013 to trademark the GI in Australia that was successfully blocked by Australian Grape and Wine, then known as the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia.
“If the prosecco grapes weren’t sold to us as prosecco grapes originally back in the late ‘90s, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, but the fact that we bought them as prosecco grapes and they’re in the International Grapevine Register as prosecco grapes, that’s where we really feel that we can dig our heels in,” Katherine Brown, winemaker and Luxury Portfolio Manager at Brown Family Wine Group, tells Drinks Trade.
“We’re very passionate that prosecco will continue to be the name of the variety that we originally planned to make the wine with. We will do everything we can to ensure that prosecco remains prosecco because we don’t want to see it setting a precedent for future varietal changes.”
According to the latest Wine Australia Vintage Survey, 17,437 tonnes of prosecco grapes were crushed in 2024, the highest volume in history and a 22 per cent increase year-on-year. This positions the variety as the 13th most planted in Australia, responsible for 1.2 per cent of total national tonnage.
Meanwhile, Prosecco DOC also experienced notable growth both globally and within Australia, where volumes grew more than 14 per cent to a worth of $181 million, up from around $60 million in 2017.
According to the President of the Prosecco DOC, this growth is especially notable “considering the ongoing issues with Australia regarding the protection of our designation.”
Giancarlo Guidolin continued: “These issues are currently tied to the outcome of the negotiations on the free trade agreement with the EU, within which the protection of a list of European designations will be established.”
Similar to the stance taken in 2023, where Trade Minister Don Farrell said there wouldn’t “be an agreement at any price,” thus suggesting a willingness to walk away from an unapealling deal, Anthony Albanese appears to be remaining firm on protecting the use of the terms feta and prosecco as essential elements to a potential free trade deal in the future.
“The Europeans, obviously, will forward what is – what they think is in their interest. We’ll put forward what we believe is in Australia’s interests … But I do think, as I’ve pointed out now publicly, what I’ve said previously to Ursula von der Leyen [and] other European representatives, that is something that should be a source of pride, in my view, for them. And the idea that you still produce feta, but you call it something else, it doesn’t change what it is.”
In May last year, a new free trade agreement between New Zealand and the EU came into effect, providing protection for 1,975 EU GIs, including Prosecco. This means that, from 1 May 2029, Australian exporters will no longer be able to use the term prosecco when exporting to New Zealand.
“We’ve got till May 2029 before the name Prosecco has to be removed from Australian wine being sold in New Zealand, so we’ve got a bit of time, but we have to think forward,” Katherine Brown tells Drinks Trade. “New Zealand’s a very important market for us and a number of other producers.”
Brown Brothers also exports to the UK and the US, both of which have trade agreements with the EU. For the UK, Prosecco is registered as a GI in its post-Brexit trade and cooperation arrangements. Meanwhile, the US has a bilateral agreement with the EU through which it has agreed to protect the Prosecco GI – however, the use of the term as a grape variety is still permitted.
Despite this, Katherine Brown says exporting Australian prosecco to the US is becoming increasingly difficult. “They’re getting more and more pressure from the consortium. The consortium have a lot of money, and so there have been cases of them feeding cheaper Italian Prosecco into the market, making it harder for Australian Prosecco to compete.
“If we let this variety get changed by name, where do we end up? Are we going to end up losing all the varietal names that we get to use?”