Earlier this week it was announced that, following more than several long months of bickering, the third ward ‘in’ the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley will indeed be allowed to include in its name a reference to that valley,even if many agree that it’s not really part of the same valley (for the story click here).

Confusing? It should be, but it isn’t. Idiosyncratic? Yes. But there are numerous idiosyncrasies in our wine world, and while the lack of absolute logic confounds and frustrates those with scientific, or left hemisphere dominated, brains, for far many others these idiosyncrasies just add ‘colour’ and character.

However, try and follow this. Having won the right to label their sparkling wines DOCG Conegliano Valdobbiadene, producers in this northern Italian region have opted to retain the words ‘prosecco’ and ‘superiore’ on their labels.

That’s right, after applying for and being granted Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita recognition for sparkling wines produced from the hillside vineyards of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, producers have opted to retain those very words which would continue the association with a product of questionable quality. Go figure.

In a press release, the president of the Producers’ Consortium, Franco Adami, said: “The change to using just the name of the zone, which is our ultimate objective, has to be a gradual one. In many countries around the world, ‘prosecco’ has become synonymous with a highly successful wine from Italy, and getting rid of this name altogether would be risky. The term ‘superiore’, however, helps the consumer to understand right away that this is an example of the original Prosecco, the one from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene.”

Actually, I think they’ve made the right decision, even if it does appear illogical. And not just because Conegliano and Valdobbiadene are more difficult for Americans (or Russians or Japanese) to pronounce than Vergelegen or Buitenverwachting

Let me explain. Prosecco, the grape variety, has been the grape of choice in Conegliano-Valdobbiadene for many centuries and, some 40 years ago when the area obtained DOC status for sparkling wines made from this variety, it was only grown in the 15-odd communes located between the small towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene.

However, over the past few decades, prosecco as a beverage has experienced a tremendous growth in popularity and the grape is now cultivated throughout Treviso. With this rapid growth, category quality has suffered because there have been no clear regulations guaranteeing a minimum level of quality.

Quite reasonably, producers in the historic region decided to protect their reputation and, with the co-operation of producers in broader Treviso who were producing IGT Prosecco, applied to modify the regulations. This means that, from the 2009 vintage, there will be the DOCG Conegliano-Valdobbiadene encompassing 160 producers of sparkling wine and more than 3000 vine growers and nine provinces within the North-East of Italy, defined in the new DOC as having a varietal identity and therefore allowed to refer to ‘prosecco’ on the label. As from the next vintage, therefore, there will be rules and controlled quality for all Proseccos and excellence and absolute guarantees for those from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene.

Finally, outside of these areas, no one will be able to make a wine bearing the name ‘prosecco’. The grape variety will be known as Glera.

Logic itself!