“2015: A VINEYARD ODYSSEY “. THE LIBERALIZATION OF VINEYARD PLANTING RIGHTS HAS A “BITTER TASTE” FOR ITALIAN WINES. FRANCE AND GERMANY HAVE ALREADY TAKEN A POSITION AGAINST “DEREGULATION”. ITALY HAS NOT SPOKEN. BUT THE IMPACT COULD BE DEVASTATING

It is 2011 and many perceive that the liberalization of vineyard planting rights – starting in 2015 – provided by CMO wine is likely to strike the heart of Italian designation of origin wines. Everyone is becoming aware of the situation because the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, have taken a stand against the European decision. Welcome to the real world, you might say.

WineNews was among the first to sound the alarm, back in 2007, about deregulation that threatened to strike local and quality products in countries such as Italy and France. “If this matter is not corrected it will lead to a devastating impact on socio-economic areas of wine”, Alessandro Regoli, Director of WineNews told Corriere della Sera, pointing out, “the differences in weights and measures of viticulture (but I would say even agriculture) of Italian politics compared to Germany and France. We at Winenews talked openly about the situation, among the skepticism of nearly everyone. Today, instead they are aware of the concern. Thank goodness Merkel and Sarkozy are ready to do battle with the 27 countries of the EU. But Italy also has to take a stand”.
The President, Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, and the Vice President, Giuseppe Liberatore of Federdoc (Italian federation for protection of doc wines) also back this position. The complaint has been voiced many times but only wine associations have heard it: Governments and Ministries have seemed deaf. Deaf to the cries of alarm about a liberalization that for designation wines will lead to overproduction and price drops, the loss of jobs and the ruin of winemakers. But also, the value of vineyards will fall, as again, WineNews pointed out in 2010.
The French, Italian, German, Spanish and Hungarian vignerons are ever more united to oppose this deregulation. It is not enough, though: it also needs the support of Governments. France and Germany have taken the first step, and have organized a meeting on April 4th in Paris, sponsored by the French, to put effective strategies in place. We await news from Italy.