This communication is published in accordance with Article 17(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (1).

COMMUNICATING THE APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

‘Asti’

PDO-IT-A1396-AM07

Date of communication: 10 September 2024

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

Deletion of the ‘Canelli’ sub-region

The ‘Canelli’ sub-region has been deleted since ‘Canelli’ has been registered as a protected designation of origin (PDO) in its own right under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1327 of 23 June 2023, published in Official Journal of the European Union No 166 of 30 June 2023.

The amendment affects Article 1 of and references to the sub-region ‘Canelli’ in the product specification, and the sections ‘Description of the wine(s)’, ‘Maximum yields’ and ‘Demarcated geographical area’ of the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1.   Name of the product

Asti

2.   Geographical indication type

PDO – Protected Designation of Origin

3.   Categories of grapevine product

1.

Wine

6.	Quality aromatic sparkling wine

3.1.   Combined nomenclature code

—	22 - BEVERAGES, SPIRITS AND VINEGAR 2204 - Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wines; grape must other than that of heading 2009

4.   Description of the wine(s)

1.    ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ and the sub-region-specific types ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Santa Vittoria d’Alba and ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Strevi

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Foam: fine, long-lasting Colour: from straw-yellow to pale gold Smell: characteristic, delicate Taste: characteristic, balanced, from pas dosé to sweet; minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 11,50 %, including an actual alcoholic strength of at least 6,00 %; Minimum sugar-free extract: 15,0 g/l Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 6,00

—	Minimum total acidity: 4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

2.    ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico (traditional method) and the sub-region-specific types ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico Santa Vittoria d’Alba and ‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico Strevi

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Foam: fine, long-lasting Colour: from straw-yellow to very pale gold Smell: characteristic, pronounced, delicate Taste: characteristic, balanced, from pas dosé to sweet; minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 12,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength of at least 6,00 %. Minimum sugar-free extract: 17 g/l. Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): 6,0

—	Minimum total acidity: 6,00 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

3.    ‘Moscato d’Asti’ Vendemmia Tardiva (late harvest)

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Colour: golden yellow Smell: fruity, very intense, characteristic of the raisined grape with spiced notes Taste: sweet, harmonious, velvety, with notes of the Moscato variety, which is reminiscent of honeycomb; minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 14,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength of at least 11,00 %; minimum sugar-free extract: 22,0 g/l. Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum total acidity: 4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

4.    ‘Moscato d’Asti’

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Colour: straw-yellow of varying intensity Smell: characteristic fragrant aroma of Moscato Taste: sweet, aromatic, characteristic, may be lightly sparkling Minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 11,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength by volume of between 4,50 % and 6,50 % Minimum sugar-free extract: 15,0 g/l Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum total acidity: 4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

5.    ‘Moscato d’Asti’ Santa Vittoria d’Alba

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Colour: straw yellow with hints of gold Smell: elegant, fine, fresh and persistent also with floral hints Taste: crisp, harmonious, sweet, aromatic characteristic of muscatel, sometimes lively Minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 12,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength by volume of between 4,50 % and 6,50 % Minimum sugar-free extract: 15,0 g/l Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum total acidity: 5,0 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

6.    ‘Moscato d’Asti’ Strevi

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Colour: straw-coloured, yellow of varying intensity up to golden Smell: distinct and with a Moscato bouquet Taste: sweet, aromatic, distinctive, with an aroma of Moscato grapes, sometimes lively Minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 12,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength by volume of between 4,5 % and 6,50 % Minimum sugar-free extract: 15 g/l Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum total acidity: 4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

7.    ‘Moscato d’Asti’ Vendemmia Tardiva Santa Vittoria d’Alba

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION

Colour: bright golden yellow Smell: composite, fruity, very intense, characteristic of the raisined grape with spiced notes Taste: sweet, harmonious, velvety with hints of Moscato grapes, reminiscent of comb honey Minimum total alcoholic strength by volume: 12,00 %, including an actual alcoholic strength by volume of at least 12,00 % Minimum sugar-free extract: 22,0 g/l. Any analytical parameters not shown in the table below comply with the limits laid down in national and EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics

