Throughout Italy, there are many organisations that help to manage and regulate the Italian wine industry.
We of course have national organisations, such as Made in Italy. These groups tend to focus on the promotion of the industry both throughout the country and the world. You also have the DOC, which ensures the quality of wines produced throughout Italy.
And it’s that organisation that we’re going to focus on.
You could consider the DOC as the “police” of Italian wine. For any wine to gain certification, it must follow the specific rules that the DOC lays out. But of course, there are so many regions and DOC classifications in Italy that it’s literally a case of one rule for one type of wine and an entirely different set of rules for the next.
It’s a lot for one organisation to police.
And that’s where organisations like the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia come into play. This is just one of the many more local groups that play a role in maintaining the integrity of the Italian wine industry. But where others take a nationwide approach, groups like Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia bring things down to the local level.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what role the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia serves.
The Overview
As the name implies, at least to anybody who speaks Italian, the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia is a consortium that oversees the Sicilian wine industry.
According to the group’s website, it has five distinct goals:
- The protection of the good name of Sicilian wines. Those who know the history of the Italian wine industry know that this is especially important for Sicily. For years, the region has a bad reputation due to the quality of some of its wines. The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia works hard to ensure the hard-won good reputation that it has now stays in place.
- The promotion of wines that are made in Sicily, particularly those that carry the DOC certification. This is all about getting the word out there to the wider wine-drinking public. The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia aims to bring more business to the Sicilian wine region, which serves to boost the local economy in the process.
- The enhancement of the Sicilian wine industry and its practices. With the DOC’s guidelines in mind, the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia aims to help Sicilian producers create high-quality wines that people wish to sample again and again. The organisation also invests into the local industry to ensure that all producers have the tools that they need to succeed.
- The provision of information to the consumer. We leave in an information-rich world and wine consumers today want to know the stories behind the wines that they drink. The work of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia ensures those stories get out to people who need them. And on an industry level, the group ensures that there are no misunderstandings about any Sicilian DOCs or their products.
- And finally, the group oversees all general areas of care and interest for the Sicilian DOC. If there’s an industry-related problem that affects the Sicily region, you can bet that the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia will be around to provide support to producers.
The Technical Aspects of the Group
You’ve gathered from that overview that the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia plays a large role in overseeing the production of Sicilian DOC wines. This does not mean that Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia actually makes wines. Instead, it serves in a governing role for the producers in the region to ensure they stick to all DOC guidelines as they relate to their wines.
But what does this mean in practice.
One good example is its work in production planning. The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia aims to provide all local producers with the tools that they need to create DOC wines. And it does so by informing them of the required production techniques, which allows producers to plan out their manufacturing efforts.
Another example is its work as a brand advocate.
The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia actively works to promote any wine that carries one of Sicily’s DOC labels. Of course, this is done at an industry level in terms of securing contracts and creating connections with others in the industry. However, its work is also crucial on a consumer level. In fact, Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia works closely with Made in Italy to help the latter better promote the wines that come from the region.
This, in turn, benefits all Sicilian DOC producers. As more people become aware of the wines they produce, these companies sell more product. They can then reinvest this money into their production processes, thus creating even better wines for Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia to promote. Over time, this constant cycle of improvement will help the entire region develop an even stronger reputation.
And finally, we have the compliance issue.
As we stated all the way back at the beginning of the article, the DOC implements regulations for each wine that it certifies. The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia stays on top of these regulations, particularly in regards to any changes made to them. It may also campaign for new DOCs to be created in the region, if a certain type of wine deserves the classification.
The Final Word
The Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia is just one example of the many regional wine groups that protect the interests of regional producers throughout Italy. If the DOC is the nation’s police, you can think of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia as a local department that helps to enforce their regulations.
Of course, that’s only part of the story, as the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia also actively promotes the wines that come from its region. Simply put, the group plays a large part in ensuring that Sicilian wines meet appropriate quality standards.
And that makes them a very good thing for you as a consumer.
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