本文编译自 ItalianWineCentral 同名文章

Trends in Italian Wine Law in 2016

Posted December 10, 2016

 

 

Abstract 摘要

For years, the main trend in Italian denominations has been to go smaller—creating subzones and MeGAs (menzioni geografiche aggiuntive), spinning off subzones as new more-defined DOCs or DOCGs, or upgrading one style of wine (grape variety, riserva, etc.) to mini DOC or DOCG status on its own. 

It seems that in 2016, the opposite has become popular: creating larger denominations out of smaller areas and expanding the denominations’ breadth by adding new styles. Another trend that has been simmering for several years has continued: downplaying grape varieties within the names of denominations.

近年来，意大利法定产区主要趋势在于缩小其范围——创造子产区和MeGAs产区（Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive，译者注：关联地理区块），附带划分一些子产区为新的DOC或DOCG，或赋予一种葡萄酒（通过葡萄品种、熟陈等）在其原本基础上以更细分的DOC或DOCG。

2016年的趋势开始反转：在原有较小区域上划定更大的法定产区，并通过增加新的元素扩展法定产区之内容。另一个近年来一直潜移默化的趋势是：在法定产区命名中忽略葡萄品种的重要性。

我们可以看到，2016年被批准的一个新法定产区，有效地覆盖了整个产区并同时包含了这个区域内已存在的DOPs们，这就是Friuli DOC。这个新法定产区覆盖了6个Friuli–某某DOC产区(＊译者注：你能说出几个？小编给大家附上答案：Friuli-Annia DOC, Friuli-Aquileia DOC, Friuli-Colli Orientali DOC, Friuli-Grave DOC,Friuli-Isonzo DOC, Friuli-Latisana DOC)，和众所周知的Collio DOC产区, 及4个Friuli的DOCG产区（＊译者注：即：Colli Orientai del Friuli Picolit DOCG, Lison DOCG, Ramandolo DOCG, Rosazzo DOCG）。

这一举措将在消费识别上达成统一，不仅呈现一个可确信的标签，更是对一个产区认知上的统一。目前该产区葡萄酒生产商已经可以将Friuli DOC标注在白葡萄酒，红葡萄酒和起泡葡萄酒上——主要是国际品种，同时也包含一些优秀的本地品种，例如：Friulano, Verduzzo, Ribolla Gialla, 和超受欢迎的Refoscodal Peduncolo Rosso。 这些葡萄酒将在2017年初开始进入消费市场。

Delle Venezie DOC是另一个近期将会被批准的更大的法定产区。这个庞大的产区覆盖了整个Friuli–Venezia Giulia大区、整个Veneto大区和Trentino省（但不包括本大区的Alto Adige省），其面积等同于Sicilia DOC或“di Sardegna”DOC。

然而，这个新产区命名只适用于一种葡萄酒：Pinot Grigio（灰皮诺）。此变革的期望是，凭借20,000公顷(50,000英亩）左右的巨大葡萄种植面积和约2000万箱的年满载产能，Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC能在市场上成为一个有重要影响力的角色，从而在全球出口市场上促进销售，尤其是在美国、俄罗斯和中国。

毫无疑问，占据其输出量份额最大的部分将是Pinot Grigio餐酒，但法规同时被提议（通过政府监管）允许生产混酿白葡萄酒和灰皮诺起泡酒。但在向政府提出申请中已请求允许白葡萄酒混酿和PinotGrigio起泡葡萄酒。此提议目前正处于行政审批阶段，有可能发生一些修订。

申请2016年的新产区标签不太可能了，但有希望看到2017年份DOC级别的Pinot Grigio delle Venezie。  

＊新法定产区的范围

等等，你也许会说，不是已经有IGP delle Venezie了吗?那不会使消费者混淆吗？请别担心——他们已经考虑到这一点。随着delle Venezie DOC被批准， IGP将要更名为IGP Trevenezie，这是由其覆盖的三个威尼斯相关产区而被命名。

