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Issue 479 - June 29th - July 3rd 2020 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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A panoramic shot from the top reveals a field full of blossoming flowers, while rows upon rows of vineyards have taken over the Arena in Verona: when nature has taken back its spaces, with animals sighted in the streets of silent cities, the Pasqua winery entrusts its story to Timo Helgert, German artist and author of “The Return of Nature”, a series of digital installations on his Instagram profile where the Galleria in Milan appears to be lying on a carpet of flowers. A tribute to Verona and Valpolicella (on Instagram), as well as to the renaissance of Nature that has recovered the health of its flora and fauna, de-urbanizing the cities most affected by Covid-19. |
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As was easy to expect, the lockdown has had a huge impact on Italian wine exports to its main European markets, Germany and the UK. In the first 4 months of 2020, the Belpaese sold -1.3% in Germany, which is confirmed even in this period of pandemic market little prone to strong and sudden shocks, both positive and negative, while in the UK the damage was much stronger, in the order of -15.6% over the same period of the year. All this in a context in which value wine imports, overall, decreased by 8.9% in Germany, and by 13.3% overseas. This trend was mainly affected by the collapse in April. This is confirmed by the analysis of the Osservatorio Vinitaly-Nomisma Wine Monitor on a customs basis. In addition to the overall drop in values, there are also other factors to worry about, as the average price falling and the more than probable stocks accrued in the warehouses of distributors and importers, is counterbalanced by a greater holding capacity compared to the main competitor, France. The result is an increase in market shares in Germany (from 36.8% to 39.9%) and a substantial holding in the UK. The alarm over and above the volumes sold, comes from the average price: -18% in Great Britain and -7% in Germany in April compared to the previous quarter. “The pressure on prices is worrying - said the head of the Osservatorio Vinitaly-Nomisma Wine Monitor, Denis Pantini - as evidence of the fact that retailers are putting pressure on producers also in light of the first signs of the recession that are emerging in these countries and that will affect wine purchases”. “It is crucial not to interrupt the dialogue with our market interlocutors - said Giovanni Mantovani, dg Veronafiere - this is the purpose of “Wine2Wine Exhibition & Forum”, a dynamic and innovative event based on digital and physical b2b interaction that starts now and ends at the fair in Verona on November 22-24, with the prologue of “Opera Wine”, created with Wine Spectator”. In any case, Italian wine can seek some consolation in the fact that the historical competitor, France, has been much worse off, with -19.8% in Germany in the first 4 months of 2020, and -24.9% in the United Kingdom, with data dragged down strongly since April 2020, with the transalpines, who lost around -40% in value in both countries. |
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The world of wine wants to start again, and the signal of a return to normality also comes from events. The big events are all betting on the end of the year, and if in Italy they are betting strongly on Vinitaly, with “Wine2Wine Forum & Exhibition” (in Verona, from 22 to 24 November) and the Merano Wine Festival (from 6 to 10 November, in Merano), among others, in the States there is “Wine Spectator” which, despite the still very difficult situation, announces the “New York Wine Experience” 2020, edition n. 40 of the highlight event of wine communication in the USA, wine market n. 1 for Italy, where the country has always been a protagonist with its most famous and important wineries. The date set is October 22-24, as always at the Marriot Marquis, along the famous Brodway. An event that, hopefully, will celebrate the restart of the wine business in the States. |
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It is not just a simple credit line and the product, wine, in this case, the guarantee, but an actual revolving pledge focused on the bottles, which will remain property of the producers and at the same time have access to cash assets. It has been established by an agreement between the Chianti Classico Consortium and Banca Monte dei Paschi. The tool has been prepared and is now waiting for the Ministry of Agricultural Policies implementation decree to become an application. A novelty for the sector, introduced by the CuraItalia Decree for PDO and PGI products. With a peculiarity, because the agreement is intended to support “primary winemakers, granting them a loan guaranteed by the wine produced exclusively from the owners’ grapes, and from the last vintage, for an amount equal to 80% of the average market price list the Chambers of Commerce publish (the price of Chianti Classico 2019 registered with the Chambers of Commerce of Siena and Florence fluctuates between 240 and 310 euros per hectoliter, ed.). With the ownership of the property in the hands of the winegrower”, explained a note from the Consorzio del Gallo Nero, led by Giovanni Manetti, according to which “could prove to be essential in overcoming a challenging moment, then, be able to return to markets worldwide”. |
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Already the first “organic” vineyard in Italy (34% of the national total), the Sicily of wine is looking to sustainability: this is where the SOStain Sicilia Foundation was born, with the support of the Sicilian DOC Consortium and Assovini. With the Region, which is the first in Italy to develop, in a unified way, an integrated protocol of sustainability, with a Disciplinary developed by an independent Scientific Committee, and a brand to be affixed in the bottle. Alberto Tasca d'Almerita, at the helm of the family winery, leads the board of directors. |
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From the vineyards beaten by the wind of Pantelleria to those that climb the terraces of the Cinque Terre in Liguria, Valtellina in Lombardy, on the marogne, the dry-stone walls that characterize territories such as Soave or Valpolicella, but also those that climb inaccessible ridges such as those of the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene UNESCO World Heritage Site, with steep slopes, or that cling to volcanic soil, such as Etna, the Euganean Hills and beyond: these are just some of the tales of “heroic viticulture” in the Belpaese. Many, like those of historical viticulture, from the Langhe to Montalcino, from Collio to Irpinia, for example. And that finally have a real and operational legal protection, with the decree signed by Agricultural Policies, Cultural Heritage and Environment. |
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The Winery of the Year - Gran Vinitaly 2020 is the Cantine Lunae Bosoni of the Bosoni family, in Liguria, while the Best Wine 2020 is Barolo Docg Sarmassa 2015 by the Marchesi di Barolo brand. To say it all, 5StarWines, the annual selection signed by Vinitaly, which this year has judged thousands of wines in “flexible version”, with the jury of professionals from all over the world connected online. |
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