Regional Institute of Wine and Oil

The commission for DO wines has been established

“Sicilian wine qualifies itself more and more”. With these words, the general director of the Regional Institute of Wines and Oils of Sicily, Dario Cartabellotta, comments on the establishment of the tasting commissions for Denomination of Origin wines. Commission that has already started work delivering the DO certification to eight wines from eastern Sicily.

According to the decree, there are two commissions: one for western Sicily and one for eastern Sicily. The latter, chaired by doctor Giuseppe Cicero, met yesterday morning, Tuesday 31 January, at the premises of the Institute. The eight samples presented, specifically two DO Etna, a classic Cerasuolo di Vittoria, three Cerasuoli di Vittoria and three di Vittoria, were therefore all promoted.

“We aimed to reduce times and costs,” explains Cartabellotta, “obviously in the name of greater efficiency which does nothing but raise the quality of Sicilian wines.” Everything now takes place inside the Institute and in just twenty days. In fact, the management of tasting commissions is no longer the responsibility of the Chambers of Commerce. The process to obtain DO certification now begins first of all with the use of the portal's electronic interface (www.vitevino.eu) dedicated to companies. Here each individual winery, using its own password, connects and uploads the stocks and labels for which it wishes to receive certification. Within three days of the request, a technician (there are twenty-five throughout the island) will have the task of taking the samples. “Six bottles – explains Lucio Monte of the Institute's laboratory – which within 24 hours will be delivered to the technical secretariat and to the laboratories in Palermo or Marsala for analysis”. It is only after the analysis that the commission meets for the final opinion which will determine whether DO is recognized or not. “Competence, independence and impartiality are the fundamental characteristics of this job”, Cartabellotta is keen to underline. To be part of the commission you must be a tasting technician regularly registered in the registers kept by the Region, with at least two years of experience or qualifications in the field of viticulture and oenology with at least two years of activity as a taster.