by Michèle Shah
Northern Italy s Prosecco Consorzio di Tutela di Conegliano Valdobbiadene, the official body controlling the production of DOC Prosecco is up in arms over the imminent launch of an Austrian canned non-DOC Prosecco under the name Rich Prosecco. According to Giancarlo Vettorello, director of the Consorzio, this could be a case of fraud. Right now our lawyers are discussing the issues, said Vetorello. Our concern is the damage this may cause to the image of our authentic product which comes from the DOC area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, in the province of Treviso.
Rich Prosecco produced under the IGT appellation, in the province of Treviso, is sold in bulk by the Cantina Sociale Colli del Soligo to the Austrian company G.A. Workshop GmbH. Paris Hilton,well-known daughter of the proprietor of the Hilton Hotel chain, is the star of the publicity campaign which is rumoured to have cost an enormous fee. The only way the DOC will be able to protect its authenticity, is by limiting the use of the name Prosecco to the authentic area of production, which is the DOC area of Conegliano Valdobbiadene, and its time the Region of Veneto did something about enforcing this law, concluded Vettorello.
