Denominations, a pillar of Italian wine. But the protagonists of the territories are the companies

For some, Italy’s wine appellations (78 DOCG, 341 DOC, 118 IGT) are too many, but for others they are not, because they represent the diversity and richness of Italy’s oenology. In fact, however, the 10 largest account for 45% of the volume and 51% of the value of Italian PDO and PGI wine, and, with the top 25, they exceed 65% of the quantity and over 75% of the value. Denominations and Geographical Indications, in any case, are a pillar of Italian wine, collective brands of territories that, however, exist thanks to businesses and the initiative of individuals, often pioneers (and whose role, just as often, is not even recognized as it should be). The Consortia, which are the governing body of the appellations, and which are an expression of the companies themselves, have the role of protecting them, promoting them and managing them, from the legal point of view, but also from the supply side, in order to maintain the values of the grapes and wines at remunerative levels for all parties involved, from those who grow the grapes to those who bottle and sell the wine. But here arises one of the many very difficult knots to unravel, namely the issue of representation, because, in so many territories, there is a mix of small and medium-sized wineries that, at the vote count, are often worth far less, despite being nominally more, than large cooperatives. And this calls into question an ability to reconcile different needs, and all of them legitimate, for which a synthesis that pleases everyone can rarely be found. All the more so in an overall framework that is changing at an increasingly dizzying speed, at the level of market dynamics, but also of climate and production, and that sees the Consortia increasingly calling for simplification, but also for the introduction of resistant varieties in the specifications, and of the Uga, the Additional Geographical Units, to respond also to what consumers want, that is, an ever greater correspondence between the bottle they buy and the territory from which it originates, and sustainability, environmental, but also social. A complex picture traced by the debate staged at “VinoVip al Forte” 2023, a kermesse signed by the historic magazine “Civiltà del bere” directed by Alessandro Torcoli, in a confrontation that saw, on stage and in the audience, academics such as Attilio Scienza (who is also president of the National Committee for PDO and PGI Wines and winner of the 2023 edition of the “Khail Prize”, named after Pino Khail, founder of “Civiltà del bere” and among the pioneers of the promotion of Italian wine, which has gone, over the years, to personalities such as Lucio Caputo, Lucio Tasca of Tasca d’Almerita, Piero Antinori, Pio Boffa of Pio Cesare, Cesare Pillon, Piero Mastroberardino and Chiara Lungarotti), Eugenio Pomarici (University of Verona) and Davide Gaeta (University of Verona and producer with Eleva, in Valpolicella), and producers such as Lamberto Frescobaldi (who is also president of Unione Italiana Vini - Uiv), Piero Mastroberardino (vice-president of Federvini), and Riccardo Ricci Curbastro (who is also president of Equalitas), but also Luca Rigotti (at the head of Trentino-based Mezzacorona and the highest institutional representative of Italian wine cooperation), Marina Cvetic (Masciarelli), Annalisa Zorzettig (Zorzettig) and Ernesto Balbinot (Le Manzane).
Reviewing the history of Italian DOCs, from the first regulations in 1930 to the 1963 Desana Law, which formally established them, to today’s Testo Unico del Vino, Professor Attilio Scienza outlined a “road map” for the future. “There is the issue of climate that changes the cards, which imposes changes to pivotal elements of the specifications, such as alcohol content or certain organoleptic characteristics, or color”, said Scienza, “but also of finding solutions related to varieties, planting patterns and cultivation methods. Then there is the challenge of sustainability, and here the key is resistant vines, which is the most difficult, but most important thing, if we think about this year and what is happening with downy mildew. But we need in the national framework legislation to unlock the possibility of using them, because the research is there, but if we can’t introduce them in the specifications they will not develop, unlike what is already happening in France, the U.S. or Germany”. A big issue, according to Scienza, is also that of numbers: “many appellations are made up of 10 hectares of vines, and handfuls of producers, who often do not even claim them. And so an amalgamation of small appellations into larger entities, like sub-areas, is desirable”. A theme, this one, that is divisive. According to producer Marina Cvetic, at the helm of Masciarelli, a winery symbolic of Abruzzo wine, “it would be nice if the DOCGs doubled, if the wines are worthwhile, because it would mean that Italian wine is growing”. For Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, who has also long been president of Federdoc, on the other hand, “it’s good to talk about the unification of appellations, but starting with that of consortia, as the Marche region has done, for example, with the Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini, which brings together 16 appellations under its umbrella”, while, on the other hand, Eugenio Pomarici, who recalled how in the rules governing the Consortia there are tools such as “three-year plans”, which in fact, however, are not used, suggests “merging the Doc and Docg appellations by sub-areas, and investing more on an instrument such as the Igt”.
