Icon: enlarge
Vineyard in Toscana (archive picture): Demand for an "emergency distillation"
Photo: © Max Rossi / Reuters / REUTERS
In Italy, wine consumption has fallen sharply due to many closings in the corona pandemic.
Compared to the previous year, around 150 million liters more wine were stored in the wine cellars because restaurants, bars and wine shops at home and abroad had long been closed.
This was announced by the Coldiretti Agricultural Association.
A total of 6.9 billion liters on January 31 of this year.
more on the subject
Icon: Spiegel PlusIcon: Spiegel PlusSPIEGEL conversation with grand winemaker Antinori: "Italian wines are drunk, not collected" By Susanne Amann and Isabell Hülsen
According to the association, the export of Italian wines fell by 2.2 percent last year compared to 2019, which corresponds to a value of around 6.29 billion euros.
Coldiretti is therefore demanding quick aid of around 150 million euros from the government and an "emergency distillation".
This could produce 25,000 liters of disinfectant gels, most of which are currently imported from abroad.
The association warned of a difficult future for the export of agricultural products "Made in Italy".
The need in the economic sector affects hundreds of thousands of people - from field workers to traders or transporters.
Icon: The mirror
bah / dpa
