As we reported last month, Hungary's Tokaj wine region is so popular that some unscrupulous winemakers have magically transported it to Ukraine. Now, to combat similar deceptions, winemakers in Villány will adopt an "origin protection" (eredetvédelmi) program to formally lay out rules for who can and can't claim to be offering products from the key red-wine region near the southern capital of Pécs.

According to fn.hu, winemakers who participate in the program and meet its requirements can label their bottles with the text Villányi Védett Eredetű Classicus Bor ("Origin Protected Classicus Wine of Villány") or Villányi Védett Eredetű Premium Bor ("Origin Protected Premium Wine of Villány"). The wines will also carry a recognizable symbol: the Hungarian flower kikerics (Colchicum hungaricum), around which the Latin text Districtus Hungaricus Controllatus ("Controlled Hungarian Region") will be written.

These identifiers will be put on wines made from grapes grown in the 1,600-hectare Villány region and bottled no farther than 35 kilometers from its boundaries. Another condition is that the wines are made using "reduced crop" (terméscsökkentés) techniques that limit yields to 90 hectoliters (90,000 liters) per hectare for "classicus" and 60 hectoliters per hectare in the case of "premium." Local winemakers started preparing for the program three years ago, and a regulation passed by the agriculture ministry at the end of last year established its legal foundations.

Recently, bottles labeled "villányi" were found in Sweden containing wine that had nothing to do with the region. Meanwhile, German retailers have been offering a wine called "Villányi bikavér," even though the name "bikavér" (bull's blood) can only be used for wines from Eger and Szekszárd. Experts say the new regulation could help in the fight against the increasing threat of such "counterfeit" Villány wines. On the other hand, if people aren't afraid of counterfeiting a wine called "bull's blood," it doesn't seem likely that they'd be scared off by a little flower.