Reducing the quantity promoting the modernisation of the vineyards and thus improving the quality of the entire Appellation in order to be even more competitive on the international market. This is the reason behind the decision of the Consorzio Vino Chianti to change the production regulations during the Shareholders’ Meeting held in Florence.
Indeed, the choice to reduce the yields per vine from 5 to 3 kg concerning old vineyards, which until today benefited from a special derogation arrangement, was taken a year earlier than planned. “This will make it possible to rebalance the Appellation – explained Giovanni Busi, Chairman of the Consorzio Vino Chianti – while guaranteeing a better quality of our wines. A choice in sync with the decision taken during the last meeting of the Consortium’s Board of Directors, which recently resolved to reduce by 10% the maximum production of grapes per hectare for the ‘2017 grape harvest’ in order to maintain the balance of our Appellation so that it can compete at the global level against the other appellations, as it rightly should be for a historical organisation that this year celebrates its 90th anniversary“.
The changes made to the production regulations also include the one concerning the maximum limit of 4 grams/litre of residual sugar for the Chianti DOCG wine and for the wine of all the subzones. This change was made in order to comply with the European Community regulation which states that the maximum sugar content of a dry wine can be two points higher than its total acidity.
“Thanks to this change – explained Marco Alessandro Bani, Director of the Consorzio Vino Chianti – we will be even more competitive on Asian markets, which have always had a preference for smoother products. During this phase in which we are busy promoting Tuscan wine on markets that are looking at the Far East, the producers will be able to decide whether or not to slightly increase the sugar content of their products, in order to better meet the needs of consumers in that region of the world.”
“If we want to increase the presence of our Appellation – concluded Busi – as the Consortium plans on doing, we must put our producers in the condition to be able to make a wine that goes in the direction of the tastes of the consumers for whom the wine is meant. With this choice, indeed, which will allow us to produce a wine that is better suited for the typical cuisine of those regions, we expect an increase in sales throughout South-East Asia, in line with the promotional tours which the Consortium has made in recent months.”