Crisis distillation for PDO and PGI wines, and more. The Cooperative’s requests to politicians

The two main support measures for the wine sector that Luca Rigotti, Wine Coordinator of the food cooperatives alliance, Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari, proposed in his speech at the Wine Table during the video connection with the Ministry of Agriculture, with the participation of the Undersecretary of State, Gian Marco Centinaio, were distillation during the crisis, involving only PDO and PGI wines, practiced at reasonable prices, and re-activating storage of quality wines, receiving more adequate financial funding than last year, so as to be able to fulfill a greater number of requests.
According to the Allianza Cooperative, the resources allocated in the National Support Plan for the wine sector, earmarked to finance other equally important and indispensable measures, must not be used to activate these measures. “Therefore, additional funds will have to be found elsewhere”, said Rigotti, “and we will try to find them primarily within the community; however, we will not exclude involvement at the National level”.
According to the Cooperatives, another fundamental issue is production yields of table wines, Rigotti said, “which the cooperative world takes very much to heart. The reason is that it represents, among other things, production companies in wine-growing territories where table wines are produced, which have proven to have their own solid and dynamic market, and do not interfere with local PDO and PGI wines”. The Food Cooperatives Alliance emphasized that they hope the Ministerial Decree, in accordance with the law, will provide a fair level of income for wine producers who have invested in the table wines segment.
Looking at the future, it will be necessary to activate an Institutional promotion campaign for Italian wine, to relaunch consumption, including the possibility of also opening up to measures aimed at the European domestic market, especially in this very challenging phase we are experiencing. Further, we will need to step up “the implementation of a single National sustainability standard, because as a Cooperative we believe the validity of a tool should become a distinctive element, and we hope that companies will soon be able to acquire a sign of recognition or brand to confirm their compliance with sustainability principles”. Furthermore, Confagricoltura has already submitted requests to the Minister of Agriculture, Stefano Patuanelli, to extend the date of planting authorizations expiring in 2021. “It is necessary to extend the validity of the authorizations for the planting and replanting of vineyard areas expiring this year and which, unfortunately, the European Commission does not intend to concede”, said Rigotti.
“Many producers will not be able to proceed with their planned replanting, due to reduced liquidity, and in addition to losing an important investment opportunity, they also risk being penalized for not respecting the three-year validity dates of the authorizations”. The Undersecretary for Agricultural Policies, responsible for wine (and former Minister of Agricultural Policies), Gian Marco Centinaio, accepted the requests of the Food Cooperatives Alliance and the entire wine supply chain, as mentioned earlier. “I am convinced that wine is the strongest point in the agro-food sector of our Country, and that it is able to drive all the Made in Italy productions”, said Centinaio, “I further believe that most of the tourism that will arrive in the near future will be linked to this sector. Considering the economic and social situation we are experiencing at the moment, I will direct all my efforts to this issue. And, those who know me know that when I make a commitment, I do my best to carry it to fulfillment. Now, the priority is to solve the problems, and then we will have the opportunity to make plans. I will focus on interventions that concern three macro sectors: aid to businesses, promotion in Italy and abroad, simplification and de-bureaucratization. I intend to update this table on measures and projects, as soon as possible. It's time to roll up our sleeves and work to give answers to the sector as quickly as possible”.