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Issue 732 - May 5th - 9th 2025 - Expressly created for 3718 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Petrus, Chateau d’Yquem, Dom Perignon Brut, Chateau Haut-Brion, Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Chateau Lynch-Bages, Chateau Montrose, Opus One, Chateau Cos d’Estournel, Chateau Palmer, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache Grand Cru Monopole, Marchesi Antinori’s Tignanello and Chateau Leoville-Las Cases “Grand Vin de Leoville”: these are the 20 most sought-after wines of 2025, at least so far, according to the “Wine-Searcher” portal. | |
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| | It is difficult to predict what 2025 will be, from here on out, for the wine world, but it is certainly a particularly awaited and monitored year as also understood from international trade fairs in the sector, with the “sentiment” of insiders oscillating between confidence and caution. Resilience, a watchful eye for changes and opportunities to be seized, however, seem to be the trends to follow for a year on which the evolution of the tariff issue will weigh heavily. A reflexion reiterated in “The Wine Economy: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities between Europe and Competitiveness”, an event that featured Confagricoltura, with the presentation of the “Report on the Competitiveness of Wine Regions” No. 3, produced by Nomisma Wine Monitor, recently in Verona. And if for Italy there was a sprint start for export 2025, driven however by the U.S. to anticipate duties, internationally the sector comes from a difficult period. As the Wine Monitor explained, after a 2023 that saw global wine imports contract by more than 5% over the previous year, the long-awaited rebound was not there in 2024. Looking at the top 12 wine import markets only four of them recorded growth in value imports (the United States, Canada, China and Brazil). Italy, brought home a positive result (+6% in value), driven mainly by sparkling wines (+9%), whose exports now account for 30% of total cross-border sales of Italian wine. Much of this credit can be attributed to Prosecco, whose exports increased 11% in the last year. Over the past ten years, Italy figures as the country whose wine exports have grown the most among all competitors: +60% versus +51% for France and +33% for New Zealand. 60% of Italian wine exports, Wine Monitor explains, are concentrated in just five countries, with the United States leading the way (24%). Regional exports also denote high levels of concentration: the Veneto alone accounts for 37% of national wine exports, followed by Tuscany and Piedmont with 15% both. Adding Trentino-Alto Adige and Emilia-Romagna brings the figure up to 80%. And then there are the new trends to take into account, among which is healthiness. | |
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| | For the Liv-Ex indices, the “losses” continue. Looking at the two main indices, the Liv-Ex 100, in the first quarter 2025, marks -3.6%, which comes to -10.3% in 12 months. Just “better” does the Liv-Ex 1000, at -3.4% in the first 4 months, and -10.5%. Italy does badly: the Italy 100 contains losses in -1.3% since the beginning of the year, although over 12 months it comes to -7.9%. Looking at individual vintages, however, some are growing. And if in the Liv-Ex 100 the best overall performer is Domaine Jean Louis Chave’s Hermitage Rouge 2021 (+18.7% since the beginning of the year), in the “Top 10” there are also two jewels from Antinori, such as Tignanello 2020 (+6.2%) and Solaia 2021 (+5.6%). While in the Liv-Ex 1000, the best of all is Bruno Giacosa’s Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche Riserva 2014 (+66.3%). | |
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| | | Five billion dollars in increased Uk imports from the US specifically in agriculture, beef, “ethanol” and beyond, the UK’s elimination of “non-tariff barriers”, with details to be refined and put in place in the coming weeks (and the 10% universal duty that would remain, however, even on Uk products): this is the trade deal announced in the last days by US President Donald Trump, and UK President Keir Starmer (with details to come in the coming weeks, ed.). Meanwhile, the EU, which continues to negotiate with the U.S., has announced an appeal to the WTO against the tariffs and reciprocal, and opened a public consultation (until June 10) on U.S. products to be hit if negotiations fail. A list that includes U.S. products from every sector, including wishkies, but also wines, as well as beef and pork, seeds and so on. A presence, that of wine and wishky, on the list to be evaluated, to which Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) reiterates its opposition: “European wine exports to the U.S. are worth almost 5 billion euros a year, of which 2 billion for Italy, that coming from overseas comes to just 318 million euros, there is a risk of a lose-lose escalation”, said the president, Lamberto Frescobaldi. | |
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| | | A phenomenon named Prosecco. The export locomotive of Italian wine is also going strong in the United States, the first market, where it is women who sustain consumption and consecrate its success. In the States, in fact, according to the Observatory of the Italian Wine Union (Uiv) on Iwsr data, the “king” of sparkling wines made in Italy registers an average penetration rate of 24% among consumers, reaching 28% precisely in the female component. | |
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| | The beauty of art, but also the beauty of Italy’s agri-food heritage: the bubbles of Prosecco Doc, an icon of made-in-Italy enology exported all over the world, are the Official Sparkling Wine of the Holy See Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan (April 13-October 13, 2025), protagonists of the toasts of all the events in a highly prestigious international context. Guests of the Holy See Pavilion, located in the Italian Pavilion, can thus appreciate Prosecco Doc as a symbol of Made in Italy, confirming the deep connection between the Belpaese and the art of beauty, a central theme for Expo 2025 as well. And it is precisely Italian art that has a role of honor, with the exceptional display of the work “The Deposition of Christ”, painted by Caravaggio between 1602 and 1604, preserved in the Vatican Museums. | |
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| | Promoting moderate and conscious consumption of wine, supporting sales in restaurants, enhancing the made-in-Italy wine and wine heritage: these are the goals of the “Keep calm and drink Italian wine” campaign launched by Coldiretti, Filiera Italia and Fipe-Confcommercio. The heart of the project is the use of the digital breathalyzer integrated in the Fipe app, to help citizens assess their condition before driving, available in Fipe restaurants through Qr codes inserted in the menus, downloadable with a simple click. | |
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