DrinksBusiness: No More French Vermentino

Interesting article by PatrickSchmitt in DrinksBusiness:
Vermentino
on how the Italian wine authorities have leaned on the EU to ban the varietal name Vermentino on French wines, or any wines produced in the EU outside of Italy. This will have a big impact on Languedoc produces who prefer the term Vermentino to use of the name Rolle as the variety is also known in Southern France. More importantly, there is a fair amount of Vermentino produced in the French provence of Corsica, where they have never identified it as being the same as Rolle in the Rhone. Those producers oughta be really pi$$ed.
The shoe is now on the other foot as the Italians were up in arms when the EU, under pressure from Hungary, banned the use of the name Tokaj di Friuliano, where it is now just Friuliano, although some Friulian producers call it Jacot, Tokaj spelled backwards.
And I am still pi$$ed on how the Italian producers in the Valdobbiadene stole the grape from the village in Prosecco near Trieste, called the variety Glera, and prevailed that the name Prosecco can only come from the Glera ngrape grown in Valdobbiadene, eliminating the calling of sparkling wine being produced in the village of Prosecco by their village name.
Friggin' EU bureaucrats.
Tom

Whilst it is true that French consumers are becoming less contemptuous of vins de cépage (=varietal wines), I don't think that this is really a big deal for most producers. Most quality wine is still sold under the AOP place based system with mention of grape varieties only on the back label, if at all. In Corsica the grape is called Vermentinu and in Provence Rolle.

Still it seems a little odd that the Italians have obtained a ruling that outlaws the name of a grape variety outside its native country. Tokaj is not a good analogy; it is a Hungarian wine appellation, not a grape variety. Why should the French not now obtain the banning within the EU of the names Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, etc. if grown outside France?