For this reason Piemonte Land, the super consortium that groups and harmonises the communication of the Consortiums for the Protection of Piedmontese wines, has elaborated a series of requests to regional and national institutions. Requests that are presented briefly here.
The emergency distillation of wine surpluses , to be eventually initiated in the production of sanitizing alcohol, is the main proposal and must be attributed above all to the uncertainty on the real capacity of the domestic and foreign markets to absorb the production of Piedmontese wine. It must be applied to all those denominations that need it. The quantity of product to be sent for emergency distillation is between 250 and 280 thousand hectoliters with an estimated value of around 43 million euros. This solution would avoid stocks of unsold products before the harvest which could generate harmful speculations.
Storage is among the options to stem the current crisis.
The numbers that come from the Protection Consortia, in fact, speak of a quantity of wines to be stored that touches the 600 thousand hectoliters, between bulk, bottled and produced to be sent for refrigerated conservation. The aid, through the activation of suitable plants and logistical provisions, relates to a product volume equal to a value of just over € 21 million .
The reduction in yields, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, must be considered as one of the solutions that can limit the damage caused by the Covid-19 crisis. National and international exchange relations will have a slow recovery, the aim is to decrease the production of grapes and wine in order to avoid dangerous surpluses that would negatively affect prices. The hectares concerned, in all Piedmontese wine-growing areas, are around 34 thousand, with a volume of around 731 thousand quintals of grapes and a value of 58 million euros.
Piemonte Land strongly asks to give a significant boost to the promotion of regional denominations on the internal and international markets. The Protection Consortia, in fact, agree on the strategic importance of a great future effort aimed at regaining and the market shares lost during the pandemic and guaranteeing a decent income for wine growers and hundreds of families. For this reason, they consider it essential to review the CMO and RDP calls, allowing changes in investments and target countries.
There are also other tools that Piemonte Land, in agreement with its associated protection consortia, intends to propose. They are:
- The increase in the percentage allowed for vintage cutting, currently equal to 15%, which would offer a useful tool for the years to come, postponing the placing on the market of important quantities of product.
- The postponement of the deadlines for the plants, given the difficulty in recovering the necessary manpower. Finally some considerations by Filippo Mobrici, president of Piemonte Land:
« The closure of the Horeca channel (hotels, restaurants, bars, wine bars) caused an unsustainable contraction in sales for many companies, only partially mitigated by the flows in large-scale distribution, organized large-scale distribution. The real risk for Piedmontese wine is that it cannot bear the financial stress caused by Coronavirus. For this reason we are taking action in all the appropriate venues to ask for extraordinary measures useful to overcome this period and prepare the ground for the future relaunch of the sector. Right now - continues Mobrici - we must plan a great promotional action to relaunch our wines, which have always been ambassadors of our region in the world. I launch an appeal to all the operators in the area, so that they show the indispensable solidarity to sow the seed of recovery. At this moment it is essential to huddle around our Denominations, from whose health the economy and the protection of our territory pass . "
