Australian prosecco boom threatened by naming dispute under EU FTA

The Dal Zotto family can't keep up with demand for prosecco at the moment.

"It's that popular at the moment there is not enough available in the market," says Michael Dal Zotto.

He's seen 50 per cent growth in the category with $40 million dollars' worth of prosecco sold from Australia last year and the sector on track for $60 million this year.

But growing demand for Australian prosecco could be stymied if Italian growers get their way in a bid to limit the use of the word prosecco as part of Australia's upcoming Free Trade Agreement negotiation with the European Union.

Australia's first commercial prosecco

Michael's father, Otto Dal Zotto planted the first prosecco variety commercially in Australia 18 years ago.

"At that time there were a handful of Italian proseccos in Australia and they were not widely consumed," says Michael. "When we released it, we spent most of our time explaining to people what it was and where it came from."

There's no need to explain prosecco anymore with prosecco production accounting for 50 per cent of the Dal Zotto business last year with 40,000 cases distributed across Australia. Read more