Wine: transparency and timely data reporting are needed to manage production

By law, the grape harvest declaration, i.e. the official record of how many quintals of grapes and which varieties have been brought into the winery, should be submitted by producers by November 30th. The declaration of the resulting wine production should then be filed by December 15th. These deadlines are considered by many to be fully “compatible” with today management timelines and technologies, but in practice they are largely theoretical. For years, both deadlines have frequently been extended, often by a significant margin, sometimes well beyond the end of the harvest year. As a result, the grape and wine declarations are often submitted within a very short interval of one another. It is almost as if there were an effort to reconcile the volumes of harvested grapes with the corresponding wine yields (generally, one kilogram of grapes produces around 0.7 liters of wine, although this is only an approximation and can vary substantially depending on the grapes’ sanitary condition and ripeness, ed), but in reverse order, starting from the finished product rather than the raw material and then “adjusting” the figures accordingly.
However, at a delicate time such as the one currently facing the Italian (and global) wine sector, where, guided by common sense and following the example set by France, and more recently by Spain following initiatives taken in Italy and France, even the Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Castilla-La Mancha have decided not to release early production forecasts “because high temperatures and the evolving weather conditions in the coming weeks make it impossible to produce a realistic forecast with even a minimum degree of reliability”, the supply chain has chosen not to engage in premature production estimates but instead to wait for final data at the end of the harvest. In this context, transparency and the accuracy of data become even more important, as well as necessary, and rigor becomes a more essential guiding principle than ever before.
This raises questions about the true objective behind recent calls by some stakeholders to bring forward the grape harvest declaration deadline by 15 days from the date currently prescribed. According to many observers, simply complying with the deadlines already established by law would be sufficient, without allowing part of the supply chain, particularly the agricultural segment, to continue relying on deadline extensions which have effectively become the norm. In the opinion of many, the real aim is to correct a practice that is neither particularly virtuous nor transparent. The sector is gradually becoming aware, even if quietly, that more than ever there is a need for realistic, reliable, and timely data which can support management planning requiring far greater precision than in the past.
After all, wineries currently hold stocks equivalent to more than a single harvest, while the market is no longer expanding at the sustained pace seen for many consecutive years in the recent past. On the contrary, consumption volumes are gradually but steadily declining. For this reason, the industry needs data which is as accurate and timely as possible, not only to avoid market distortions but also to strengthen the credibility of the wine sector. It should be noted that the sector benefits from substantial public support, ranging from specific European funds such as those available under the Cmo to various agricultural financing instruments, as well as ad hoc promotional measures funded in part through national resources which complement investments made by businesses themselves. Such support is undoubtedly well deserved, not only because of the prestige which Italian wine brings to the country, but also because of the role viticulture plays in preserving landscapes across many regions, from north to south. Furthermore, the sector generates significant economic spillovers, including through wine tourism, in numerous agricultural areas, whether characterized by heroic viticulture or more conventional forms of production. Without the broadly distributed wealth generated by the wine supply chain, many of these areas would likely face abandonment. These are just a few examples of the many “positive externalities” associated with grape growing and the production and marketing of wine.