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Issue 666 - January 29th - February 2nd 2024 - Expressly created for 4671 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | A Denomination sensitized to environmental and social issues, from systems to manage interventions in the vineyard to the use of integrated pest control to reduce treatments. In general, the commitment of the wineries in sustainable vineyard management, guided by the Viticultural Protocol, is fostering a growth of the Sqnpi-certified vineyard area which follows the indications of the Integrated Production specification, which is 3,039 hectares, 34.9% of the total area of the Denomination, at +152.7% from 2021. Here is the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Docg according to the first “Sustainability Report” edited by the Cirve of Conegliano for the Consortium. | |
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| | There is no crisis for the most virtuous Italian wine companies, as wine is one of Made in Italy’s brightest “good, beautiful and well made” gems that never loses its appeal. The top wine companies that have established brands on the markets, whose value and quality are recognized almost universally, have proven to be stronger than the challenges caused by difficult economic and geopolitical contexts: in most cases, turnovers have been growing, and even though a few have been hit hard, they are not wavering and instead they are looking rather optimistically to the immediate future. As a matter of fact, the vast majority predicted a growth in turnover in 2024 compared to 2023 (half the wineries surveyed said it was higher than 2022). They believe that the decline in consumption is cyclical, and linked to economic difficulties, rather than structural, due to growing health concerns or consumers generational turnover. There is also a profound awareness that one of the fundamental actions is “staying on the road”; that is to say, being constantly present and active on the markets, either in person or through sales networks, among the aspects on which companies will pay more attention, along with business management control, because in a hypercompetitive scenario such as that of wine, nothing can be left to chance. This is the picture outlined by the WineNews survey “Italian wine between 2023 and 2024: state of the art and prospects”, which collected the sentiments of 27 top Italian wine realities, which put together an aggregate turnover of more than 2.5 billion euros (representing over 15% of the sector’s entire production turnover), with a heterogeneous sample made up of small companies of great blazon, large structured groups with wineries and brands of great prestige, and cooperatives that, for some time, have focused on quality and on building important and well-positioned brands on the market. A cross-section, it must be said, that obviously does not represent the totality of Italian wine. Which is a large fleet sailing through a stormy sea, between inflation, high and rising costs, consumption that does not grow due to the economic difficulties of many markets, and also due to an underlying tension linked to wars, conflicts and more.
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| | The wine world in 2023 has been hit by a crisis in production and consumption. But, on the level of “sentiment”, also by a decline in confidence that brings operations and investments to a standstill, or at least to reduced gears. Such as crowdfunding, which had appeared more solid for wine & food in recent years. The Pambianco research office analyzed the performance of the domestic and international wine sector on the stock market and on crowdfunding operations in the wine & food sector (2023). On the performance of wine on the financial markets, after a 2022 at -16.9% (average value of the main stock market stocks), 2023 continued to burn value (-15.2%). Among the best listed companies in the world, according to Pambianco, is the Italian Masi Agricola, which after +17.6% in 2022 placed a +15.2% in 2023. | |
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| | | Diversity understood as a value, the unparalleled role of those people who live the territory and have made it great, hands and minds that have laid the foundations for success, which has attracted so many investments that have caused vineyard prices to skyrocket to close to 4 million per hectare in Barolo's most prestigious “cru”. But also the message launched precisely for the wineries, the true protagonists of a miracle of territorial excellence, the custodians of identity in a territory that has maintained, still today, in the vast majority of cases, its productive “family” dimension, but where there is no shortage of “sirens” from outside, perhaps from industrialists from other sectors, or from funds or large investment groups to whom the “paradise” of Langhe is tempting; the fear, therefore, of being able to lose that uniqueness that makes them successful in the world, but also the awareness of changing times. On the plate, the value of community and identity of wine territories in a particular historical moment, and of generational transition, that even one of the great Italian wine terroirs is facing. Topics of the conference “Langhe (not) for sale, the identity and value of the community” of the Consorzio del Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani, at “Changes” at “Grandi Langhe”, in Turin. | |
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| | | Among the most important and famous red wines in Italy, the aging capabilities of Amarone della Valpolicella reserve great surprises, which wineries that have a history and well-preserved bottles in their cellars are committed to making known and appreciated. This is the case of Tedeschi, which, in order to enhance “a heritage that is cultural as well as economic”, has decided to open its historical archive, which holds 50 years of this wine’s history in 27,000 bottles of old vintages, to collectors, haute cuisine and enthusiasts. | |
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| | Oltrepò Pavese is the number one territory for and it is constantly seeking to relaunch and continues to attract investments from other territories. And after names such as Cordero, Tommasi, Berlucchi and Masi, now come Cantine Ermes, a reality with its heart in Sicily (where it also guards Tenute Orestiadi in Gibellina, where among the vineyards also dwells the world’s largest work of land art, “Il Cretto” by Burri, as we told in a video), but with 13,600 hectares of vineyards also in Veneto, Puglia, Emilia Romagna, Abruzzo and now Lombardy, with 2,513 members. The cooperative led by Rosario Di Maria, has acquired, at a foreclosure sale, the Cantina Sociale di Canneto (for a sum, from WineNews rumors, around 2 million euros), with the aim of “not dispersing the historical value of an important wine-growing territory and relaunching its production and social cohesion”.
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| | A total of $33 million, including exclusive cruises, experiences linking great music and wine, and dreamy wine trips, with a nice dash of wine-related Made in Italy by Antinori, Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini (with Borgo Scopeto, Caparzo, and Altesino), and the Ferragamo Family (with Il Borro), mixed with the great beauties of Italy, which together brought in $1.48 million: this is the resounding result of the Naples Winter Festival 2024 auction. | |
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