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Issue 700 - September 23rd - 27th 2024 - Expressly created for 4839 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | In the setting of the Papal Villas of Castel Gandolfo, a good, supportive, ethical and fair wine will be born thanks to the Borgo Laudato Si’ project, carried out by the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education, established by Pope Francis in 2023. In fact, the work of researching, studying and planting the Borgo Laudato Si’ Vineyard and the characteristics of the wine that will be produced on the lands of the Pontifical Villas was presented. The intention, Pope Francis said, “is to aim for excellence”, rejoicing that “as much for cultivation as for agricultural production - and in particular of the vineyard - a substantial employment of labor is envisaged” (in more detail). | |
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| | Quality “to be paid for what it’s worth” as the guiding star, as Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said; “produce as much as the market demands”, added Assoenologi President Riccardo Cotarella, assessing first and foremost the issue of excessively high yields, in some areas, but also “not indiscriminate”, but reasoned, grubbing-up incentives; grubbing-ups that are not the solution, for wine companies, which must be generally more efficient, and have more managerial skills to deal with a complex phase, and a changing wine market. These are some of the indications on the future of wine (in more detail), which came from the presentation of harvest estimates in Italy signed by Ismea, Assoenologi and Unione Italiana Vini - Uiv, from “DiviNazione Expo” 2024, in the framework of the G7 Agricoltura in Syracuse and Ortigia. A 2024 harvest in general more abundant than that of 2023, at least according to estimates to date, which speak of 41 million hectoliters, +7% over last year, “missing the optimal target estimated by wine businesses at between 43-45 million hectoliters”, with some stability in the North a strong recovery in the Center compared to last year, and still a drop mainly linked to drought in the South, but still well below the “norm” of 49-50 million hectoliters in the recent past, and in particular at -12.8% on the five-year average, Ismea’s Fabio Del Bravo recalled. “Which is not necessarily a bad thing in the context of a market that is not brilliant”, and sees Italian large-scale retail holding up a little in quantity, but losing something in volume, and an export growing, but not running. Constraining production potential was the now usual impact of extreme weather phenomena, from excessive rainfall in the Center-North to drought in the South. “Overall, a vintage contained in quantity, but overall of good quality, with several excellent peaks. The premises for signing an excellent vintage, despite the vagaries of the weather, are all there”, explains a note. Looking at the numbers (for what they may be worth to date) compared to last year, there is substantial resilience in the North (+0.6% the performance of the “macro-region”), accompanied by an important recovery in the Center (+29.1%) and a contained increase in the South (+15.5%), despite a significant drop in the islands. | |
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| | The beauty of Italy is also the possibility of not spending big bucks on quality wines, thanks to the ability of wineries to combine, as few do, tradition and innovation. And they are many, 17 out of 100 - from Paltrinieri to Rotari (Mezzacorona), from Saracco to Piccini 1882, from Pieropan to Umani Ronchi, from Illuminati to Fattoria Le Pupille, from Banfi to Ca’ Maiol (Santa Margherita Gruppo Vinicolo), among others - those featured in “Best Buys” 2024 by “Wine Enthusiast”, the ranking of the best wines with prices up to $20 on the shelf and rated at least 90 points (no. 1 is King Estate’s Inscription Pinot Noir 2022), which ushers in the release of the critics’ “Top 100”. | |
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| | | From $1,173 (€1,053 exchange rate) for Roagna’s Barbaresco Crichet Paje to $693 (€622) for Bruno Giacosa’s Barolo Le Rocche di Castiglione Falletto. The maximum cost of Italian wines is still far from the prices of the most highly priced French wines, but something is changing as warned by “Wine-Searcher”, the world’s largest portal that monitors prices of thousands of wine shops and retailers around the world, which has compiled “The Most Expensive Italian Wines” 2024, the updated ranking of the most expensive bottles in Italy. In first place is Roagna’s Barbaresco Crichet Paje, second step of the podium for Masseto, priced, on average, at $1,056 per bottle (948 euros), with third place for Giuseppe Rinaldi’s Barolo Brunate Riserva at an average cost of $982 (882 euros). This is followed by Cappellano’s Barolo Otin Fiorin Pie Franco - Michet (824 euros), Giuseppe Quintarelli’s Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Docg (741 euros), and, in sixth place, at 716 euros, Fattorie dei Dolfi’s Imeneus Toscana Igt. Then Roagna Barolo Pira Riserva (652 euros) and Giuseppe Rinaldi’s Barolo (644 euros). Then, the L Bruno de Venti Toscana Igt also from Fattorie dei Dolfi (and again at a cost of 644 euros). Closing the ranking, in tenth position, is Bruno Giacosa’s Barolo Le Rocche di Castiglione Falletto (622 euros). | |
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| | | If Trentodoc is contributing to the growth in the world of passion for Italian bubbles, a phenomenon of consumption but also of custom, Trentino is a “pioneer” territory in promoting quality tourism in Italy. A “natural growth”, thanks also to the “bubbly effect”, which is the way forward in times when we talk about “governing” overturism, but also about bringing people back to wine. This is how it is all year round, in one of the reference territories of sparkling wine, and this is how it was during the days of the “Trentodoc Festival” 2024, in Trento. | |
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| | There is one issue, central to France, which has made something of a breakaway in this regard, but which is also beginning to be discussed at the European level, and that is the grubbing up of vineyards. The motive is well known, as we have written several times on WineNews: to rebalance the market and not drive prices down. But the topic is divisive, and there is no shortage, in fact, of those who are against the uprooting solution. Clear opposition, with a view to intervening, rather on the yields, has long been the position of the Unione Italiana Vini, as reiterated by Uiv president Lamberto Frescobaldi in Ortigia, at “DiviNazione Expo” 2024, while more possibilistic, but under certain conditions, seemed to be the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida and Assoenologi president Riccardo Cotarella (in more detail).
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| | If the Pope decides to write a letter to express his closeness “to all those people, women and men, who have a primary role in the production and processing of food,” emphasizing how “their work holds enormous importance in the preservation of the planet”, then Carlo Petrini, Slow Food founder, is right when he says that “Terra Madre is the UN of farmers, breeders and shepherds, a political subject with which politics must deal”. Thus, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024, Slow Food’s signature event, opened in Turin. | |
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