Vinitaly boasts 50 years of innovation including gene map

(AGI) Rome, April 10 - Verona's Vinitaly wine show boasts 50 years of innovation spanning from the first Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wine that was certified in 1966 to the ground-breaking grapevine gene map announced in 2007, the creation of the Italian Sommelier Association and QR code labels to guarantee product traceability from the vine to the glass on smartphones. The latter is among the most significant breakthroughs of the last 50 years. In 50 years, Italian wine exports have grown by almost 8 times, or 687 percent, meaning that one out of every 5 bottles of wine exported in the world is Italian. On the other hand, a survey issued by Coldiretti, the Italian farmers' association, reported that from 1966 Italy's wine production fell 30 percent from 68.2 million hectolitres to 47.4 million hectolitres in 2015. An opposite trend was recorded in Italy's wine consumption, which instead dropped by a two-thirds during the past 50 years. In 1966 an average Italian drank 111 litres a year, and now only 37 litres, the historically lowest consumption ever recorded. The lesser quantity is compensated by a better quality, also thanks to the work of 35,000 sommeliers. The establishment and qualification of the professional figure of sommeliers revolutionised the market by upgrading the quality. The most evident step in this direction was the establishment of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification. The first wine that was awarded the certification was Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOC and Protected Geographical Indications were established in 1992, both of which have strongly contributed to the quality of Italian brands. Since 2008 PDO wines can be marketed in 'bag in box' packaging consisting of polyethylene cartons fitted with a tap from which to pour out the wine without letting in air, thus guaranteeing a longer life. The percentage of PDO wines out of Italy's total wine production rose from only 2 percent to 32 percent in 50 years, reported Coldiretti's survey. A ground-breaking article published on Nature in 2007 on the reasearch carried out in the world of wine announced the mapping of the wine genome from a sample of Pinot Nero, one of the most important cultivars worldwide. The 6-year long research was conducted by group of researchers of the Agrarian Institute of San Michele all'Adige led by Riccardo Velasco, the coordinator of the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, in partnership with U.S.-based Myriad Genetics Inc. Brand Italy's innovation potential is testified by the fact that 72,300 hectares of land farmed by 10,000 wine growers and 1,300 cellars in Italy enclose 22 percent of the world's organically grown vineyards, Coldiretti reported. (AGI) . .