Assoenologi Congress, President Cotarella: “Wine is the sign of a reviving economy”

A wine that has seven lives like cats, which has overcome many crises and will either overcome those of today, said Assoenologi president Riccardo Cotarella. A wine that is ancient and modern, because today’s wine, with its qualities and varieties, according to Cotarella, was born no more than 40 years ago, thanks to the producers, but also to those oenologists who are in fact the “stylists” of Italian wines, as defined by the Governor of the Veneto, Luca Zaia. A wine that, Zaia himself said, together with the Undersecretary for Agricultural Policies (with responsibility for wine), Gian Marco Centinaio (both former ministers of Agricultural Policies and appointed “honorary members” of Assoenologi), pursued by the producer and anchorman Bruno Vespa, it must be safeguarded from reckless battles in the European Union that want to demonize it in the name of health care, but also from the “shopping” of brands from abroad. A wine, again, which must be safeguarded from bureaucracy. And, in this sense, from via del Congress Assoenologi n. 75, at Veronafiere (25-27 March), comes the announcement of the Minister of Public Administration, Renato Brunetta (in connection), who is also a wine producer in Lazio (in the Doc Roma, ed): “within the summer, a green light to the new law of routine checks, also in wine, on coordination between the institutions and companies, with a view to mutual respect between a very important mission of controllers, but also the beautiful, but very tiring work, of those who produce wine”.
All messages, hints, ideas that come from “this assembly - said the president Riccardo Cotarella - which is wonderful to see gathered together; 2021 was also year no. 130 of Assoenologi, the oldest trade association. But if we exist today and are recognized as professionals and great protagonists of wine, we owe it to the top management of Assoenologi, who were there before us, and I would like to mention two of them, who are the founders, two pioneers, avant-garde, visionaries, Arturo Marescalchi and Antonio Carpenè. Only the idea of creating the Italian Winemakers Association (Aei) in 1891 was brilliant. Impossible not to mention the pandemic: two horrible years, 160,000 deaths, a massacre, a crazy economic depression, total suffering in all sectors. But we in wine have no right to complain, we have suffered much less than other sectors, we have not sailed in gold - said Cotarella - but we have resisted, thanks to e-commerce and large-scale distribution, even if we missed “the altar” dell’horeca. But a hint of the return to normality was enough to see an explosion in consumption, in wine tourism, the most evident indication of the health of the cellars. The pandemic has shown that the quantum / qualitative consumption of wine depends a lot on the state of mind of people, you do not drink if you are sad and to forget, but when you are calm and well. We saw it at the “Vinitaly Special Edition 2021”, reduced in numbers but not in the enthusiasm and desire to get to know those present. Wine is not a drink, it is a part of the culture, this must be continuously proclaimed. 2021 was an extraordinary year, many wineries equaled 2019, others even surpassed those results, and this is because those who approach wine are attracted to it, and we must exploit this, to give wine what wine can give us. Wine is like cats, it has seven lives, and when it finishes them, it restarts from the beginning, wine is the sign of a reviving economy”.
But to fly higher, it also needs to free itself from so much bureaucracy, underlined Bruno Vespa, and the promise of Renato Brunetta, Minister of Public Administration, and producer with Cantina Capizzucchi, in the Doc Roma has arrived. “Until recent years, it took 100 days of work on wine to satisfy 4,000 pages of legislation that regulate the wine sector. Much was done with the Consolidated Wine Act in 2017, but there is still a lot to do, but a change is underway, also thanks to the resources of the European Union. I make a commitment that started with a story: at his lunch at the end of the harvest, a moment of celebration, my friend producer of Barolo, Gianni Gagliardo, had the revisions that ruined the party. This will never happen again: all routine checks will be agreed and scheduled so that the winery can respond to everything that the legislation provides, but with mutual respect between whoever controls and who is controlled. This is approved in the delegation on the competition law that is under discussion in parliament, which will soon be approved, and before the summer the legislative decree will arrive, child of the delegation, all routine checks will be agreed in the manner and timing. With OECD procedures and standards. It is a sign of respect for those who work in this beautiful and extremely tiring sector. It applies to all sectors, but I want to dedicate it to my friend Gianni Gagliardo, in the Langhe, producer of an extraordinary Barolo”.
Words that arrive from an Assoenologi stage Congress from a Veneto Region, “which is a leader in Italy, with the third part of exports, also thanks to our winemakers who are also “stylists”, this should be considered as much as the fashion week in Milan”, said Luca Zaia, who added:“ our agriculture, and some of its brands, should be protected with Golden Power, the issue of food and energy sovereignty is back at the center. De-alcoholized wine - he later replied to the journalist Vespa, together with Undersecretary Centinaio - is simply not wine”.
Topics, messages and words that come from the heart of Veronafiere which, from 10 to 13 April, will return to host a full edition of Vinitaly. “We are obviously happy about it - said the president of Aefi (Fiere Italiane) and of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese - and fairs are a fundamental tool for meeting up and doing business. Thanks to the Government for their support in these difficult years, we have resisted and invested in digital, but real presence is another thing. Digital will not replace trade fairs, every euro spent in trade fairs generates 60 for companies and 23 for related activities, thus 1 billion in turnover from trade fairs, becoming 60 billion for companies and 23 for related activities. Fairs are one of the 6 pillars indicated by the Government for the development of Made in Italy”. And Vinitaly 2022 “will be that of the recovery, entries sold out, with 4,200 exhibitors, with the market and trends at the center, to understand which trends will govern this sector next”, said the director of Veronafiere, Giovanni Mantovani. At the end, then, the “special awards” Assoenologi: the one for the best Italian research to Alberto De Iseppi, the one for the wine and food communication to the journalist of “Le Guide di Repubblica” Giuseppe Cerasa, while the character of the year is Senator Dario Stefano for “the competence and passion shown to the advantage of promoting the Italian territories, the culture of wine and the enhancement of wine tourism and for being close to Assoenologi in protecting the qualifications of wine technician and oenologist”. “Which deserve to have specific regulatory recognition - said Senator Dario Stefàno (who is also a producer in Puglia, in Salento, ed) - because if Italian wine is as we know it today, it is thanks to them.