Australian winemakers are gearing up for another battle over prosecco sparkling wine as Italy seeks exclusive use of the name.
Italy has said it wants a geographical indicator for prosecco, in a battle that could extend to other Italian varietals, according to a report by The Weekly Times.
According to the report, Australian prosecco is worth $60 million, and that value could rise to $200 million in coming years with the varietal tipped to be the next big wine trend.
Italy changed the name of the prosecco grape variety to glera in 2009, and registered prosecco as a geographical indicator (GI) citing the town of the same name.
In 2013 it unsuccessfully attempted to register the GI in Australia, which would have stopped Australian producers using the name.
