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The Italian wine industry is currently struggling with enormous sales problems. According to the Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and the Fight against Fraud in Agricultural and Food Products ICQRF, stocks amounted to 60 million hectolitres in March 2023. This is equivalent to more than an entire harvest of Italy and represents an increase of more than five percent compared to the previous year. Last year, sales had declined both in Italy and abroad. Especially red wines with designation of origin suffer from a lack of demand. The regions most affected are Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo, Apulia and Sicily. Without the positive sales figures of the Prosecco appellations, which continue to achieve good results, the Italian wine export balance would not look rosy either.
Now the industry is looking for solutions together. The Italian Ministry of Agriculture has convened a "round table" for this purpose, in which wine producers and representatives of the regions participated. The first proposal from both sides was crisis distillation. Although this has already been practised several times in Italy in the past, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, there is currently a lack of financial resources. Two alternative financing options would be possible: on the one hand, through the budgets of the individual regions or through EU subsidies.
The Italian wine association Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) is in favour of distilling the surplus stocks, but clearly opposes financing through EU funds. These should still be used for promotion and investments. "The growing areas that apply for crisis distillation should also be excluded from the distribution of new planting permits. It is pointless, even harmful, to strengthen the production potential in regions that already produce wine that cannot find a market," UIV representatives demanded.
(ru / Source: Agrisole)