The End of Tocai?
Staff Writer - July 18, 2005

The European Court has reaffirmed that, starting March 31, 2007 the name Tocai cannot be used anymore by Italian wine producers. From then on, the name Tokaji, (though spelled differently, sounds exactly the same), will be the sole patrimony of Hungarian winemakers, and will define their well known dessert wine.

This is the final Court decision on the quarrel between Italy and Hungary about the right to use the appellation.

The disagreement between the two member states of the EU is somewhat surreal. In fact, in addition to the spelling differences, the Italian Tocai is a white, dry table wine, while the Hungarian Tokaji is a well known, and widely appreciated, dessert wine.

It seams that the EU guidelines do not allow for two wines produced in different geographic areas within the European Union to have a similar names.

Some vintners from the northeastern Italian region of Friuli, where most of the Italian Tocai is produced however, are not yet giving up.

The Gruppo Vinicolo Fantinel from Tauriano di Spilimbergo, in the province of Pordenone, for instance, announced officially that it will get rid of all Chardonnay vines on their properties and will substitute them with Tocai vines. The goal is to send a strong message to the EU legislators in the hope of making them change their minds.

This  is certainly an expensive and risky step. Let's just wait and see.

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