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Issue 562 - January 31st - February 4th 2022 - Expressly created for 4.338 wine lovers, professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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The rapidly rising increase in costs of raw materials, energy and transportation had been expected and is now raging in the wine world. The first results came out between the second half and the end of 2021. And, at the beginning of 2022, costs are weighing heavily. The average increase for companies is 10% per bottle, estimating a total burden, by the end of the year, of 1.3 billion euros in additional costs, including monstrous increases in bills, raw materials and transportation. Once again, the UIV - Unione Italiana Vini sounded the alarm, with a report by “Corriere Vinicolo”. |
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Sustainability is increasingly becoming a business management model and, in particular, has become a distinctive feature of agricultural businesses, so much so that almost half of the companies in the sector in 2021 have a high or medium-high level of sustainability, with an increase of 1% over the previous year for high level companies, and almost four percentage points in the medium level, thanks also to the significant decrease in basic level companies, i.e. those with an initial or limited commitment to sustainability, which fell from 17% to 12.7% in one year. The areas in which corporate initiatives are most widespread are improving the use of natural resources, i.e. water, soil and energy (98.8%), safeguarding food quality and health (91.5%), risk management (76.5%), protecting safety at work (66.8%) and making the most of human capital (64.4%). This is the conclusion of the AGRIcoltura100 Report no. 2, a survey promoted by Confagricoltura and Reale Mutua, covering 2,162 agricultural enterprises from all over Italy and all sectors, presented at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, in the presence of, among others, the Minister for Agricultural Policies Stefano Patuanelli. The report also highlights the close relationship between innovation and sustainability: almost 90% of companies have made investments in the last two years and 82% of the most sustainable companies invest in at least three areas of development, giving priority to mechanization and the renewal of cultivation and breeding techniques. And wine is at the top of the list of the most virtuous companies in terms of sustainability: in first place in the AGRIcoltura 100 ranking is Cantina Produttori Valdobbiadene, one of the largest Prosecco producers. But wine is also a major player among the special mentions, with Arnaldo Caprai, the pioneer and icon of Sagrantino di Montefalco, for its attention to environmental impact, the Barberani winery, the history of Orvieto, for quality and healthy eating, and again from the Prosecco area, the Eredi Scala Ernesto & Co. company, for risk management and worker protection, and the Franciacorta-based Ronco Calino, for the quality of work and employment of young people. |
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“Not even a year after it became operational, the Revolving Pledge has succeeded in injecting liquidity into wine companies for almost 62 million euros, at no cost to the State. The beneficiaries were 95 companies, mainly in Tuscany (55 operations for 41.7 million euros), Trentino (18 operations for 9.8 million) and Lombardy (13 operations for 7.2 million)”. These are the words of Giuseppe L’Abbate, an M5S representative in the Committee on Agriculture, who launched the “Credit Project” in his role as undersecretary of Agriculture. So far, three credit institutions are the protagonists of the measure: Monte dei Paschi di Siena with 49 operations and 18 million euros of credit granted to wine companies, Intesa Sanpaolo with 27.5 million euros for 16 operations, and Credit Agricole, with 30 operations for 16.3 million euros. |
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With exports in 2021 headed towards a record 7 billion euros (in the first 10 months, shipments reached 5.8 billion euros, + 13% compared to 2020 and + 10% compared to 2019), away from home consumption that is still far from 2019 levels but certainly better than 2020, while mass retail has remained stable (sales at 1.8 billion euros, + 2.6% compared to 2020, despite the -3.2%, fall in volume), Italian wine seems to have regained good health. Data from Atradius, world leader in credit recovery, confirmed this to WineNews, which sees “a vibrant sector, with the number of insolvencies in 2021 down on the previous year and on historical trend. However, in 2022 we should see a rebound in claims with the end of the liquidity support measures enacted by the Government in 2020/21. In particular, the pre-amortization periods of guaranteed loans and moratoria will end. But banks are showing good willingness towards companies, due to the good degree of capitalization securing the loans. The median value of net debt to capital is 55%”. Few large companies have turnovers in excess of 100 million, but “profit margins are satisfactory on average: most companies have an EBITDA of between 4-8%” and profitability is expected to improve, trusting in the recovery of exports and the fall in raw material prices. |
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The “risk” of vineyards in Italy’s most important denominations continues, at a fast pace into 2022. The spotlight is once again on Bolgheri, and on one of its griffes, the boutique winery Campo alla Sughera, founded in 1998 by the German Knauf family, which stands between Bolgheri and Castagneto Carducci, between the banks of the Fossa di Bolgheri and the Borro delle Macine. It has acquired 2 hectares of land that will be added to the 20 hectares already owned by the company (16.5 of which are under vine), for a total of 22 hectares (18 under vine when fully operational). |
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Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 2018, Antinori’s Solaia 2018, Ornellaia’s Masseto 2018, Tenuta San Leonardo’s San Leonardo 2016, Arnaldo Caprai’s Montefalco Sagrantino “25 Anni” 2016, Antinori’s Tignanello 2018, I Sodi di San Niccolò 2017 by Castellare di Castellina, Baffonero 2018 by Rocca di Frassinello, Amarone della Valpolicella 2017 by Allegrini, Bolgheri Guado al Tasso 2018 again by Antinori and Fratta 2017 by Maculan. These are the top Italian red wines according to “Gentleman”, the monthly magazine of the “Milano Finanza” group, which, every year, crosschecks the judgments of six of the most important Italian guides and some of the most authoritative voices of international critics (in-depth analysis). At the absolute top of the Italian guides there is an iconic wine of Puglia, namely the Es 2019 of the Gianfranco Fino label. |
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Italy and France are competing countries in the world of wine. The Italian and French wine companies, much more realistically, are connected increasingly through coalitions, shared projects and investments. It is specifically in this context the news that Champagne Pol Roger is putting down roots in Italy, and partnering with a 20% share in Compagnia del Vino, which has distributed the Pol Roger brand in Italy since 2015 (over 9 million euros in 2021 with 733.000 bottles), led by Saverio Notari (with Marquis Piero Antinori as a shareholder since its foundation). |
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