Marini and Realacci Sign the Petition for DOC Wine Ageing
Staff Writer - May 24, 2006
 Senate speaker Franco Marini and Ermete Realacci, honorary president of Legambiente and president of the Committee 'Voler bene all'Italia' (Loving Italy) were the first to sign the petition for the protection of DOC wines traditionally aged in barriques.
Promoted by Legambiente and Città del Vino, the petition was introduced at Castel Del Monte, in the province of L'Aquila, during 'Voler bene all'Italia', the national festival dedicated to the Italian small municipalities.
The document is to be submitted to the Italian government and to the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, to ask them to safeguard the consumers' rights, providing them the means to make an informed decision in choosing what they drink.
In fact, the European Union could soon endorse new norms on wine production, authorizing the use of wood chips in wine-ageing barrels to simulate the barrique ageing process. The proposed norm does not require to indicate so in wine labels, thus making it impossible for consumers to know which wines were aged in barriques which had their tannins artificially stimulated. Adding wood chips or sawdust to wine to simulate barrique ageing is a practice that has long been practiced by New World producers.
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