Complex issues, in each case, calling into play others such as the value of appellations, their prestige and notoriety, which are quite different from area to area. All agree, however, on the push for Additional Geographical Units (AGUs). But on supply management, another key issue, there is no shortage of critics, including strong ones, such as those of Professor Davide Gaeta. “We did a research together with our colleague Julian Alston, from the University of California Davis, to understand whether certain tools such as the reduction of yields that the regions can decide at the request of the consortia work or not. And the answer, in most cases, is no. Because the demand for wine is not as elastic as people think, and reducing quantities on the market does not automatically result in higher prices for the same wine. On the contrary, in many cases, the “costs” of reducing supply outweigh the benefits, and it is not clear why perhaps in a consortium where a cooperative has the majority of votes one should be forced to reduce supply to small producers who do not even have enough of the wine they produce to meet the demand they have. And then there is also a political issue, about the number of appellations, which are too many. I have worked a lot in the world of consortia, and I can say that around the management of appellations there are 1-1.5 billion euros of public contributions for promotion, vineyard restructuring and so on, but there are also many management costs, which need to be reviewed”.
On the issue of representation in the consortiums raised by Gaeta, comes the response of Luca Rigotti, who represents the cooperatives: “reversing the view, one could say that since the mechanism of weighting of votes is in place, the cooperatives count less than they should, and then they bring together many small producers, who lead an average of 1.5 hectares of vineyards, and who otherwise would have no representation”.
In any case, on a hypothesis of an amalgamation of DOCs, Lamberto Frescobaldi is decidedly skeptical. “I don’t think it is a realistic path, in Italy we are the country of bell towers, we have so many differences to tell. If anything, we need to reflect on the fact that out of 50 million hectoliters of wine produced in Italy, still more than 20 million are generic wines, which have a role, but perhaps should be brought under a umbrella such as Vqprd, for example. But the underlying theme is another: wine producers cannot think that by putting themselves under the appellation hat they have solved their problems in the markets, which require expertise and investment. The work of valorization and promotion is done by the business: the Consortium must do the protection, not the promotion, because when Consortia do promotion no one is ever really happy”. A vision shared by Piero Mastroberardino: “To think of saying “I enter the Doc” and sell better is not possible. Selling, that is, creating value, requires planning on the part of the company. The primary role is of the business; appellations exist because some entrepreneur has consolidated the vocation of a territory, which is not natural, but the result of work and study. Denominations cannot replace doing business. When they came into being, designations, were an element of competitive advantage. Today, designation is no longer an advantage, but a basic prerequisite. The business problem remains value creation, which is the real issue facing territories. And in this the main actors are enterprises: consortia and institutions cannot replace enterprises and their projects, otherwise one abdicates his role as an entrepreneur”. In any case, whatever their future may be, appellations, or rather Consortia, will be called upon to increasingly manage the issue of sustainability as well, as recalled by Riccardo Ricci Curbastro: “we will have to continue to manage production potential, alcohol, color, altitude and more, as Consortia, but sustainability will become fundamental. In 2015 Federdoc created Equalitas, which is a standard written by producers, and not by gdo chains or monopolies, as is often the case. Equalitas looks at the winery, at the wine, but also at the terroir, such as Montepulciano, Tuscany, where Nobile was the first appellation to be certified sustainable, but there are many others on the launch pad. But the real bet of the future is not the environmental pillar, but the social pillar. And when we talk about wine, we also put in the accounts what it moves, the restaurants that open, the landscapes that become beautiful, but also the social aspect: let’s make sure that respect for those who work in the vineyard and in the cellar is also certified”.