Open Doc and Docg to Piwi vine varieties in Italy: bipartisan proposal begins

For some, Piwi vine varieties are little more than a wine curiosity. For others, they represent a significant part of the future of viticulture, which will need to move towards increasingly sustainable vineyards that are resistant to disease and climate change, and designed to require less water. But, in any case, there are now those who want to open the door to the possibility, to be managed by the individual appellations if adopted, of allowing their use in Italy Doc and Docg wines (as already provided for under European legislation) through an amendment to the Consolidated Wine Law. The proposal was launched in Oltrepò Pavese, in Voghera, during a conference held as part of “50 sfumature di Pinot Noir” - “50 Shades of Pinot Noir”, by Lega senator and deputy president of the Senate (and former Minister of Agriculture) Gian Marco Centinaio, together with Antonella Forattini, democratic party group leader on the Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. Both pledged to pursue a bipartisan parliamentary initiative aimed at achieving this aim, taking up suggestions put forward by several speakers, including professors Attilio Scienza and Luciano Brancadoro, and winemaker Nicola Biasi, who has strongly championed Piwi varieties.
At present, it was recalled, Italy has 36 Piwi varieties registered in the National Register of Grapevine Varieties, 18 white-berried and 18 black-berried. The cultivation of at least some of these varieties is authorized in Piedmont, Lombardy, South Tyrol, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, Lazio and Campania, under differing regional regulations. Producers may use them in the production of Igt wines, provided they comply with local rules and the relevant specifications. This is what some would now like to see extended to Doc and Docg wines as well, while naturally leaving it up to the consortia responsible for managing and protecting those appellations to decide whether or not to introduce them. Centinaio and Forattini have now publicly committed to taking action in the coming weeks, with the aim of completing the legislative process before the end of the current parliamentary term.