Too much wine stays in the cellar: 'Less yields and a stop to planting'

A thermometer of overproduction are the requests for crisis distillation to transform into alcohol (with public aid) quantities of wine to be taken off the market, guaranteeing producers if not an income then a minimum return on their costs. Requests have not been lacking this year either and have come from the Piedmontese production basins of Brachetto, Asti and Barbera. There is a crisis table open in Tuscany and similar requests could also come from Lambrusco. To these must be added the stocks made or extended by DOC wines such as Verdicchio and Pinot Grigio delle Venezie.

At the Italian Wine Union, they have clear ideas on the levers to be used to achieve greater control over production. "First of all, reduce the grape yields per hectare that can be produced for two years," explains Frescobaldi, "starting with generic and table wines. For these, a ceiling of 300 quintals per hectare was envisaged, an enormity considering that an average of 60 quintals per hectare is produced in DOC wines. But it is not enough to reduce the ceiling, we also need to cancel the derogations because the moment after that limit was set, flexibilities were introduced that allowed production of up to 400 quintals per hectare. We can no longer afford this. But we must also work on the DOCs by reducing yields here too and eliminating those flexibilities such as reclassification mechanisms (whereby a DOC wine is downgraded to IGT and IGT to table wine) to sell at a lower price. These are mechanisms that flood the market, lower prices, and destroy the value and image of Italian wine and the patrimonial value of our vineyards, which are instead an essential asset for our companies. Another issue that is dear to us is that of new vineyards: we propose to suspend the issue of new planting authorisations for one year'.

All these pieces, according to UIV, could find their place in a revision of the Testo Unico del Vino, a measure launched in 2016 but which no longer reflects reality in many respects.

And then there is the market. "I do not want to add anything else on tariffs,' Frescobaldi continues, 'except to report the great concern I sense among US importers. In such a scenario we can no longer afford to keep an agreement like the one with Mercosur on stand-by. Brazil is a country where incomes are growing, there are cities like São Paulo that have nothing to envy from western cities, and there is a strong presence of citizens of Italian origin. There are all the prerequisites to grow our wine in those markets. Let's not waste any more time'.