DENOMINATION OF ORIGIN AND IGT WINES NOW SUBSTITUTED BY DOP AND IGP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NEW CMO WINE REFORM THAT WENT INTO EFFECT ON AUGUST 1. THE CONSEQUENCES FOR ITALIAN VITICULTURE? PRESIDENT OF FEDERDOC, RICCARDO RICCI CURBASTRO, RESPONDS

The new European Common Market Organization (CMO) for wine went into effect on August 1 (though countries will have time to get all of its regulations into effect by August 2009) and one of its most significant changes for Italy will be the modifications made to the wine denomination system. From now on, the only valid denominations for the European Union will be DOP and IGP, which means DOCG, DOC, and IGT will no longer exist. Brussels will now also determine all of the wines that can enter into this classification instead of allowing countries to determine their denomination wines as had previously been the practice.

This new system will have a particularly heavy impact on Italy that currently has 38 DOCG certified wines, 316 DOC, and 118 IGT. And this issue does not signify just a name change, but could reignite a debate over production disciplinaries, which have already undergone much discussion after the recent Brunello scandal.

If, for French Minister of Agriculture Michelle Barnier, who launched a modernization plan for French wines, future disciplinaries should guarantee, “elasticity, product quality, and information for consumers”, it could also be a moment for Italy to avoid damage from these reforms and, instead, put its numerous denominations in order.

In a recent WineNews interview with the president of FederDoc (the national confederation for the consortiums that safeguard Italian wines), Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, he was asked what were the most important changes and effects that these changes will have on Italy now that the CMO wine reform has gone into effect.

“For the most important aspect of the new CMO, or rather, that regarding the denominations of origin” – explained Curbastro – “we still have a little more time given that the regulations for VQPRD (which include the norms for labelling as well as enological practices) will not go into effect until 1 August 2009. Among the novelties, there will be a move from our DOCG, DOC, and IGT to the system that is already in use for DOP/IGP, thus completely eliminating our pyramid system for quality. The classification of wines will be simplified at a Community level, which will have two unique categories.
Wine without geographic indication (varietal wines) and wines with geographic indication (which will include wines with denominations of protected origins and wines with protected geographic indications). From our point of view, this new classification could guarantee greater international protection for our denominations, but, on the other hand, it has some dangerous elements, among which, the lack of an adequate protection system for traditional wines (like, for example, Vinsanto, Vino Nobile, Amarone, Brunello, Est!Est!Est!, as well as names from other countries like chateau, vendages tardives, reserva, vintage, tawny...)”.