The Italian government is attempting to defend the authenticity of its famed, geographically protected balsamic vinegar by launching infringement proceedings against Slovenia.
The European Commission notified Slovenia last year of its plans to standardise its vinegar production, essentially trying to market wine vinegar mixed with concentrated fruit juice or balsamic vinegar. The term aceto balsamico di Modena balsamic vinegar of Modena has been in place since 2009 and can only be used by producers in Modena and the Emilia-Romagna region.
Italy considers Slovenia's move a threat to the tradition of its Modena balsamic vinegar excellence and to a market worth about €1 bn.
The balsamic vinegar battle was a priority for the government, led by the prime minister, Mario Draghi, which has given the green light for the state attorney to start proceedings. The first step requires consultation with the Commission before taking the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union CJEU After months of waiting and worrying, we finally see a glimmer of light, said Mariangela Grosoli, the president of the consortium for the protection of balsamic vinegar of Modena.
Italy's agriculture minister Stefano Patuanelli said last year that the protection of Italian wine and food was a priority and the government would do everything to defend the country s produce from illegal attacks. However, it remains to be seen how successful the move against Slovenia will be. In the year 2019 Italian balsamic vinegar producers lost a legal challenge to stop a German company from using the names Aceto or Aceto balsamico to market its vinegar products. The German business had been labelling its products with the terms aceto balsamico and German balsamico, but the CJEU ruled that the protected term aceto balsamico di Modena does not extend to the use of non-geographical individual terms. The court determined that the name aceto is common and that balsamico is an adjective commonly used as a reference to a vinegar with a bittersweet taste. There were no restrictions on aceto balsamico di Modena alone, because of the trademark aceto balsamico di Modena.