Wine has been classified by region for almost the entirety of its long and varied history, the Ancient Greeks stamped amphorae with the seal of the region they came from, and references to wine, identified by region are found throughout the Bible and other religious texts. Whilst this tradition of geographical identification continued throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it was only in 1716, with the introduction of the Chianti region in Italy, protected by edict of the then Grand Duke of Tuscany.
In today’s article we’ll explore the concept of GI protection and some of the schemes available for European wine producers for the protection of their products. Tomorrow, we’ll look a bit further into how wine regulatory bodies such as The Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO) actively work with producers and distributors to counter infringers in China.
