OPEN LETTER TO ITALY’S AGRICULTURAL MINISTER: “...SARKOZY LOWERED VAT TAX TO RE-LAUNCH RESTAURANTS… DO LIKEWISE FOR ITALIAN RESTAURANTS AND WINE, BASIC ELEMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET…”

Dear Mr. Minister,
I would like to express my thoughts and feelings about an issue that has deeply concerned me recently - the consumption of wines and liquors.
My name is Marcello Meregalli and I am 31 years old. I have been working with my father for the last 12 years in the Group founded by my great-great grandfather in 1856. Our main activity is the distribution of the highest quality wines, spirits, and champagnes to the top Italian restaurants and enotecas.
The Italian wine industry is wonderful. It may be a bit behind the times but it is still made up of high quality, real relationships, great people such as historic wine producers, famous chefs and restaurants, important wine merchants and the many great fans in the journalistic world. All of this makes a chain of great human beings with hundreds of thousands of people involved in a huge business that is suffering, not so much the economic crisis but an image crisis due to misinformation and false morality.
Going back in time to my high school days in Monza (even then I was interested in my future job), I remember looking out my window to see children playing in the park, lovers embracing, and going out with my friends to birthday parties where we lifted our glasses in the classic toast, or having a sandwich and a beer after an evening game of soccer with my friends…
Now, when I look out my window, I see pushers dealing drugs in broad daylight, the lovers aren’t there anymore, my world of wine is considered evil and it’s a scandal if a minor has tasted wine, yet not if he is already a drug addict!
Since I was three years old, I have been in and around wine cellars, restaurants and wine bars. As a minor, I had the honor of tasting cognac or Malaga, vintage 1700, sauternes or Bordeaux, vintage 1800. I am proud to have been able to travel the world over, thanks to wine, and I sincerely hope my children do the same, without anyone pointing a finger of false morality at them. The most important fact is the sharp decline in alcohol beverage consumption per capita in the last decade, though alcoholism has increased.

Alcohol and driving: The first distinction to be made is toward fatal road accidents, justly condemned by the media. The culprit, almost always (even if it is never really clearly stated), is 4 or 5 times over the accepted alcoholic limit, but is also often under the influence of drugs. These accidents almost always happen after work hours, after dinner and I would say (steering clear of false morals) by someone who does not have a regular working permit. Another point I would like to underline is that if more people are resulting positive to the various tests now, it’s probably because there were no such tests and controls in years past, so there is no comparison to be made.
A dinner with friends, tasting one of the pearls of Italy, i.e., wine, cannot be compared to the drunken stupor one achieves by consuming mixes of all kinds of spirits that have nothing to do with the world of wine. I have never read an article: drunken sommelier causes tragic Saturday night automobile accident or drunken chef speeding at 200km/hour in the city center. When you have cultural knowledge in many fields, you also respect them.
Automobiles are one of my greatest passions. In the little free time off I have, I like to take part in car races. I ask myself, however, if a person does not know how to drive, or goes through a red light or does not stop at a stop sign or is thinking about something else while driving, it is not the fault of an alcoholic beverage (within accepted limits, of course) if there is an accident, but rather the incapacity of the driver!
The venting and false morality could go on and on. Therefore, I would just like to indicate the policies I would like to see in place regarding the wine industry. I am sure this issue is of great interest to you, being from the area of the Prosecco production.
First of all, since you have some power over the media, begin a truly sensitizing campaign that does not criminalize or just generalize but that clearly divides work, passion, responsible consumption, and wine intended as food instead of considered something to drink without taste or culture.

Sarkozy has lowered the Vat tax for restaurants to re-launch the industry. This should also be the case in Italy, in light of the disastrous state of the treasury (not the fault of the citizens): lower the Vat tax for restaurant and wine industries, since it is the base of the Mediterranean diet, keeping (against my own interests) the tax rate on other distilled or premium alcoholic products that are purchased primarily for taste and not as food.
Re-compile the wine lists in restaurants, etc. as they are mostly undecipherable, unread, and do not help to form a quality and responsible approach to consumption. Further, find a standard and easily understood measure for the “glass of wine” as there is an enormous difference in the amount of product contained in a goblet or a tumbler.
Institute classes (one hour each, periodically) on enogastronomic culture in the high schools. I believe that restaurant owners and wine merchants would be the perfect teachers for these classes and they would prepare the new generation for a return to Italian food and wine.
Alcoholic Level Allowed for Driving: When the alcoholic content level used to be at 0.8, this level included anyone who had drunk a moderate and responsible amount of wine, including a glass of “passito” at the end of a meal. Those who exceeded it by two or three levels were considered drunk. This level should be re-instated, however, if it is not possible, at least the level should not be 0.5. There should be a haven up to 0.8. There are various solutions: one could not be allowed to drive for an hour whilst the alcohol level goes down, or diversify the hour of the day: for example, a level of 0.45 at 10 am on an empty stomach is not at all the same as a level of 0.7 after just completing a full dinner, Alcohol absorption and how it is consumed, the menu, water drunk during the meal and timing are too many variables to consider a person drunk and punishable at level 0.55. Rest assured, anything above this level is punishable and, above all, these penalties must be strictly imposed.
Dear Mr. Minister, I am writing this open letter to you to analyze the situation from the point of view of a person who was born into and lives in the world of wine. It is also, however, the point of view of a 31–year-old man who wants to live a normal life where an aperitif or a glass of liqueur after a romantic dinner does not make him a criminal.
Thank you for your kind attention.

Marcello Meregalli