During the last two months I didn’t feel like writing this blog, so instead of forcing myself I just took a break.

From time to time topics came to my mind, but I just left them slip away. One issue I was musing on is this:

I think that changing the name of the grape from Prosecco to Glera in 2009 was a brilliant move. From a commercial point of view, it was very smart. I don’t think that Conegliano-Valdobbiadene area should get rid of the word “Prosecco” from the label.
Sure it was also a lucky move: a convenient town named Prosecco was found near Trieste, making the creation of the DOC possible.
On the other hand, it seems pretty forced: maybe “Glera” had passed through Prosecco in the course of the history, but had someone really made Prosecco there before the creation of the DOC? Is someone making wine there even now?
Smart move as I said, but I cannot help feeling that the town has been used just as a pretext for geographical protection.

So I remembered a wine I had years ago:

Yes: there is a village near Mâcon that is called Chardonnay. According to Jancis Robinson’s “Wine Grapes” the town gave the name to the grape. Like “Prosecco”.

What would you think if all of a sudden the French decided to create a village AOC called Chardonnay AOC in the Mâcon, thus forbidding everyone else to use the word Chardonnay for their wines?
It is much less of a stretch than using the Prosecco town for Prosecco wine: the Mâconnais is deep Chardonnay land and someone is already growing the variety there.
Imagine: no more varietal wines labelled “Chardonnay”; producers outside the village would be forced to rely on exotic synonyms like “Luisant”.
It would be legitimate.

But wouldn’t it be shameful?