Croatian vintner is asked to change name of wine

Croatian winemaker Alen Bibek has been asked to change the name of the traditional wine his family has been making for generations,

the

Wall Street Journal

reported.

Croatia entered into the European Union, which enforces strict appellation rules, on July 1.

Italian wine growers contend that the name of the Croatian wine, Prosek, sounds too much like Prosecco, an Italian sparking wine, the

Journal

article said. The Italians say that if he doesn’t stop using the name voluntarily, they will lodge a complaint with the EU. Bibek told the

Journal:

“How would you feel if you wake up one day and you can’t do something that your family has been doing for centuries?”

The

Journal

report said that Bibek learned winemaking from his grandfather and returned to Croatia to manage his family’s vineyards in 1995.

Prosek, a sweet dessert wine that is very different from the dry, sparking Prosecco, “is an integral part of national identity” in Croatia, the article said. (Source:

Wall Street Journal,

Aug. 7, 2013.)