© Ciro Picariello/Veuve Clicquot

In the left corner, Ciro Picariello's label; in the right, the distinctive yellow of Veuve Clicquot

Dispute over colored labels heads for court.

Champagne giant Veuve Clicquot is suing a small Italian producer over the color of its sparkling wine labels, according to Italian media reports.

Ciro Picariello, a family owned winery in Campania, produces just 3,500 bottles of its fiano-based Brut Contadino each year, and sports a distinctive orange label.

However, LVMH-owned Veuve Clicquot has taken exception to the label and has instructed its lawyers to take action against Ciro Picariello claiming the Brut Contadino label is too similar to its own Yellow Label Champagne, reports Italian website WineNews.it.

The Italian wine site described the Veuve Clicquot lawsuit as a David and Goliath battle: Reims-based Veuve Clicquot is the second-largest Champagne house in the world, producing up to 18 million bottles per year.

By contrast, Ciro Picariello turns out 50,000 bottles of wine per year from seven hectares of mountainside vines in the Avellino region of Campania. However, Veuve Clicquot alleges that the label on the Italian sparkling wine could cause confusion with the Champagne produced in Reims and thereby cause economic damage. Veuve's annual turnover is said to be more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

The Veuve Clicquot label is a yellow-orange shade which corresponds to the color Pantone 137C, which appears more yellow when printed. Owners Moët Hennessy have registered the color as a European Community trademark.

Supporters of Ciro Picariello have taken to social media to protest at the legal action being taken against the Italian winery, creating the Twitter hashtag – #boicottalavedova ("boycott the Widow").