November 4, 2008
The Varietal In Search of a Name: the “Tocai” of Lombardy

Starting with the 2007 vintage, recently made available on the market, it is no longer possible in Italy to use the name Tocai when describing those whites produced with the eponymous varietal, grown in the northeast part of the country in regions like Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Veneto, and in small areas in Lombardia. This of course is the result of the debate brought up by another EU member country, Hungary, whose sweet wine Tocaji is made by the appassimento of local grapes, the main varietal known as furmint, with characteristics similar to the French Sauternes, as both wines are affected by noble rot that renders the sweet wines so unique.

So why debate in the first place? Because the name of the Hungarian region were the sweet wine is produced, and named after, is Tocai (Tocaji in Hungarian), the same name given in Italy to the native varietal used to produce a dry, white wine—so completely different from the Hungarian sweet wine. After all, these are very different wines, produced with different varietals grown in different countries, whose winemaking traditions and realities have nothing in common.

In spite of these facts, and the many efforts by Italian authorities and producers to prove the existence of old regional winemaking traditions deeply rooted in the use of the varietal, not to mention the common use of the word tocai in the local dialect of the area, in 2005 the European Court of Justice granted Hungary the sole right over the use of the name—a ruling that went into effect beginning with last year’s vintage. As a result of this unprecedented decision, Italian producers have been left with facing the facts: come up with a new name for their beloved native varietal in the hopes that it will not confuse the public and, therefore, threaten their livelihood.

Following the recent release of the 2007 vintage (believed to be of excellent quality), in Friuli Venezia-Giulia the wine is now been referred to as Friulano (Friulian, as in belonging to the region), while neighboring region of Veneto decided to rename its wine Tai, a choice which won the unanimous approval of the Italian National Committee responsible for naming of vines and wines.

What about the Lombards? As of today, the region that holds the economic pulse of the nation has yet to make an official decision. Which explains why a celebrated producer, Azienda Agricola Selva Capuzza in the San Martino della Battaglia DOC area (one of the smallest in Italy) with strong ties to the cultivation of the native varietal, at the eminent release of his “Campo del Soglio” wine, choose to print the back label with a question mark in place of the varietal name.

A marketing tactic or an ironic publicity stunt? Hard to tell, certainly it has become a successful way to attract the attention and interest of consumers and government officials to a problem that warrens an immediate solution.