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Issue 696 - August 26th - 30th 2024 - Expressly created for 4827 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | If wine is one of the most important symbols of Christianity, it is also one of Pope Francis’ most beloved metaphors of divine goodness and brotherhood, as he recalls several times in his homilies, and in his recent meeting with the world of Italian wine (WineNews was also there), thanks to Vinitaly. And once again, Bergoglio, receiving in audience the Congregation of the Oblates of St. Joseph, did not forget a wine reference: “as you know, my family also has Asti origins. We have common roots in that land of Piedmont, which gave birth to your founder St. Joseph Marello. Beautiful land, that, of good wine!”. | |
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| | The quality of Italian wines is now recognized, worldwide, to be of the highest level, and not inferior to that of any other producing country. But the value challenge, for Italy, is still all to be won, because the prices of Italian wines going to world markets are still too low, compared to those of so many competitors. An issue of which the producers themselves are aware, but on which it is not easy to work, net of a worldwide drop in consumption that makes it even more difficult, albeit inevitable, to work on positioning. An even more delicate issue when looking at still wines, the type that suffers the most but still accounts for two-thirds of Italian wine shipments worldwide. And it is precisely on the value of exported bottled still wines (2022 figure) that the analysis of the American Association of Wine Economists focuses, showing a wide gap between Italy and France (a distance that would be even greater if bubbles were also included in the comparison, given the economic weight of Champagne), but not only. According to Comtrade data, analyzed by U.S. wine economists, the top spot in unit value belongs to the U.S., with a value of $8.43 per liter, and a podium completed by France, with $7.67 per liter, and New Zealand, with $6.12. Italy does not even win the “wooden medal,” to use Olympic jargon, since in fourth place is Australia, at $4.67, and only in fifth place comes Italy, with, on average, $4.54 per liter. Slightly more than the wines of Austria, at $4.21 per liter, and Greece, with 4.01 euros per liter, and a top 10 closed by Argentina ($3.86 per liter), Portugal (3.57) and Germany (3.43). Data, like those of all aggregate statistics, to be taken as broad indications net of many factors, from the quantities and types of products exported to the different customs conditions in the reference markets for each exporting country. But which nonetheless make us reflect, once again, on the fact that a very high quality now universally recognized for many Italian wines is not matched by an economic value that, on the other hand, is accepted by the market and consumers for productions from other countries. | |
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| | There is a very close bond that has linked Japan to Piedmont’s wine and food for decades, with the region’s most representative labels present on the shelves and wine lists of the Land of the Rising Sun: this partnership was celebrated with the arrival of the Amerigo Vespucci - considered the most beautiful ship in the world - in Tokyo, together with the Piedmont Region and the Consorzio Piemonte Land of Wine, to promote the region’s wine excellence. The ship will touch 28 countries to raise awareness of Made in Italy. With the masterclass, in the Japanese capital, by Agenzia Ice and Vinitaly, featuring 7 iconic wines: Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore Ferrari Trento, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva Villa Bucci, Tignanello Marchesi Antinori, Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido, Ornellaia Tenuta Ornellaia, Barolo Vigna Rionda Massolino and Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryè Donnafugata.
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| | | From Lady Gaga, star of Todd Phillips’ “Joker: folie à deux” by Todd Phillips, to Angelina Jolie, Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s film (with Pierfrancesco Favino, Valeria Golino and Alba Rohrwacher), from Brad Pitt and George Clooney for “Wolfs” by Jon Watts, to Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore for “The Room Next Door” by Pedro Almodóvar, from Nicole Kidman with Antonio Banderas in “Baby Girl” by Halina Reijn, to Daniel Craig for “Queer” by Luca Guadagnino, among the five Italian films in the running for the “Golden Lion”. with Gianni Amelio’s “Campo di Battaglia”, Maura Delpero’s “Vermiglio”, Grassadonia and Piazza’s “Iddu” starring Toni Servillo and Elio Germano, and Giulia Steigerwalt’s “Diva futura” with Pietro Castellitto, with Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” opening and Pupi Avati’s “The American Garden” closing. It is a parade of celebrities the “81 Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica” in Venice (until September 7), lovers also of Italian wine, such as Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg, the official bubbly with the label “Riprese collinari” (and wineries such as Ruggeri, Villa Sandi, Val d’Oca, Bortolomiol ...). And if Abruzzo wines are regulars with Masciarelli partnering with Terrazza Cinematografo and Fantini with Hollywood Celebrities Lounge, it’s a “first” for Asolo Prosecco Docg with Montelvini at Casa I Wonder. | |
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| | | To celebrate made-in-Italy, “at home”, and for charity: that’s the meaning of “Ferrari F1 Gran Premio d’Italia Jeroboam”, a special bottle specially made (in only 8 pieces, not intended for sale) for the race that will be staged in Monza on September 1, by Ferrari Trento, the flagship winery of Trentodoc and the official toast of Formula 1. And a bottle, signed by the drivers on the podium, will be auctioned on “F1 Authentics” to benefit “Make-A-Wish International”, which helps fulfill the wishes of seriously ill children. | |
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| | At the halfway mark of 2024, Italian wine is still sailing with a hold full of positive data, towards the markets of Non-EU countries. According to data from the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) and Vinitaly Observatory, in fact, “exports in the first half of the year to non-EU countries remain on positive ground for Italian wine. With almost 4.7 million hectoliters exported between January and June and a final balance of the six months at 2.1 billion euros, with the non-EU which is thus confirmed as the marketplace-locomotive”. But there is a gradual slowdown, the Observatory explains. Compared to the first 5 months of 2024, total volume for the six-month period fell from +10% in May to +6.3% by mid-year, while in value the figure dropped from +7.3% to +4.7%. | |
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| | By 2024, Banca Monte dei Paschi will have to divest, among other things, Mps Tenimenti Poggio Bonelli, “or, alternatively divest its stake in Banca d’Italia” as per its 2017 state aid commitments with the EU. The “Monte dei Paschi di Siena Group Half-Yearly Financial Report June 30, 2024” states. Ownership of the historic Chianti Classico estate, Poggio Bonelli, will have to change hands, either to a buyer or, at least temporarily, to the Bank of Italy. It will, however, be the exit from wine production of Italy’s oldest bank. | |
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