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The Italian wine industry continues to argue about the designation and production regulations for de-alcoholized wines. The Italian wine entrepreneurs' association Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) has been advocating for months for the implementation of an EU regulation from 2021 that allows the designation "wine" for de-alcoholized wines. Italy's Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida (right in the picture) is strictly against the designation and refuses to incorporate EU law into a law. "I will fight until the end to ensure that this type of beverage cannot be called wine," said Lollobrigida.
Lamberto Frescobaldi (left in the picture), president of the UIV, responded to the minister: "The EU has already obliged the industry to designate it as wine in 2021. Therefore, Italian wine companies demand that they be allowed to operate under the same conditions as their European competitors by using the term wine for de-alcoholized products.".
Now the Italian Ministry of Economic Affairs has withdrawn the regulations for de-alcoholized wines that had recently been included in a draft law. According to UIV, it is now time for the Ministry of Agriculture to finally implement the demands of the wine industry in a corresponding decree. It is primarily about remaining competitive.
The debate about de-alcoholized wines continues in France as well. According to new law, a non-alcoholic cuvée can be called French wine, even if it was de-alcoholized in another European country. This is a reaction to the fact that there are currently not enough industrial facilities in France to meet the demand, explains Valérie Pajotin, director of the Association Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Vins De France (Anivin de France).
(ru / UIV, Gambero Rosso, Vitisphere)