Grapes of wrath, Italian style

You may recall a number of posts over the past few months about how Europe intends to protect traditional farmers and producers — and the agrobiodiversity which underpins their livelihoods — in the face of globalization through, for example, the use of appellations of origin. A recent article in The Economist told the success story of one such appellation — prosecco, a sparkling wine made from the grape of the same name in a restricted area north of Venice. It seems to be taking off in a big way, and I’m not surprised: a chilled glass of good prosecco on a summer evening can be pretty much guaranteed to hit the spot. There is, however, a cloud on the horizon, in the unlikely shape of Paris Hilton. You see, everyone’s favourite socialite has been appearing in ads for a down-market prosecco (sold in cans!), and the president of the wine growers association of Treviso doesn’t like it at all: “Paris Hilton is sensationalism. It’s not good. It’s not adequate for Prosecco.” ((Thanks to Michael Hermann for pointing out this story. I don’t google Paris Hilton much so I doubt I’d have ever found it.)) Meetings will be held, fingers will be wagged, strong letters will be written: it’s pretty clear no stone will be left unturned by the good vintners of Treviso in their effort to protect the good name of prosecco. ((BTW, this post is further proof — if any were needed — of a very acute observation about Paris Hilton made by the great Rex Sorgatz some months ago now.))