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25 December 2021 For Italian Prosecco producers today there is one more reason to toast: Prosecco has obtained formal recognition of the brand in China. A victory that opens up the vast Asian market to Italian wine. A victory achieved thanks to a precious synergy between Italian institutions against the backdrop of tensions between China and Australia. The Beijing government is at loggerheads with Australia for Taiwan, but also for the role of the Asian giant in the Pacific and obviously for an unresolved dispute over the origins of the new coronavirus.
The consortium representing Italian Prosecco producers had applied for recognition in China in 2014, but found opposition from Australia: now the objections raised by the Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated, the organization that represents Australian wine producers in disputes national and international, were rejected by the Chinese trademark office which recognized prosecco as a typical geographical indication, guaranteeing official commercial protection for Italian wine.
Luca Ferrari, the Italian ambassador in Beijing, rejoices among the architects of the success, noting that the turning point is the result of a constant synergy between the legation and the Italian institutions with the prosecco consortium.
Stefano Zanette, president of the consortium, also thanked the European Commission for its contribution "to this particularly important international result, also considering the strategic role of the Chinese market".
The consortium has opened a Prosecco embassy in the city of Xian and hopes to capitalize on the growing passion for bubbles in China: in the first 9 months of the year, 1.35 million bottles of Prosecco were sold in China (before the pandemic , in 2019, 916 thousand had been sold).