WINE NEWS /
Higher Yield Requested for Barbera Piemonte
A recent letter to the Regional Commissioner of Agriculture called
for revised regulations regarding the production of Barbera Piemonte.
The proposed changes are intended as assurances for producers and
were presented jointly by the Consortium for the Protection of the
Wines of Asti and Monferrato, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti, and the
Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori. The issues addressed are part
of the careful preparation for a new DOCG that is expected to be
granted in the near future. The most prominent request was for an
increased maximum yield for the Barbera Piemonte DOC, which would
help distinguish the three Barbera classifications
from their region: the Consortium believes that the regional DOC,
with its maximum yield
of 110 qt/ha, is currently too similar to Barbera
del Monferrato and Barbera
d’Asti, which carry yields of 100 and 90 qt/ha,
respectively. Differentiating the three, they feel, would put producers
in a better position to market their wines, while the high demand
will negate any possibility of overproduction. Ultimately, the disparity
among the three Barberas should have little effect on Barbera Piemonte,
an unpretentious, easy drinking wine that is widely available. The
true benefit would go to Barbera d’Asti and Barbera del Monferrato,
which would then shed this plebian association and enjoy the status
they rightfully deserve as quality wines painstakingly crafted by
masters like La
Spinetta, Braida,
Bruno Giacosa, Aldo
Conterno, Hilberg, Giacomo
Conterno, and others.
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