EVEN THE TERM “FRIULANO” IS A NO GO FOR THE ITALIAN WINE WORLD, NOW IN SERIOUS RISK OF HAVING NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE NAME TOCAI. INITIAL DECLARATIONS BY MINISTER DE CASTRO

A court in Lazio has accepted the recourse presented by the president of the winery of Cormons (Gorizia), Luigi Soini, and has suspended the enrolment of the term “Friulano” that was to be used as a substitute for the name “Tocai”, according to the Comunitary decision made last 31 March, and which now can not be used for the Friulian wines obtained from the grape of the same name.
The result: about five million bottles of wine risk remaining without a name and label, seriously compromising sales. The name “Friulano”, chosen by the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, does not supply an adequate juridical basis and cannot be used by products from Collio and Carso, creating, as well, an evident confusion for consumers, who would not be able to distinguish whether the product was obtained from the grape variety or produced in the region. There are eight geographic denominations that use the word Friuli in their denomination.
“The sentence by the Tar of Lazio has blocked the path taken thus far for the tutelage of this wine” explained Minister of Agriculture, Paolo De Castro – “and there is no doubt that certain administrative courts are creating difficulties in the effort to defend the wine sector”. As for the Tocai question, continued De Castro, “the ministry maintains close contact with the regional councilor Enzo Marsilio, in order to define a strategy to sustain the productive reality of Friuli Venezia Giulia that, paradoxically, must compete on international markets with extra-EU Tocai, mostly made in Argentina or Australia”.
The decision by the administrative court of Lazio is confirmation that the rush with which the campaign to promote the name “Friulano” began, on the part of the Friuli Region, was a bit rash, also because the final decision had not yet been made by the EU court on the use of the name Tocai.