Back to wine drinkability. The taste rewards the simplicity

The tendency emerging from the “Biennial of wine” of Venice is fully approved by the consumers. This does not necessarily mean a lower alcoholic content and the homologation of tastes and smells

by Monica Sommacampagna

After the era of the wine of defects, wood, fruit and jam, we have finally entered the era of the joy of drinking. The round table moderated by the journalist Matteo Marenghi and organized by the “Strada dei Vini Lison Pramaggiore, with the Venice delegation of the Association of Italian Sommeliers, took place November 8th, 2009, at the Hotel Monaco&Gran Canal, Venice, during the “Biennial of wine”.

The theme “Evolution of taste: the eclipse of competitive wines and the return to drinkability” focused on a trend that have been gaining popularity lately, as remarked by the colorful words of the journalist Franco Ziliani: “Over the last twenty years it has gone forgotten that the wine is made to be drunken. The first victim of this has been the consumer, who today refuses the monowines, which are not anchored to a precise territory, and who does not listen uncritically anymore to those who says what he has to drink, if it is not something that satisfies him either from the sensorial and from the delicate quality/ratio standpoints”.

The concept of drinkability does not imply that a wine should be trivialized, neither that is alcoholic content should be lower or that its tastes, flavors and smells should be homologated.
Dino Marchi, president of AIS Veneto, clarified that the drinkability is correlated to the evolution of the taste, and that it acquires a value when it is strictly correlated to a typical zone, too. “Speaking of drinkability, we should not think of light and easily drinkable wines only. It is a feature of all wines that display finesse, elegance and harmony; thus, it should not be misinterpreted as another possible way to describe the structure or complexity of a wine. Our wines that we produce at Lison Pramaggiore are able to express variety and sensorial fullness”.

Vasco Boatto, minister consultant and president of the Venice Wine Forum, shared further information on the market perspectives for wine and red wines: “The future of the Italian wine market will rely upon the capability of producers of selling wine in the farthest countries. Today, it is necessary to rationalize the DOC labels, which should not be count to more than four-five in Veneto, all characterized by a historical value that should be recognized to about ten wines. The ten million euro that EU has granted to Region Veneto will be invested in the promotion of few wine denominations”.

The market is signaling a tendency towards a responsible consumption and the search for a balanced quality-price ratio: “The young drinkers would pay more for a safe choice of a wine, with a precise territorial identity and sustainable production”.
“Fifty-two million hectoliters of wine are produced in Italy every year. Veneto is the leading region, with 7.798.516 hectoliters and 25 denominations: the fifth place goes to the doc Lison Pramaggiore”, according to the enologist Franco Bernabei. “The current crisis of the wine market is also due to the proliferation of denominations. The DOC Pramaggiore now has to understand what direction should be taken: its native reference vineyards are Lison, Refosco dal peduncolo rosso, and Verduzzo. Generally speaking, a reduction of labels and a rationalization of the typologies is necessary to achieve a greater impact on the markets”.

The DOC involves 19 municipalities of Eastern Veneto and 25 firms, and it aims at a strong cohesion to defend the values of its specific environment of origin, as emphasized by the President of Strada dei Vini Lison Pramaggiore Francesca Amadio. This aspect was stressed by several speakers, such as Bernabei, who said: “Under the present circumstances, those who sell well their wines, do it while respecting their territory, without indulging to the easy trends and improving their vineyards”.

Other values that were brought to attention, especially in contrast with the formula that was so popular until a while ago, which demanded that a wine should be recognized for its strength and excessive concentration, are represented by the finesse and elegance, which, according to Dino Marchi, should act as the link between the productive conceptions of the yesterday, of today, and of tomorrow. Great success was obtained by the ideas of authenticity, seen as the respect for the roots, and of coherence, interpreted as the ability to resist the trends and taste of the moment, which are not representative of true long term values.

by Monica Sommacampagna
07 December 2009 Teatro Naturale International n. 11 Year 1

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