A regional law has been amended to allow wineries to access funding for promotion
The first “Wine District” is born in Basilicata. This was announced in recent days, in Potenza, on the sidelines of the press conference presenting the Basilicata Region’s tender for the promotion of Lucanian wine on the markets of third countries by the outgoing Agriculture Councilor Alessandro Galella. «After an amendment to a regional law in 2001 – explained Galella – we have finally lightened the procedure to allow the creation of the district, the first step to give the possibility of accessing European tenders for hundreds of millions of euros, previously unapproachable precisely due to the lack of a district”.
The call for promotion in third countries is ready
The first accessible tender will be the one presented by the Agriculture Department, which is aimed at professional, inter-professional organisations, consortia, wine producers and temporary associations. The amount available – it was explained – is 452 thousand euros and will cover 50% of the costs of implementing the project for actions relating to public relations, new or existing markets, information campaigns and participation in fairs and events for the non-European market. To date, there are 70 wineries in Basilicata, with over five thousand hectares of vineyards and a production of one hundred thousand hectoliters of DOC and IGP certified wines per year.
The measure is included in the National Support Plan for the wine sector (Pns Vino). For the 2024/2025 campaign, the Ministry of Agriculture has allocated 452,313 euros to the Basilicata Region. To obtain funding, wineries or winemakers’ associations must participate in a call expires July 8th.
Closed gap with other regions
«We strongly wanted the district. As soon as it is established – added the councilor – Basilicata will have caught up with the other regions. Networking is important. In the specific case of the measure that promotes wine on non-European markets, the minimum contribution per project is 100,000 euros. A considerable sum to also be used for information campaigns, participation in events, fairs and exhibitions, studies of new and existing markets. The hope is that our companies do not miss this opportunity.”
