Conclusions from the Assoenologi conference

Assoenologi: "We are the champions of wine defense." And the government announces, "Double the funds for agriculture.

"Giving true value to wine and territories" was the main theme of the 76th Assoenologi National Congress held at the Brixia Forum in Brescia in the presence of top Italian wine experts. Among the special guests were also the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, and MEP Paolo De Castro, a member of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament. Both were awarded the title of "Enologist ad Honorem" and Honorary Members Assoenologi. "Wine and the great variety of territories dedicated to viticulture are a unique and inexhaustible heritage of our country. They are our real gold mine that must be even more valued and communicated in Italy and abroad so as to give them true value," stressed Assoenologi President Riccardo Cotarella. "Unfortunately, the world of wine often has to deal with major criticalities, sometimes due to adverse weather phenomena, others due to man's will. The year that is coming to an end has been particularly heavy in various aspects."

"Meteorologically speaking," said President Cotarella again, "in this 2023 we have faced absolutely unique seasons, in an obviously negative sense, which have been the cause of serious pathogenic diseases that have led to a major drop in production in central and southern Italy. Also the markets have not given us great satisfaction, also because of the continuous tensions on the international scenarios. Finally, most seriously, wine has repeatedly come under attack, particularly on the health front, with European countries, above all Ireland, promoting the introduction of health labels to highlight the dangers of alcohol. A folly that we have repeatedly pointed out, scientists have repeatedly said so: conscious and moderate drinking is good for your health. In the face of all this, we winemakers are increasingly the champions of wine advocacy. We are on the front lines in the vineyards and in the winery to cope with the difficulties dictated by the weather, and we are always ready to counter theses and assertions of all those who do not wish the world of wine well. But we are also professionals who work in favor of wine marketing, because the winemaker of the present is an indispensable figure in the wine-growing industry, which, without us and many enlightened producers, would still be stuck at 60 years ago."

Minister Francesco Lollobrigida put it this way during his speech at the Assoenologi Congress, "The government's commitment is to support our excellences, our flagship products, among which certainly wine, which, despite the fact that some try to demonize it, is an excellence that spans history, it has been part of our food for millennia and we are a long-living people, so to say that wine is not a quality product is a mistake. We have to tell and explain it. Here we have examples of quality productions. It should be taken in moderation and this is obvious, but we need to explain that Italian wine is made with care, with respect for the environment, labor, research and innovation." On the issue of climate change, the minister emphasized that the government "is going to meet with agricultural entrepreneurs so that they not only resist, but improve their product and production, and we have done this again this year by substantially increasing funds for agriculture. Just yesterday we announced that we are doubling the funds for the agricultural sector from 3.5 billion to 7 billion. Strengthening one of the priority assets of our economy, food and wine, was one of our main goals."
On the labeling front, the minister explained that the intent is to "work for labels that are increasingly clear and not conditioning like Nutriscore, which seeks to eliminate some products in favor of others. Clarity does not frighten us, because telling how our farmers produce and how our winemakers recommend the best method to transform and make wine more and more an excellence, and telling how our cooks do their work, is a guarantee of success for our products," Lollobrigida said again, however, we do not want anyone to use labels to drive Italian products away from the market to benefit others that often, instead, have a transformation process far removed from what we have built over the millennia thanks to the contaminations of this small part of the world, but which contains biodiversity, history, art and obviously products of excellence."

MEP Paolo De Castro was keen to point out that on the labeling front for wines, "there is no new regulation on the subject. For the moment," he reiterated, "at the European level, there is no risk of health labeling that says 'Seriously harms health'. There is unfortunately, however, an Irish regulation that we have opposed, and we will see if Ireland will implement it, but I still stress that at the European level there are no new regulations regarding the labeling of alcohol products. Instead, we are talking about the entry into force, next December 8, of the CMO, Common Market Organization regulation on wine, which provides for the indication of calories and nothing else."
During the two-day congress, Assoenologi, as per tradition, awarded special prizes to those who have particularly distinguished themselves in the valorization and communication of the wine world. The Best Italian Research Award went to Piergiorgio Comuzzo, associate professor at the Department of Agri-Food Sciences, University of Udine. The Applied Research Award went to Antonio Tirelli, professor of Enology and Oenochemistry at the Universities of Milan and Turin and president of the Viticulture and Oenology degree program at the University of Milan. The Italian Communication Award was won by Daniele Cernilli, wine and food journalist and director of DoctorWine. The International Communication Award went to Karin O'Keefe, U.S. writer and journalist.Fonte: Cronache di Gusto