THE TOCAI SOAP OPERA: A NEW TURN OF EVENTS FOR THE INTRIGUING STORY OF THIS NAME. “FRIULANO” IS SUSPENDED FOR THE SECOND TIME. THE CORMONS WINERY HAS WON THE APPEAL WITH THE COURTS IN LAZIO. DE CASTRO READY TO TAKE THE ORDINANCE TO THE STATE COUNCIL

A new chapter in the long story that is the battle over the name Tocai and, which, at this point, has become a true soap opera with continuous dramatic turns of events. In this latest chapter, the courts in Lazio have once again suspended the go-ahead for use of the synonym “Friulano”, which was to have substituted the name Tocai for the region’s historic white wine following Hungary’s request for exclusive use of the denomination.

The Italian court has, in fact, accepted an appeal by the winery Cormòns (Gorizia) who are opposed to the new name and are continuing the battle to save the old label.
The new sentence has established that producers cannot use the new name “Friulano”, which many have, in fact, already started using.

It has become an embarrassing situation for the historic wine from Friuli that now finds itself without a name, throwing both producers and consumers into total chaos. This time, the court has registered the wine’s grape variety as “Friulano”, no longer with both of the denominations.

And there are other questions that are weighing on the future of this wine. The Council of Ministers have decided to stand up against the Constitutional Courts with the regional law set to save the name Tocai and the Friuli Region is attempting to use the TRIPS international agreement to validate the use of the name Tocai, at least on labels destined for the Italian market.

The Italian Minister of Agriculture, Paolo De Castro, has also announced his will to take on the Lazio Court’s decision and to hold a round table discussion immediately after the holidays with Friuli Region members, the wine consortiums and professional organizations in order to better monitor the situation while waiting for the final response that will come from the European Justice Courts.