—	Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume): —

—	Minimum total acidity: 4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid

—	Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre): —

—	Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre): —

5.   Wine-making practices

5.1.   Specific oenological practices

—

5.2.   Maximum yields

1.	‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ and ‘Moscato d’Asti’ 10 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

2.	‘Asti’ / ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico 10 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

3.	‘Moscato d’Asti’ Vendemmia Tardiva (late harvest) 6 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

4.	‘Moscato d’Asti’ Strevi 9 500 kilograms of grapes per hectare

5.	‘Moscato d’Asti’ Strevi and ‘Moscato d’Asti’ Santa Vittoria d’Alba 9 500 kilograms of grapes per hectare

6.	‘Moscato d’Asti’ Vendemmia Tardiva Santa Vittoria d’Alba 5 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare

7.	‘Asti Spumante’ Santa Vittoria d’Alba, ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico Santa Vittoria d’Alba, ‘Asti Spumante’ Strevi and ‘Asti Spumante’ Metodo Classico Strevi 9 500 kilograms of grapes per hectare

6.   Demarcated geographical area

‘Asti’ PDO wines can be made with grapes grown in the area demarcated as follows:

In the province of Alessandria, the following municipalities in their entirety: Acqui Terme, Alice Bel Colle, Bistagno, Cassine, Grognardo, Ricaldone, Strevi, Terzo and Visone.

In the province of Asti, the following municipalities in their entirety: Bubbio, Calamandrana, Calosso, Canelli, Cassinasco, Castagnole Lanze, Castel Boglione, Castelletto Molina, Castelnuovo Belbo, Castel Rocchero, Cessole, Coazzolo, Costigliole d’Asti, Fontanile, Incisa Scapaccino, Loazzolo, Maranzana, Mombaruzzo, Monastero Bormida, Montabone, Nizza Monferrato, Quaranti, San Marzano Oliveto, Moasca, Sessame, Vesime, Rocchetta Palafea and San Giorgio Scarampi.

In the province of Cuneo, the municipalities of Castiglione Tinella, Cossano Belbo, Mango, Neive, Neviglie, Rocchetta Belbo, Serralunga d’Alba, S. Stefano Belbo, S. Vittoria d’Alba, Treiso, Trezzo Tinella, Castino and Perletto in their entirety and the following subdivisions of the municipality of Alba: Como and San Rocco Senodelvio.

—	The Santa Vittoria d’Alba sub-region consists of the municipality of Santa Vittoria d’Alba in the province of Cuneo.

—	The Strevi sub-region consists of the following municipalities in the province of Alessandria in their entirety: Acqui Terme, Cassine, Ricaldone, Strevi, Terzo, Alice Bel Colle, Bistagno, Grognardo and Visone.

7.   Wine grape varieties

Moscato Bianco B. – Moscato reale

8.   Description of the link(s)

ASTI PDO

‘Asti’ and ‘Moscato d’Asti’ are single-variety wines produced exclusively from Moscato Bianco grapes, which have a distinctive, outstanding aromatic profile. The distinctive qualities that this variety lends the various types of wines, including the sparkling and late-harvest versions, are closely linked to the expert cultivation of the vines by growers and to sometimes innovative winemaking techniques, including the development over recent decades of a range of drier Moscato-based wines in both sparkling and still form.

The suitability for winegrowing of the land, with its particular morphology and chemical composition, and the area’s climate conditions and local winemaking skills and traditions, have made it possible, over the years, to ‘select’ Moscato Bianco as the vine variety best suited to the environment.

