Soave is only bottled in Verona

News 3 May 2017 Italian Wine Chronicle

Soave designation wine can only be bottled in Verona in order to guarantee the necessary controls for the certification and quality of its products. The protection Consortium has approved this modification of the production regulations of Soave DOC unanimously and have started the procedure to make it official.

Those who already produce externally

The decision to limit the bottling area in the future recognises, however, the rights acquired by all those who already package Soave outside of the production area, as provided for by the law. The wineries outside of the defined area will be able to continue bottling Soave by obtaining authorisation from the ministry, issued to the wineries in line with the rules of the control plan.

Volumes bottled abroad have risen

“The economic watchdog of the Consortium has pointed out a slight rise in volumes bottled abroad. From 22,000 hectolitres in 2011, the projections for 2017 are 100,000 hectolitres: a significant amount for a designation that has always considered protection and traceability as a reference point,” explains Arturo Stocchetti, president of the Consortium. “Packaging abroad doesn’t give us the same guarantees as packaging in the production area. Already in 2015 we saw some wines on the market from foreign bottlers without the compulsory State seal and without the necessary communication to the certifying body for the bottling carried out.

To limit Soave production

The ruling has arrived a few months after the decision to reduce the yields of the 2016 harvest, another important step for producers. “According to data recently published by the AVEPA agency, the aim that the Consortium set itself can be considered achieved. The last harvest, in fact, will take no more than 400,000 hectolitres to certification (including Soave and Soave Classico) the exact amount bottled in the previous season,” concludes Stocchetti.