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Issue 623 - April 3rd - 7th 2023 - Expressly created for 4469 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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The first warm spring days, then the sudden change in temperature, and as it has been the case for years, the alarms about frosts arrive put farmers and winegrowers on edge, in Italy as in France. And this 2023 is no exception. “The frost with sub-zero temperatures is hitting Italy after a warm winter that climatologically recorded a temperature 1.21 degrees higher than the historical average, but the anomaly is even 1.38 degrees higher in the North, where now fans and frost irrigation in orchards have been triggered to save crops”. This was stated by Coldiretti on Isac Cnr data (in the photo the candles lit among the vineyards of Tenuta di Trinoro, in Val d’Orcia). |
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Politics and the government, took center stage as never before at Vinitaly 2023. A government that plastically brought to the fair the pairing, winning, wine/art, with Caravaggio’s Bacchus and Reni’s Bacchus (an idea of Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, which many applauded, as we told in the interview with Culture Minister, Gennaro Sangiuliano, the director of the Uffizi, Eike Schmidt, and the Governor of Tuscany, but which was also criticized, as Vittorio Sgarbi did in the video, to WineNews), which talked about wine and health, business support and so on. The reason, of this massive presence, was summarized by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “the agri-food and wine sectors represent the perfect synthesis of economy, work, health, culture, history and environment. I could not miss this edition of Vinitaly. The massive presence of the government is a signal of the attention we wanted to give to this world”. Good, then, if this massive attention will turn into concrete acts. Otherwise, it would have been just propaganda, and that would be a pity. For businesses, and for Vinitaly, too. Because if one certainty emerges from this edition-which, again, WineNews reported “as a guest” in the institutional space of Marche, - it is that it was a fair of relationships, but also increasingly about business, and international business, thanks to the many buyers from around the world, and especially from the U.S. and China, but not only, brought in thanks to the Veronafiere and Ice Agency, but also to the many business partners worldwide invited directly by wine companies (93,000 total attendance, of which 29,600 foreigners, according to Veronafiere) which remain the true protagonists of the sector, the driving force of the wine world, which, if it sees in trade fairs an essential moment of trade and business, must have, more and more, the ability to move communication to the territories, where everything is born, putting wine in true synergy with the landscapes, history, art and cuisine. Companies that, according to the almost 900 entrepreneurs met by the entire WineNews staff, in these four days of the fair, said they were amply satisfied by the influx of buyers and professionals, both foreign and Italian, and by the efforts made by Veronafiere which, in 2024, will be staged from 14 to 17 April. |
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The topic of alcohol consumption in relation to health, but also of the revolution in sight in terms of labelling, net of the question linked to the “health warnings” proposed by Ireland, obviously also held sway at Vinitaly. And as many have said, and as always happens, perhaps the right path is the one that “stays in the middle”, dictated by common sense. Summarized in the words of Luca Rigotti, guide of the wine sector of the Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari, but common to the ideas of many other supply chain organizations and beyond: “on the indication on the label of calories and ingredients and on the insertion of warning messages we reiterate the need that a conscious and educational, never alarmist approach should be followed for wine products”, said Rigotti, expressing a position on which the supply chain and the Government agree (in more detail). |
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Despite an uncertain and volatile scenario in 2023, between fluctuating costs, difficulty in finding workers and increasingly impactful climatic events, interesting prospects are opening up for Italian wine, both on the national and foreign markets. This is confirmed by a survey conducted at the Intesa Sanpaolo branches specialized in agribusiness, according to which many expect a generalized slowdown in turnover for the current year, but overall, a good stability in margins. On the internal front, explains Intesa Sanpaolo, the sector will be able to benefit from the further recovery of post-pandemic sociality and the strong recovery of tourism and catering. On international markets, the good results of 2022 (exports at 7.9 billion euros, +10% at current values, stable in quantity), can continue to be supported by the excellent qualitative positioning of Italian wine. Which, however, must work on the value. Because the Italian wine offer, further explains Intesa Sanpaolo, is perhaps still poorly remunerated in relation to the quality it expresses. The challenges in the future of wine will be driven by sustainability and digitalization. Finally, it will be necessary to continue on a path of dimensional and capital strengthening. |
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One is the Italian sailing ship known by all navies as “the most beautiful ship in the world”, the other the international flagship event for Italian wine. Together, the Amerigo Vespucci and “Vinitaly”, from 1 of July, will set sail to promote the Italian wine, with a world tour that will stop in major cities on all Continents. Making the announcement today from Veronafiere in Verona was the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto, because he explained, “companies have asked us to help bring the Italian image abroad”.
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Decline in red wine? For the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory this is not quite the case, but there is an acceleration towards the desired high-end positioning of the most virtuous Italian denominations. Because if it is true that in export the segment made worst that all others (-4.3% in quantity), with obvious drops in the main countries of demand, starting with the top 3 (Germany, USA and UK), the analysis quality sees the premium categories (from 6 to 9 euros/litre in the winery) and superpremium (over 9 euros) conquering very important market shares in the last 12 years: in 2010, products under 6 euros represented two thirds of the market, today the trend is reversed, with the over 6 Euros at 60% of sales. In just over 10 years, the growth of the high-end segment, which is now worth 1.9 billion euros in exports, has been 200%.
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Italian sparkling wines have closed 2022 once again at almost 1 billion bottles (978 million), revealed the UIV-Vinitaly Observatory. The figure marks a slight increase (+4%) on the superabundant 2021 (+25%), while table and varietals (+10%) did better than sparkling DOC-PGI (+3%, 807 million bottles). Exports confirm the driving role of Italian sparkling wines in favor of the entire sector. In 2022 Italy exported 5.2 million hectoliters of sparkling wine (+6% on 2021, of which 3.7 million of Prosecco and 461,000 of Asti). |
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