According to the Minister of Agriculture and Made in Italy Francesco Lollobrigida, alcohol-free wine is not wine. The master of orange wines Josko Gravner also thinks so: “De-alcoholized wines are bullshit. If young people drink less wine, it's the industry's fault.” But in Calamandrana, in the Asti region, there is an entrepreneur who doesn't think so. Massimo Lovisolo of Sovipi has started experimenting. And now he says: “Wine is in crisis. And 50% of the world's inhabitants don't drink alcohol. It seems logical to me to innovate and diversify.” Even if in Italy it is forbidden to produce it “even if in the rest of Europe it is done. I got the license, as a food company, to start experimenting. And I carry out this activity within the framework of the law,” he says today to Turin Mail.
The first to produce alcohol-free wine
Lovisolo says that “as soon as there is a green light for the legislation, I will be the first to present it. I am ready.” And on tradition, he adds: “My company has been producing wine for third parties for four generations. In the past, demijohns were used, now bottles. I also produce canned drinks. Not everyone agrees, some say it destroys the flavor, but the market demands it. And not only wine but also gin and tonic. Without innovation, we are going nowhere, that's for sure.” This is why he transformed his winery business into a food company: “Because Italian law prohibits wine companies from removing the alcohol extracted from wine. Or rather, it does not say how to do it, so it cannot be done. On the other hand, a food company, if it has a license, can do it. Even if it is forbidden to produce dealcoholized wine. It doesn't make sense, but that's how it works for us.”
Alcohol-free labels
However, there are already companies that produce alcohol for free: “In the meantime, we must distinguish between the dealcoholized product and the non-alcoholic one. The first is extracted from wine. The second is born without alcohol. A significant distinction that characterizes a rapidly growing market in which many countries are investing, except for us, the homeland of wine. They produce it “abroad”. It's madness. And it's very expensive, because it costs at least double. Companies send the wine to factories in Spain, for example, where the alcohol is extracted, and then re-import the product. But does that seem logical to you?” And he concludes: “Today's young people drink less wine, they prefer other drinks. Often non-alcoholic. It's a fact. Exploiting our grapes to satisfy demand does not seem like a crime to me. Perhaps the market is being left in the hands of foreign operators while many Italian companies are plunged into crisis.
Cover image by: Sovipi
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