In Italy there is a great debate about alcohol-free wines. For some it is a stretch to call them wines, for others they are an opportunity. The “dealcoholized” wines, which even Italy can now produce, divide vintners and winemakers. “Taking the alcohol out of wine is like taking the face off a person, it is transfiguring the work of man and nature,” says Riccardo Cotarella, President of Assoenologi: "We regret that they are called wine when they are not; even if today, with new techniques, they are drinkable. I just hope they can bring people closer to wine, even wine with alcohol". Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, a producer in Franciacorta, believes, on the other hand, that they are “an opportunity for some producers, but not in wines where they can work for naturally lower-alcohol products”. And again, “They are a fad and a curiosity, augmented by the tightening of traffic laws”. However, “They will not be the death of wine; the changes are part of its evolution”. For Federvini President Micaela Pallini, on the other hand, it is a possibility to “complement, not replace, the product types of the national wine supply chain”. Also in favor of the dealcoholized wines is Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Unione Italiana Vini: "The dealcoholized segment can be a complementary market opportunity to the traditional one. And a channel for new generations to enter the sector”.