On Friday 18 September the European Commission adopted a decision authorising Italy to provide additional support to wine producers in the Piedmont region through a crisis distillation measure. At the end of August, France benefited from an identical measure (see EUROPE 12545/13).
Only wines with a protected geographical indication (PGI) or a protected designation of origin (PDO) will be eligible for this aid, the aim of which is to reduce wine stocks, free up storage capacity and restore the balance between supply and demand on the Italian wine market affected by the coronavirus crisis.
Italy has already introduced crisis distillation of wine in its national support programme for the wine sector for 2020. However, until now, Piedmont was unable or barely able to benefit from this measure despite being one of the Italian regions most affected by the pandemic, as it does not apply to wines with a PGI or PDO. In fact, 94% of Piedmontese wines are protected by these designations.
Thanks to the Commission decision, national payments will cover the costs of crisis distillation in this Italian region. Delivery of wine to the distilleries will be voluntary. The wine will be distilled into alcohol to be used for industrial purposes. The national budget allocated to this measure amounts to €4 million (84,000 hectolitres of wine are likely to be distilled). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)