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Top-flight Valpolicella producer Allegrini is leaving its beloved Valpolicella Classico denomination or DOC because regulators will not allowed Valpolicella Classico to be bottle under screwcap.
As a result the leading estates Valpolicella Classico will now be labelled as a simple Valpolicella.
In a Decanter online story Franco Allegrini says, "We have been waiting for the regulations in Valpolicella Classico to be amended so that we could use screwcaps on this wine, but they haven't, so we have decided to pull out of Classico. The closure is more important to us than the denomination."
Worldwide demand for the fail safe closure has left the Allegrini with little choice. In London David Gleave MW, managing director of Allegrini's importer Liberty Wines, said "We fully support Allegrini's decision. In our opinion, Italy's tardiness in adopting this new technology is having an adverse effect on the competitiveness of its wines in the UK market."
Italy has a storied history of dragging its wine legislative foot and each time it does it tends to shoot itself, well you guessed, in the same foot. If Allegrini's move out of the DOC is welcomed news to its export markets it can only be considered a great loss for the DOC of Valpolicella Classico.