译者注：

Tre在意大利语中是“3"的意思，Trevenezie就是“3个威尼斯”之意。不过Trevenezie和Delle Venezie的意大利语中发音几乎完全一样。

意呆利的砖家们，你们确定不是把事情搞得更复杂了？

法规中偶发性的细微改变往往会被忽视，而有大量的此类不起眼的变化正是发生于一种或几种新的元素中。例如，2016年上半年, IGP Forlì葡萄酒悄悄地增加了一些新的法定品种：Famoso, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, 和Malbo Gentile。同样的，Montefalco DOC现在已允许使用Grechetto，而Trentino DOC增加了一个新的子产区，Cembra。 

然而，2016年被关注最高的，最终仍然昙花一现而未实现的一项法规修正案，是去年夏季提出的一项旨在倡导Piemonte DOC应包涵Nebbiolo葡萄品种的提议。而现在，你们可能会惊讶于：Piemonte DOC居然不能酿造这个Piemonte的标志性葡萄品种（好吧，事实上，你可以酿造，但你不能在酒标上标注这个Nebbiolo，即使它是100%）。

其实当Piemonte DOC于1994年成立并被约定为一个包罗万象的法定产区（不同于Friuli DOC）时，就已经被准予从品种列表中移除Nebbiolo。据推测，目前的主流反对意见是：已经具有Nebbiolo应该被种植的法定产区，那么继续批准在其他地区酿造Nebbiolo不可避免地会产生劣质葡萄酒，这将摧毁Nebbiolo的声誉。

近几个星期，关于这个举重若轻的品种产生了一些热火朝天的讨论：

如果生产商选择在较次的地块酿造Piemonte DOC Nebbiolo，是否会置Nebbiolo的声誉于致命的危险中（或者说是Barolo和Barbaresco的声誉）？

事实证明，我们可能永远不会知道，因为这个提议已被委员会否决。

但值得开心的是，仍有许多人在关注法规条款的修改。

最后一个变化是：在法规命名中移除或者忽略葡萄品种。

一个非常重要的案例是：此前被命名为Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG的葡萄酒，2016年7月已被更改为Colline Teramane Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOCG。

没开玩笑吧？你也许会问。饿滴神，你这样把单词拖来拖去，我实在看不出把同一个单词放在不同位置会产生什么区别。你到底要弄啥呢？

其实这正是源于葡萄品种名称不受保护而产地名一直受保护的思想。

你不能阻止另一种葡萄酒被称之为Montepulciano，如果它确实是采用Montepulciano酿造的话。但是你可以（在大多数国家）阻止它们被称为Colline Teramane，如果它们并非在Colline Teramane被生产的话。

可预测的是，当有一天他们可能将会完全删除葡萄的名字，那时，人们将把MACT（上述名称简称）改为CTMA（上述名称简称）。 因为没有人愿意总是念出全名，那时人们可能会称它为Colline Teramane，这将真正成为一个能将它与其它任何同样采用Montepulciano酿造的葡萄酒显著区别开来的名字。

译者注：

所以，这个法定命名的单词换一下位置，并非没事折腾着玩，而是放在前面的代表着更重要。你get到了吗？

译者注：

上图分别标注了两种葡萄酒所包含的地块，其一是众所周知的Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC,这是随处可见的物美价廉的葡萄酒，而另一个DOCG附缀了两个单词“Colline Teramane”(意为Teramane山丘）——只有在这个区域内酿造并满足其相应规定的的Montepulciano d'Abruzzo才是DOCG.

但是麻烦的事情也会出现，最佳例子便是Prosecco。

译者注：

Prosecco是Veneto的一种查马法起泡酒，其品种为Glera(Glera也被称为Prosecco,与其酿造的葡萄酒同名。原理等同于“酿造Brunello的品种Sangiovese也可叫Brunello”)。那么问题就来了，如果保护地名而忽略葡萄品种，Prosecco这个名字将不被保护，但是这个名字可是一块金字招牌啊（不要怀疑：这是全球销量最大的起泡酒！品牌价值不输“香槟”多少。）

这时，人们便宁愿尝试另一种方式——把葡萄品种重新命名为Glera，也绝不会愿意去改变“Prosecco起泡酒”这块金字招牌。幸运的是，在Trieste地区有一个叫Prosecco的小镇，所以Prosecco作为一个地名是可以受保护的。

译者注：

饿滴神，你确定这是“幸运的事”？Veneto大区Treviso的Prosecco葡萄酒，如何与Fruili-Venezia Giulia大区的Prosecco镇搭上关系，还要实现对Veneto一种葡萄酒的产地命名保护？

我觉得事情的发展已经不受人们的控制了... ...

