Wine supply chain at the signing to give proper value to Piacenza wines

All united to obtain proper recognition of the quality of Piacenza wines. The collection of signatures for the approval of new production regulations for the area's wines, launched in recent weeks, is proceeding apace among the province's vintners, winemakers and bottlers. The result of a two-year team effort that has seen the Consorzio Tutela Vini DOC Colli Piacentini working together with wineries, agronomists, oenologists, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore diPiacenza and Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo, also receiving positive feedback from numerous industry experts, the new disciplineswill significantlyincrease the value of the entire Piacenza wine sector,bringing significant benefits to all operators in the wine supply chain, from those who grow the grapes to those who process them into wine to those who offer the finished product on the market.

"In a short time, we have already collected 250 signatures," says MarcoProfumo, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Colli Piacentini DOC Wines, with satisfaction, " which brings us closer to the quorum required to start the bureaucratic process of approving the specifications and carry out a real revolution in the enhancement and promotion of our winemaking heritage. All grape growers, lecantine and wineries in the province can sign, and it is not necessary to be a member of the Consortium. Now we are called to a final collective effort to achieve a result that will bring enormous benefits to the entire world of vinopiacentino and, consequently, to the economy of our territory."

The main novelty that the renewed production regulations will bring will be the birth of the first quality pyramid for Piacenza wines. Piacenza will have its own DOCG-the third in Emilia Romagna and the first to have a red wine within it-and there will be a more rational division of wines that will increase the perception of their value by consumers. This will decisively contribute to a high market positioning forDOCG productions, from which DOC and IGT wines will also benefit in cascade; as a consequence, the remuneration of grapes for the growers will increase as well as the market value of the land planted with vines in addition to that of the wines.

Another very important element, which will have positive repercussions on all the valleys, is theenlargementof the current DOC Colli Piacentini to include some areas of the high hills that, as a result of climatic changes, already offer guarantees of high wine quality.

On the production front, there will be changes in the maximum quantity of grapes and vineyard planting distances: in order to better respond to the progressive rise in temperatures and water shortages, it will be possible to modify some outdated parameters contained in the current regulations and thus ensure quality production in the various areas under vine. While the production of high quality sparkling wines, which has always distinguished the territory, will remain central, sparkling wine production and some types of wines not officially considered until now but which are part of Piacenza's tradition, such as macerated and refermented with the three-method, will also be enhanced.

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