Between news and confirmations, the new governance of the Piedmont wine consortia takes shape

Among news and confirmations, Piedmont, one of the most important regions in Italy and the world for the coat of arms and history of its wines, for the values ​​of the hectares of vineyards, especially in the Langhe del Barolo, and for the weight on Made in Italy wine exports (1.2 billion euros out of 7.7 total, second only to Veneto with 2.4, and ahead of Tuscany, third with 1.1 billion, in 2023, according to Istat data), has renewed the institutional leaders of its more important denominations, or the Consortia that protect and govern them.
Of these hours the news that Sergio Germano, at the helm of one of the most famous wineries of the denomination, Ettore Germano (among the first to also invest in Alta Langa, as many other Barolo winemakers have done recently), is the new president of the Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani Consortium , succeeding Matteo Ascheri, who led it for two consecutive terms. An important Consortium, which protects 9 denominations (Barolo, Barbaresco, Dogliani, Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Langhe, Dolcetto d’Alba, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Verduno Pelaverga). And which brings together 577 wineries, with 10,000 hectares of vineyards (of which 2,258 hectares in Barolo, with values ​​exceeding 2 million euros per hectare, 859 in Barbaresco, 766 in Dogliani, 204 in Diano d’Alba, 1,734 in Barbera d’Alba and 1,174 Nebbiolo d’Alba, and 934 Dolcetto d’Alba, and 2,620 Langhe Doc), for an average production of around 66 million bottles per year.
Another important and historic Consortium of Piedmont has also changed its presidency, that of Asti Docg, which sees Stefano Ricagno rise to the top, taking over the baton from Lorenzo Barbero. Ricagno, former Brand Ambassador for the Piedmontese companies Cuvage and Ricossa of the Argea group, is also vice-president of the Vignaioli Piemontesi and of Piemonte Land of Wine, the body that represents all 14 Piedmontese wine consortia officially recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture. And the Management Committee of the Canelli Docg was also appointed, formally born as a Docg within the same Asti Consortium, in June 2023, and composed of Giacomo Scagliola, president, Ernesto Abbona, Gianmario Cerutti, Giorgio Forno and Ignazio Giovine. A Consortium, that of Asti Docg, which covers an area of ​​51 Municipalities in the Provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo, for an extension of 10,000 hectares falling within the “Wine-growing landscapes of the Langhe-Roero and Monferrato” a World Heritage Site , the first in Italy, recognized by UNESCO in 2014.
It is a confirmation, however, which arrived in recent days, that of Maurizio Montobbio at the helm of the Gavi Consortium, one of the most important white wines of Piedmont and Italy, guide of a denomination that covers over 1,600 hectares divided into 11 Municipalities – Bosio, Capriata d’Orba, Carrosio, Francavilla Bisio, Gavi, Novi Ligure, Parodi Ligure, Pasturana, San Cristoforo, Serravalle Scrivia and Tassarolo – with the Consortium that has over 180 members, for a production of 14 million bottles, expressed by a local supply chain that employs over 5,000 people, for a value of over 67 million euros.
Renewals and confirmations that arrive just one year after the change at the top of the Barbera d’Asti and Monferrato Wines Consortium, at the end of May 2023, with Vitaliano Maccario, who took the place, as president, of Filippo Mobrici (who remained as deputy, ed.), at the helm of a Consortium that protects 13 denominations (Albugnano, Barbera d’Asti, Cortese dell’Alto Monferrato, Dolcetto d’Asti, Freisa d’ Asti, Grignolino d’Asti, Loazzolo, Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Monferrato, Nizza, Piemonte, Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato and Terre Alfieri), which cover over 10,000 hectares of vineyards, for a production that exceeds, on average, 65 million bottles per year.