你也可以想想，Montepulciano也是一个地名，对吧。但是，不要再讨论了，求求你，我已经迷乱了... ...

译者注：

Montepulciano在Abruzzo是一个葡萄品种名，在Toscana却是一个地名，这里也生产一些葡萄酒，不过采用的品种是Sangiovese. 

生命在于无意义的折腾，所以你又get到了么？

这类的保护机制已导致许多变化，例如：Dolcetto di Dogliani已更改为Dogliani， Sagrantino di Montefalco更改为Montefalco Sagrantino。 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC的人们（同样包括在d'Asti的人们）会感到深处困境，因为Abruzzo已经是一个受保护的地名，如果去除葡萄名字后，名称中将无任何可受法规保护的无素。

他们如何处理这个问题将是有启发性的。

* Prosecco- Trieste

译者注：

Trieste是Friuli-Venezia Giulia大区的首府（很多人认为是Udine，其实不是）,这里也酿造质量非常高的Prosecco起泡酒，巧合的是这里有个小镇的名字就叫Prosecco。

这真是个无解的难题！还是留给意呆利人自己去解决吧。

2017年我们可以期待什么旧法规的修改呢？一切都有可能，所以你得保持关注。不过作为提示，你可以准备好DOP数量下降的可能。

－the end－

原文链接：http://italianwinecentral.com/trends-italian-wine-law-2016

原文如下：

Trends in Italian Wine Law in 2016

Posted December 10, 2016

For years, the main trend in Italiandenominations has been to go smaller—creating subzones and MeGAs (menzionigeografiche aggiuntive), spinning off subzones as new more-defined DOCs orDOCGs, or upgrading one style of wine (grape variety, riserva, etc.) to miniDOC or DOCG status on its own. It seems that in 2016, the opposite has becomepopular: creating larger denominations out of smaller areas and expanding thedenominations’ breadth by adding new styles. Another trend that has beensimmering for several years has continued: downplaying grape varieties withinthe names of denominations.

Bigger Denominations

Already in 2016, we have seen the nationalapproval of a new denomination that effectively covers an entire region andencompasses all of the region’s existing DOPs—namely, FriuliDOC. This denomination lies above all six of theFriuli-Something DOCs (how many can you name?), as well as the hip CollioDOC andall four of Friuli’s DOCGs. It thus provides either a fallback label or aunifying force for the region, depending on your perspective. Producers are nowable to use Friuli DOC on the labels of an array of white, red, and sparklingwines—mainly international varieties, but also some more interesting localssuch as Friulano, Verduzzo, RibollaGialla, and everyone’s favorite, Refoscodal Peduncolo Rosso. These wines will begin to appear in the market in early2017.

Working its way quickly through theregulatory process is another even bigger denomination, DelleVenezie DOC. This area covers not only all of Friuli–VeneziaGiulia but also all of Veneto and Trentino (but not Alto Adige),putting it on a scale with SiciliaDOC andthe “di Sardegna” DOCs. However, it is essentially for only one wine: PinotGrigio. The hope is

that Pinot Grigio delleVenezie DOC, with as much as 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of vineyards and apotential production in the neighborhood of 20 million cases, will become amarketing juggernaut that will lead to greater sales in export markets like theUnited States, Russia, and China. Undoubtedly, the lion’s share of thisdenomination’s output will be varietal Pinot Grigio table wine, but itsproposed disciplinare (governing rules) also would permit a white blendand sparkling Pinot Grigio. The disciplinare is currently in its nationalapproval phase, which could result in some changes. It’s too late to getlabeling approval for the 2016 vintage, but you can count on seeing DOC-levelPinot Grigio delle Venezie in 2017.

