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Issue 683 - May 27th - 31st 2024 - Expressly created for 4790 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | Things seem to be improving slightly on the consumption front for wine and spirits in general, in the United States, altough in a still negative context. This is according to SipSource analysis (on data for the 12 months to April 2024), the system of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, which represents more than 60% of products sold wholesale by volume. Overall, spirits and wine consumption declined by -4.7%, a slightly better figure on the -5.2% through March, and more importantly, SipSource points out, the first sign of trend improvement since October 2023. Whites do better (-5.4%) than reds (-9.4%), while Prosecco grows (+4.8%). | |
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| | The world of wine needs enologists who become more and more entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs who put the dignity of work even more at the center, with higher salaries but also with workplaces capable of giving well-being to those who work and of stimulating their skills and creativity. Entrepreneurs who, as has always been the case, must continue to beat the markets, to be present and in the forefront, in constant contact with the trade and with consumers, who, through wine, seek a piece of that dream, of that Italian lifestyle made of conviviality, beauty, history, landscapes, art, and quality in general, which in the world is loved more than sometimes, in Italy itself, we can understand. A wine that, moreover, needs to see its economic, social, environmental and cultural value reaffirmed even more, in order to defend itself from the increasingly strong wave of “neo-prohibition”, which is experiencing a major drop in consumption. Synthesized message coming from the Assoenologi Congress, staged in Cagliari, “signed” by the president of Italian and World Enologists, Riccardo Cotarella; entrepreneur-humanist and wine producer Brunello Cucinelli; journalist Antonio Galloni (Vinous), considered one of the world’s most influential wine critics; and the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida. “Wine is a symbol of our country and our land. But we enologists, who have improved it a lot, must know the markets better - said Riccardo Cotarella - because if it is not successful on the market, our wine has no value”. A valorization that also passes through the story of the identity of Italian wine, the valorization of its peculiarities as Antonio Galloni explained. Brunello Cucinelli, instead, recalled that the entrepreneur, the wine producer, must become the narrator of a liquid dream, even with a little more aesthetics, with a better story, and restoring dignity to work, “because otherwise in the future the problem will not be who to sell our wines, our clothes to, but finding who will hoe the vineyard and sew the clothes”. Pieces of that Made in Italy that are linked to beauty, art, landscapes, history, and lifestyle. Which make Italy loved in the world, also thanks to wine, as the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, once again recalled.
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| | Enhancing the territory even more, compared to the grape variety: is the path taken long ago by the Castelli di Jesi, the largest area of expression of Verdicchio, which 15 producers have experienced as a historic moment, under the direction of the Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini led by Michele Bernetti: the concretization of the passage of the Castelli di Jesi Superiore appellation from DOC to DOCG, told in Milan, the capital of fashion, design and finance. Castelli di Jesi wines are thus positioned at the top of the appellation’s quality pyramid along with Riserva. As is the case with the world’s most famous terroirs (and as the norm dictates, ed.), the new appellation places the emphasis on the place where the wines are produced: a change of perspective that creates identity and value for the entire territory. | |
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| | | The Chianti Classico Consortium is the oldest one in Italy. It is celebrating its 100 year anniversary recalling its glorious past while at the same time, looking to the future and opening the door to the sustainability. They have decided to put it down in black and white in the “Chianti Classico Sustainability Manifesto”, illustrated by the director of the Consortium, Carlotta Gori, recently in Florence. A project with three pillars called environment, people and culture, and all this, while the dream of UNESCO recognition for the territory remains alive. The objectives of our “Manifesto” are simple and there are two: reducing the environmental impact through managing the territory, productive surfaces and woods, preserving their characteristics, potential, landscape and biodiversity. And then the care of the vineyards, of the richness of microorganisms in the soil, fertility, respect for nature and animals, biodiversity as a source of life, ecological and social responsibility”. The second objective is “to enhance the growth and affirmation of the social and cultural resources of the territory. Our territory and the companies that have always animated it have been making a fundamental contribution for decades to the achievement of these objectives and the practical implementation of this vision”.
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| | | A walk in the vineyard, accompanied by a more or less detailed explanation of the vines and terroir, followed by a visit to the cellar with tasting: an experience that now represents a standard for Italian wineries, but which is losing its “wow effect”, while wine lovers expect something more from an emotional point of view. The wine tourism sector must prepare to face new challenges, from climate change to alcohol risk. This was stated by Roberta Garibaldi, president of the Italian Food and Wine Tourism Association.
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| | The hills of Romagna will not have the same “spotlight” as the coast, but they represent, nonetheless, a vital, economic and social cross-section of the territory, and are capable, through vineyards, wine and the work of man, of expressing all the beauty of the territory. Thanks also to Trebbiano, the strongest white grape variety in Romagna and which is the protagonist of a new story, together with those who “live” it in the vineyard. It is the project project staged by Terre Cevico, one of the main wine players in Italy who, together with its members, has given rise to “10 stories of Trebbiano in Romagna”, a tale of the Trebbiano-based bubbly production chain: ten are the winemaking members who decided to tell directly from the vineyard all that is around Romagna bubblies, in a process that also involves Sib sea operators (Italian Seaside Operators’ Union). | |
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| | To maintain a specific and effective wine policy in Europe, (re)build the European quality policy, re adjusting the approach to sustainability as well as healthiness of consumption and products, on the model of PDO and PGI products; invest in support measures for a perennial crop; defend the culture of wine and moderate consumption; create a new institutional cooperation for viticulture: these are the priorities indicated to the future members of the EU Parliament who will be elected between 6 and 9 June, by Federdoc (in depth). | |
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