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Issue 635 - June 26th - 30th 2023 - Expressly created for 4.552 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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From the world of agriculture and wine come stories of integration that speak the universal language of hospitality, and tell of the need to look at global issues such as immigration. An act recognized by the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, with the award “Welcome. Working for refugee integration”, which for the year 2022, goes to Arnaldo Caprai, led by Marco Caprai, creator of the rebirth of Sagrantino di Montefalco, the only Italian winery awarded, among 167 companies that have contributed to promoting a more inclusive society through the employment of refugees in Italy.
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If 2021 had recorded extremely positive numbers, despite major problems, the data of the “Annual Report” of Valoritalia 2022, presented in Rome in the setting of Casina Valadier, marks a clear change of scenario, showing a slowdown that for the Italian wine sector is around -3.8%. Weighing in on this is the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with its corollary energy crisis, which has evidently forced a slowdown in economic flows in all sectors. “The wine sector, like any other economic sector, is suffering through a complicated five-year period, to say the least”, Francesco Liantonio, president of Valoritalia, comments to WineNews. “2019 saw a real exploit in bottled wine, with 20% growth; 2020 was the year of the pandemic which disrupted the economy, 2021 marked a small recovery, and since February 2022 the war in Ukraine has plunged us back into a difficult situation again, plunging the world into a war economy, amid uncertainty and speculation, scarce raw materials and inflation. In May, the numbers are not exciting, with -4% certified wine on May 2022. Out of 218 appellations monitored by Valoritalia, the top 20 account for 83% of Italian quality wine: there is an important concentration, and only the Prosecco DOC touches the one billion euro turnover, while 130 appellations do not reach the one million euro mark. There is a need to reorganize the system”. Valoritalia, however, is also a certification body for sustainability, environmental and increasingly ethical. “We started with environmental, organic or integrated certification, but today the concept of sustainability passes through three axes: environmental, ethical-social and economic”, Valoritalia director Giuseppe Liberatore reminds WineNews. “Since 2016 we have been working in this direction, giving content to an often abused term, and hundreds of companies are already Equalitas certified. Nearly 18% of PDO vineyards are Equalitas-certified, which is not only a company certification, but also a territorial one, and soon other appellations, such as Prosecco, will be added to Nobile di Montepulciano” (in more detail). |
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For Italian wine, in the U.S., 2023 is off to a fairly good start, with exports in the first quarter over the same period in 2022 growing in value by +10.7%, to 446 million euros, as measured by Istat data analyzed by WineNews. But what is the leading foreign market for the Belpaese is slowing down, and this is something that cannot be overlooked. As well as the fact that the range of wines above $15 on shelf continues to grow. “After 27 years of consecutive growth, wine industry volumes declined for the second year in a row in 2022. And the market is also expected to decline in 2023”. This is according to previews of “The U.S. Wine Market: Shanken’s Impact Databank Review & Forecast” from the publisher of “Wine Spectator”, to be released in July. |
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Looking at tourist arrivals, in the first quarter of 2023, for Unwto, Europe has recovered its pre-pandemic numbers, standing at only -10% over 2019, but Asia still lags behind with -46%. For Google Italy, in the Old Continent, flight searches grew +30% in the first 5 months 2023 over 2022, +28% for accommodation and +63% for cruises, and demand to Italy is driven by Germany, Uk and the US. Specifically, online search for food and wine experiences is growing, with +13% over 2019 for wine-tasting and +17% for foodtasting. A curiosity? Across the web, Barolo is more searched than Brunello di Montalcino and Franciacorta. This is the snapshot of the “Food & Wine Tourism Forum” No. 6, in recent days, at Grinzane Cavour Castle, with more than 300 experts comparing notes. For Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè “the goal is to make tourism the first Italian industry”. Alessandra Priante, Unwto Europe director, explained that for 65% of operators their countries do not have a plan on wine tourism. For Magda Antonioli, vice president Etc-European Travel Commission, “data are important, but it is up to governance to translate them into a strategy for territories”, and into “a regenerative model for everyone”, according to Barbara Nappini, president Slow Food Italy. |
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Florence’s historic Enoteca Pinchiorri, three-starred as Rome Cavalieri’s La Pergola (currently closed for renovations), and again the starred Ristorante Cracco in Milan and La Ciau del Tornavento in Treviso, passing through Verona’s anthological Bottega del Vino and Alberobello’s Poeta Contadino: all six “Grand Awards” in Italy are confirmed in the U.S. Wine Spectator magazine’s “Restaurant Awards”, which honors the world’s best wine lists for value, grandeur and depth of vintage. |
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Major wine fairs are always in question. Yet although they are for many “obsolete” in formula, which must evolve, they remain an important tool for business. Although there is an increasingly palpable sense that Vinexpo Wine Paris, Dussedorf's Prowein and Vinitaly, all concentrated in the first part of the year, are too many. And if Vinitaly does not seem to be in question, between the two major international competitors, if the Dusseldorf fair to date is much more attended than the Paris one, the German event seems the one most at risk of “abandonment” by Italian producers. This is the sentiment that, for some time, has been in the air in the sector, and which is now recorded by the survey signed by the historic magazine “Civiltà del Bere” (the issues in more detail).
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It was among the first projects in Italy to combine wine and art: the “Art Park La Court”, conceived by Michele Chiarlo, celebrates its first 20 years. It is the most extensive open-air museum in the vineyard, in which art, landscape and wine dialogue uninterruptedly, offering visitors a unique land art experience. The Park, located in La Court, the Chiarlo family’s “chateaux” in Monferrato, celebrates the important milestone with the release of the 2020 vintage of Nizza Docg Riserva La Court, a famous label that has made the history of the Nizza appellation. |
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