Iconic French champagne brand, Veuve Clicquot, is taking a small Italian winery based in Campania to court based on the colour of one of its labels.
According to Italian website WineNews.it, Veuve Clicquot believes Ciro Picariello winery’s bright orange Brut Contadino label is too similar to that of its Yellow Label Champagne.
The champagne producer, which is owned by French luxury goods house LVMH, believes the label similarity could cause confusion and potentially impinge on its profit-making potential.
LVMH has subsequently ordered its lawyers to take action against the family-owned winery, which produces a mere 3,500 bottles of the wine each year.
Ciro Picariello’s total annual production is around 50,000 bottles of wine; meanwhile Veuve Clicquot produces up to 18 million bottles per year.
While the Veuve Clicquot label is technically Pantone 137C, it appears more yellow than orange when printed, reports wine-searcher.com.
People are taking to social media to support Ciro Picariello’s cause, creating the Twitter hashtag #boicottalavedova ("boycott the Widow").
Compare the pair: Ciro Picariello's label alongside Veuve Cliquot's
Image: wine-searcher.com