" These have been three very demanding years for all the members of the Board of Directors, but at the same time full of satisfaction and concrete results ", says Antonio Benanti , President of the Consortium for the Protection of Etna DOC wines . " Since the first days of our establishment in August 2018, we have been committed on many fronts with the common goal of continuing the virtuous path started by the previous Board of Directors, but also, at the same time, of introducing elements of renewal and reinforcement made necessary to accompany a rapidly growing denomination ".
The first task of the new Board of Directors was to provide the Consortium with an organization and tools appropriate to the role and obligations assumed after the recognition of the so-called "erga omnes" with the Ministerial Decree of February 18, 2018. " The important task of carrying out the functions of protection, promotion and enhancement of the denomination and the prospect of being able to give a very strong impetus to the development of the Etna DOC have represented a very important stimulus for us Directors. We have acquired full awareness of the new dimension assumed and of the high degree of complexity Aware of having to create a completely new modus operandi, we set to work with great dedication and enthusiasm, with the aim of providing the Consortium for the first time with a structure and a wealth of skills capable of lasting over time ".
Among the first initiatives that the president recalls, the creation of an organization capable of setting up and effectively managing the erga omnes quota mechanism and a decidedly more complex accounting and the development of a supervisory program in accordance with the ICQRF. Also worth mentioning are the participation in the Regional Winegrowing Table on the occasion of the drafting of the OCM calls, the opening of the consortium headquarters in the territory of Castiglione di Sicilia, the funded training projects carried out in order to give producers new tools and knowledge, the stipulation of numerous agreements to be able to offer various types of services to members and the start of new collaborations with universities and research institutions.
Definitely innovative and noteworthy is the launch of the Permanent Market Observatory which, once completed by the future Board of Directors, will become a real decision support tool, from changes to the regulations to the guidelines for promotion. The establishment of a Technical Table, made up of oenologists, producers and winegrowers who are members of the Consortium, was also particularly important, with the task of keeping the Production Regulations technically updated and proposing any changes.
" There have been really many tangible and concrete initiatives in this three-year period but we also want to underline other things, such as the signal of inclusiveness that we wanted to give from the beginning, always showing us willing to listen to all the realities that are part of the Etna area - continues Antonio Benanti -. In these three years we have considerably increased the number of associates and multiplied the formal and informal opportunities for discussion with them, to make everyone more involved and informed about the life, purposes and projects of the Consortium. We believe we have succeeded. ".
Among the goals achieved, the one relating to "Etna Days - I Vini del Vulcano", the long-awaited consortium event that the pandemic has unfortunately postponed but which has already been conceived and planned in detail, must undoubtedly be highlighted. "We are convinced that our institutional event will soon be organized, will give great visibility to the denomination and will become a prestigious and unmissable annual appointment for professionals" - says Antonio Benanti - "In the near future, therefore, the calendar of the main events that will feature Etna DOC, now perceived externally as a 'unique collective of producers', will include ProWein, Vinitaly and Etna Days - I Vini del Vulcano but also appointments already planned in the United States and in selected non-EU European countries, also thanks to OCM, PSR and 1144-2014 programs now well known to the Consortium ".
Last year, in a period made complex by the pandemic, the review of the Consortium's visual identity was also completed thanks to the creation of a new logo, to which was added the renewed website and an increasingly dynamic and punctuality of social channels and opportunities offered by digital. "This too counts - adds Antonio Benanti - and the new skills acquired in this area will remain the patrimony of the Consortium to be put at the service of producers and the denomination".
The three-year period 2018-2021 was also characterized by structural actions of great importance. "The decision to suspend the registration of new areas of vineyards in Etna DOC until July 31, 2024, taken by the Shareholders' Meeting in July 2020, represented another important step in the path that the Consortium has carried out in these three years, with the aim of strengthening and protecting the denomination, managing its growth in a sustainable way "- again Antonio Benanti highlights . "In addition, we have dedicated ourselves on several occasions, with great determination and involving producers, to the adaptation of the Production Regulations, to make it increasingly clear and in line with the vision, ambitions and prospects of the denomination."
In the near future, a path still full of commitments and objectives to be achieved is expected, starting with the opportunity to make further improvements to the Production Regulations, which always aim to raise the prestige of the denomination and, in perspective, to ferry it towards the DOCG. " That's right. It is an ambitious goal that we have declared since our inauguration and for which we have laid the foundations in recent months together with the members of the Technical Table and involving and listening to the members. I am sure that it will be possible to bring in soon Assembly the proposal, already really well thought out and structured - concludes Antonio Benanti -. Equally ambitious is the Wine Zoning Program, for which we have laid the foundations, including agreements with weather stations and surveys of the phenological phases, creating operational tools to support of the program".
"We are approaching the end of our mandate with feelings of great satisfaction and pride, we wish to extend our warm thanks to the Director Maurizio Lunetta, a point of reference for all of us, and to all the members of the Consortium. I personally lived a gratifying experience that allowed me to build, together with a team of great value, an organization with solid foundations and well-defined projects, which the next Council will be able to further develop upon passing of the baton. We have laid the foundations for the Etna DOC of tomorrow, bringing a really good point a government program that will be able to continue to achieve new important goals for an increasingly prestigious denomination, to be protected over time and enhanced with vision and ambition ".
