Croatia gets permission to use ‘Teran’ name

The EU has granted partial permission for Croatian winemakers to use ‘Teran’ on its wine labels after a long dispute with Slovenia.

Photo credit: Slovenia Times

The European Committee, the executive arm of the EU, said Croatian winemakers will be allowed to use ‘Teran’ on their wine labels for those wines made from the grape on the Croatian part of the Istrian Peninsula as long as it puts the name ‘Hrvatska Istra‘ or ‘Croatian Istria’ on the label in a larger front, AP reported.

This has prompted Slovenia, which has a Protected Designation of Origin for ‘Teran’ wines grown on the red soils of the Karst limestone plateau, to lodge a complaint, in which it has accused Croatia of presenting “partially forged” documents in order to obtain the permission.

The two neighbouring countries have long clashed over the use of ‘Teran’ on wine labels. Slovenia considers the wine a national treasure and registered the name in 2009, four years before Croatia became an EU member in 2013. The same grape is, however, grown in Friuli in Italy and Croatia’s Istria, hence causing the dispute.

Slovenian producers also informed the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan that they would file a complaint with the European Anti-Fraud Office.

Currently, Croatian-labelled Teran reds can’t be sold within EU countries.

Read more:

CROATIA CLAIMS TRUE TERAN IS ISTRIAN

SLOVENIA AND CROATIA ROW OVER RED GRAPE