Wait, you say, Isn’t there already an IGPdelle Venezie? Isn’t that going to confuse consumers? Don’t worry—they’vealready thought of that. With the approval of the delle Venezie DOC, the IGPwill be changing its name to IGPTrevenezie, a reference to the three Venetian regions that itencompasses.

New Styles Added to Denominations

Disciplinari go through occasional minorchanges that often go unnoticed, and a number of these sneak in a new style ortwo for the denomination. For example, earlier this year, IGPForlìquietly added some new varietal wines from the likes ofFamoso, Malvasiadi Candia Aromatica, and MalboGentile. Likewise, MontefalcoDOC now allows varietal Grechetto wines, and TrentinoDOC added a new subzone called Cembra.

The most talked-about disciplinare changeof the year, however, was a flash-in-the-pan nonevent. A proposal was floatedin late summer to change the disciplinare of the PiemonteDOC to include varietal Nebbiolo. Now, some of you may besurprised to learn that you can’t make wine from Piemonte’s flagshipgrape variety in the Piemonte DOC (well, actually, you can, but you can’t callit Nebbiolo on the label even if it’s 100%). But when the Piemonte DOC wascreated in 1994 as an overarching regional denomination (not unlike FriuliDOC), Nebbiolo was conspicuously left off of the list of varietal wines thatwere permitted. The argument, then as now presumably, is that there are alreadydenominations for Nebbiolo in all the places where Nebbiolo ought to be grown,and allowing Nebbiolo wines to be produced in other areas would inevitablyresult in inferior wines that would ruin Nebbiolo’s reputation.

For a few weeks, this idea generated somevery heated water-cooler discussions, of the end-of-the-Earth variety. WasNebbiolo’s reputation (or Barolo’s and Barbaresco’s reputations) in mortaldanger if producers in the less-than-ideal terroirs start making Piemonte DOCNebbiolo? As it turns out, we may never know, because the idea was killed incommittee. But it’s nice to know that there are other people paying attentionto disciplinare amendments.

Downplaying Grape Varieties in Denomination Names

The last trend is that of removing ordownplaying grapes in denomination names. The big example in 2016 is the DOCGformerly known as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane. As of July, itbecame—wait for it—CollineTeramane Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Seriously? you ask. Thank goodnessfor drag-and-drop, because I wouldn’t want to have to retype that nameeveryplace it needs to be changed. So, what’s the deal?

Well, this is an ongoing process that stemsfrom the fact that grape variety names are not protected, but place-names are.You can’t stop someone from calling a wine Montepulciano if it’s made from the Montepulciano grape, but you can (inmost countries, anyway) stop them from calling their wine Colline Teramane ifit’s from somewhere else. Anticipating a day when they might have to or want todrop the grape name entirely, the folks at MACT decided to become CTMA. Sinceno one wants to say the whole long name anyway, people will probably call itColline Teramane, and it will be readily distinguishable from anything elsethat is made from Montepulciano.

The prime example of this trend is Prosecco, except that they wereable to go a different route and rename the grape variety to Glera rather than changing thehighly recognizable brand that is Prosecco sparkling wine. Fortunately forthem, there is in fact a town of Prosecco in the Trieste area, so Prosecco as aplace-name was protectable. (If you’re thinking, But Montepulciano is aplace-name, too, don’t go there—that’s a whole other can of worms.) Thesame protection motive has led to numerous changes, such as Dolcetto diDogliani becoming just Dogliani and Sagrantino diMontefalco becoming MontefalcoSagrantino. The folks in the Montepulcianod’Abruzzo DOC (and the d’Asti denominations, too) are in a bit ofpickle, though, because Abruzzo is already a protectedplace-name, so without the grape name, they don’t have anything left that’sprotectable. How they deal with that issue will be instructive.

On the Horizon

Whatexciting disciplinare changes can we look forward to in 2017? Anything’spossible, so you’ll have to stay tuned. But as a teaser, get ready for thenumber of DOPs to go down.