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The Prosecco DOC consortium is reacting to the tense market situation by changing the production rules. From the 2023 harvest onwards, Prosecco DOC may only be sold from 1 January of the year following the harvest. In order to guarantee deliveries until 31 December 2023, 50 percent of the harvest reserve of the 2022 vintage was released at the same time. The remaining 370,000 hectolitres of base wine, which are still stored as reserve in the tanks, may not be used for the production of Prosecco DOC in 2023. However, they can be processed to cover production deficits in subsequent years.
A restriction has also been imposed for the coming harvest: Of the wine produced from the maximum permitted 18 tonnes of grapes per hectare, initially only a portion may be marketed as Prosecco DOC from 1 January 2024. This corresponds to a harvest quantity of 15 tonnes per hectare. The grapes from the remaining three tonnes may be processed into base wine, but may not be sold until the consortium releases them. In general, up to 20 percent of the maximum yield per hectare may be set annually by the consortium as a harvest reserve. This harvest reserve may not be sold to third parties and must wait in the producer's cellar for its further destination.
As in the previous year, the consortium decided that producers may use IGT areas planted with the Glera grape variety for production. A total of 4,738 hectares were released for this purpose and the maximum area per company was limited to 2.5 hectares. The production available for 2024 will thus amount to just under five million hectolitres. Of this, just over 3.8 million hectolitres will be immediately available for bottling. The rest, consisting of the 2022 and 2023 harvest reserves, will only be released for processing after detailed market analyses. In this way, the consortium wants to protect the appellation from price decline and loss of value.
(ru / press release)