In the 18th century, a series of articles published in Lausanne on wine and vineyards around the world specifically referred to a Moscato Bianco of Piedmont, highly rated, and at the end of the century the prestigious Società di Agricoltura di Torino declared Moscato as one of the Piedmont grape varieties most likely to produce highly prized wines. In the 19th century Piedmont was clearly distinguishing itself from the other Italian regions for its widespread cultivation of Moscato Bianco. At the end of the nineteenth century, significant amounts of sparkling wine began to be produced from Moscato grapes, re-fermenting the base wine in the bottle. By 1895, the Charmat method (which was invented in Piedmont) had been honed and the Moscato grape was mainly being used to produce sparkling wine. There was already talk of considerable demand, even from abroad, for the fragrant, sparkling white wine known in the trade as ‘Moscato d’Asti’ or ‘Moscato di Canelli’. By opting for sparkling winemaking, Piedmont clearly set itself apart from the other regions where Moscato was also present (though to a far lesser extent). Outside the Piedmont region, most Moscato wines were classed as luxury ‘liqueur’ wines. The Moscato grape was used to make sparkling wine only in Piedmont, in the Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo areas. The same period saw the first experiments with dry sparkling Moscato-based wines (‘Asti Champagne’ in the early 1900s). However, these did not have much commercial success, since limited oenological knowledge meant that it was not possible to mitigate the bitter taste caused by the terpenes of a Moscato wine taken to full fermentation. The addition of sugar for re-fermentation in the bottle, which reduced the bitterness, created too much pressure for the bottles used at the time. The producers of ‘Asti’ PDO have continued to work on developing dry versions of their various wines (both sparkling and still or lightly sparkling). In the 1980s, Piedmontese research institutes began to publish papers on the chemical and aromatic characteristics of dry wines made from Moscato Bianco grapes and on the development of the terpene compounds in Moscato grapes in order to optimise production technology. Those years saw the development of the concept of ‘varietal oenology’, i.e. an increasingly fine-tuned technological approach that sought to enhance the characteristics of the grapes in the final quality of the wine. In the specific case of Moscato, technical developments have allowed fermentation to be prolonged, thus reducing the bitter notes that thwarted the producers’ attempts in the early twentieth century. This progress in know-how was passed on to the winemakers who, over recent decades, have developed Moscato-based wines with less sugar, in both sparkling and still form.

9.   Essential further conditions (packaging, labelling, other requirements)

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Legal framework:

In national legislation

Type of further condition:

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition:

In the description and presentation of wines bearing the controlled and guaranteed designation of origin ‘Asti’ or ‘Asti Spumante’, the sugar content must not be shown on the same line as the name; this information must also be in a different font and the letters must be smaller than those used for the name.

Derogation on the production in the demarcated geographical area

Legal framework:

In national legislation

Type of further condition:

Derogation on the production in the demarcated geographical area

Description of the condition:

As well as in the grape-growing area, the winemaking operations involved in making ‘Asti’ PDO wines (including drying grapes for the Vendemmia Tardiva category and the sparkling winemaking process) may also take place anywhere in the provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo and in Pressione, a sub-division of the municipality of Chieri (Turin) bordering the grape-growing area.

Packaging within the demarcated area

Legal framework:

In national legislation

Type of further condition:

Packaging within the demarcated geographical area

Description of the condition:

‘Asti’ PDO wines must be bottled within the grape-growing area. In accordance with Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, bottling must take place in the demarcated geographical area specified above to safeguard quality and reputation, guarantee the origin and ensure the effectiveness of checks.

Collective mark

Legal framework:

In national legislation

Type of further condition:

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition:

The labelling and presentation of PDO wines are marked by a collective mark of the size and colour described in the appropriate Annex A to the specification. This mark should appear in the field provided for by the legislation in force. All users of the designation, at the stage of designation and presentation of the wines, are also entitled to use this mark, which is distributed exclusively by the relevant protection association under the same economic and usage conditions as those reserved for its members.

Link to the product specification

https://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/21948

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(1)   OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.