IT’S OFFICIAL: TOCAI NO LONGER EXISTS… AS OF APRIL 1ST THE NAME CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN HUNGARY AND ITALY HAS INTRODUCED THE NEW DENOMINATION, “FRIULANO”

On April 1st, the Italian wine denomination “Tocai Friulano” officially ceased to exist. An official EU decree cancelled the “Tocai Friulano”, “Tocai Italico” and Tokay Pinot Gris” grape varieties and has substituted them with the name “Friulano”.
The reasons for this action are due to the fact that the denomination Tokaj has now been designated solely to the product of a specific region, that located along the frontier between Hungary and Slovakia. Until now, the name had also been used for three varieties of Italian and French grapes. A bilateral agreement by the EC and the Hungarian Republic has now prohibited these three varieties from using the same name as that of the Hungarian geographic denomination. Thus, Tocai is now officially “Friulano”. An ancient Italian wine with a new name.