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Issue 712 - December 16th - 20th 2024 - Expressly created for 4920 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | Ferrari Trento “Producer of the Year” for the seventh time in its history, and no. 1 also as “World Champion Blanc de Noirs Trophy,” with its Ferrari Perlè Nero, but also many other trophies for Italian wineries, which tell the story of the growth of Italian sparkling wine: the verdicts of “Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships” by Tom Stevenson, which after having crowned Italy, particularly with Trentodoc (29 gold medals, including 13 from Ferrari Trento) and Franciacorta (24 golds), it also awarded many other special prizes, worldwide, to wineries such as Berlucchi, Cleto Chiarli and Firriato, and national. to wineries such as Berlucchi, Cleto Chiarli and Firriato, and national. | |
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| | In the past, since Roman times, as excavations in Pompeii have revealed, agriculture and wine production were an integral part of the villa system, a source of livelihood for owners and farmers. It continued in the Middle Ages, in the feudal castles - from Castel Mareccio, surrounded by vineyards in Bolzano to Castagneto Carducci Castle which belonged to Count Ugolino mentioned by Dante and still belongs to the della Gherardesca family, from Castello Banfi among the rows of Brunello in Montalcino to Castello di Gabiano in Monferrato - or to the Courts along the Po River, from the Castelli Romani, where the Tenuta di Pietra Porzia can be mentioned, to the masserie in Puglia or the Sicilian bagli; from the Medici Villas, such as Artimino in Carmignano, in the Tuscan countryside (where the “farm-villas of Chianti Classico” are candidates for Unesco, a recognition that the other examples mentioned above already have, and where guarding the history of the Black Rooster are the Castles of Brolio of Barone Ricasoli and of Fonterutoli of the Mazzei, but also Badia a Coltibuono of the Stucchi Prinetti or Villa Le Corti of the Principe Corsini, among others), to the Venetian Villas, such as Villa Serego Alighieri in Valpolicella, belonging to the descendants of Dante, from the Savoy Villas in Piedmont, to the royal residences where, following the example of the “potager du roi” of Versailles, the gardens were the “natural pantry” for sumptuous banquets. And this is still the case today, with vineyards-gardens, as well as vegetable gardens, orchards and olive groves-being reborn and increasingly present in villas, castles and historic residences, many of which are also wineries or belong to wineries, from Palazzo Lana Berlucchi where the Ziliani family guards the history of Franciacorta, to Palazzo Contucci, with the ancient cellars of Nobile in Piazza Grande in Montepulciano, from Villa Cusona of the Guicciardini Strozzi family in the San Gimignano of Vernaccia to Villa La Marchesa in Gavi, from Villa Tasca in Palermo of the Tasca di Tasca d'Almerita family to the Tenuta Bossi-Marchesi Gondi in Chianti Rufina. This is because, even today, even the proceeds from the sale of their fruits, in addition to the visits (34 million visitors in 2023), serve to maintain these symbols of Italian heritage, for the preservation of which, according to the Private Cultural Heritage Observatory of Adsi-Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane, private individuals spent more than 1.9 billion euros in 2023. | |
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| | 144.1 million euros for vineyard restructuring and reconversion, 98 million euros for wine promotion in third countries (of which 68.6 to the regions and 29.4 managed at the national level), and again 57.6 for the investment measure, 19.2 for by-product distillation, and 4.8 for green harvesting, for a total of 323.8 million euros: that’s the amount of resources for the National Wine Support Program for the 2025-2026 wine year, with the allocation established by the Ministry of Agriculture decree of December 13, 2024. Among the regions, Sicily is the richest, with 51.2 million euros in funds, ahead of Veneto, with 40.7, and Puglia (29.4). Then Tuscany (27.5), Emilia-Romagna (25.8), Piedmont (18.8 million), Abruzzo (12.1), Friuli Venezia Giulia (10.9), Lombardy (10.3) and Sardinia (8.7). | |
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| | | As in many of his masterpieces, in “A farewell to Arms”, set in Gorizia on the Italian front of the Great War, Ernest Hemingway mentions wine, as a symbol of brotherhood. A vision that well reflects the soul of Collio: among the healthiest territories in Italian wine, today thanks also to the appeal of white wines, and in particular from long aging, among the best in the world, covering 90% of the territory's 1,300 hectares of vineyards, which has a long and articulated history. And also told by the 60 years of the Collio Consortium, established in 1964, and which led, in 1968 to the recognition of the Collio DOC, among the first in Italy. Today, the proof of success lies, as always, in the numbers: 270 wineries, of which 180 are members and 120 bottlers (including historic wineries that continue to invest here and new producers who have arrived from outside) produce 7 million bottles, whose main markets are the USA, Germany and Italy. And in the fact that “Collio has shown that it knows how to evolve while remaining faithful to its identity”, as David Buzzinelli, president of the Consortium, emphasizes, closing a year of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of its founding, also celebrated in the volume “Collio 60 Years of History between Wine and Territory”, by Andrea Zanfi and Stefano Cosma with images by Marco Tortato. | |
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| | | Italy already has the answer to overtourism: it is in the 40.1 billion euros of impact with which wine and food tourism contributed to the Italian economy in 2023, including 9.2 direct, 17.2 indirect and 13.7 of related activities. A phenomenon that continues to grow in double digits, with +12% over 2023 of those who went on vacation with wine, food, oil and other typical products as their motivation. This is stated in the Report on Italian Food and Wine Tourism 2024 produced by Roberta Garibaldi and Aite-Italian Association of Food and Wine Tourism. | |
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| | A complicated year for the wine world, but with realities that, strong in aspects such as history, organization and work culture, have held their heads high, consolidating, despite the historical period, their position, and guaranteeing value to their members who can look to the future with confidence. With an important turnover of more than 212 million euros in fiscal year 2023/2024, the Mezzacorona Group, one of the benchmarks of virtuous wine cooperation in Italy and Trentino, has been able to pay out 57.8 million euros to its winemaking members, putting in a net profit of 689,055 euros, and a consolidated net worth of 102.9 million euros, demonstrating great equity and financial solidity (in more detail). | |
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| | With the arrival of the holidays, Italian sparkling wines enter the “chicest” time of the year for them. About 95 million bottles will be uncorked in Italy, worth a billion euros, and on New Year's Eve alone an estimated 70 million corks will be uncorked. Abroad, about 250 million bottles are expected to be uncorked in 35 days. Meanwhile, domestic sparkling wine production is confirmed to grow by 9%, approaching 1 billion bottles this year. The Ovse together with CevesUni reports this. | |
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