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Issue 594 - September 12th - 16th 2022 - Expressly created for 4.386 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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From Zendaya (“Best Actress – Drama” for “Euphoria”) to Lee Jung-jae (“Best Actor – Drama” for “Squid Game”), Jason Sudeikis (“Best Actor – Comedy” for “Ted Lasso”) To Jean Smart (“Best Actress – Comedy” for “Hacks”), from Michael Keaton (“Best Actor in a Miniseries” for “Dopesick”) to Amanda Seyfried (“Best Actress in a Miniseries” for “The Dropout”), the winners of the “Emmy Awards” no. 74 toasted the “Oscars of TV” with Franciacorta, for the second consecutive year “Official Sparkling Wine” of the most important TV awards in the USA. |
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A satisfactory vintage in quantity and surprising in quality: thus, in a nutshell, are the harvest forecasts of the Assoenologi, Ismea and Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) Observatory, presented in Rome at the Ministry of Agriculture. This year’s drought and record heat have not compromised the Italian vineyard, which, at the start of the harvest campaign, promises grapes of good to excellent quality, with quantity in line with the average of recent vintages. Ensuring that the final product will hold, in addition to the providential August rains, is the extraordinary research and application work of producers on a vine that is increasingly resilient to climatic and meteorological adversity. Production 2022 is expected to be around 50.27 million hectoliters of wine, the same quantity as in 2021 (50.23 million hectoliters, Agea 2021 data) and at +3% over the average of the five-year period 2017-2021, although weather trends in the coming weeks remain crucial. Favorable weather conditions for grape ripening could turn the forecast in a positive direction, while unsuitable weather for late varieties would negatively affect the harvest product. The ranking of Italian regions also remains stable, headed by Veneto, which, with 11.5 million hectoliters, alone produces more than 1/5 of Italian wine. It is followed by Puglia and Emilia-Romagna, with 10.6 and 7.4 million hectoliters, respectively, for a total product of the three regions equal to 59% of the entire Italian vineyard. In terms of quality, excellent wines are generally expected in Trentino Alto Adige and Sicily, while they are setting the bar on “excellent” in Piedmont, Val d’Aosta, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia and Sardinia, with Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria more cautious on “good/optimal” forecasts. “Good”, however, expectations for Lombardy and Veneto labels. With the 2022 vintage, Italy’s wine sector maintains its production leadership while that of turnover remains in the French house. On the market front, according to the latest Istat data, Italy closed the first half of the year with a record 3.8 billion euros in value (+13.5% over 2021), while the trend in exported volumes is flat (comments and regional data in more detail). |
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A “100” marks the transition from great wine status to legendary wine status. Especially if it is assigned by a magazine such as “Decanter”, a reference point on the British market but read worldwide, which recently awarded Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia 2019, Castelgiocondo’s (Frescobaldi) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Ripa al Convento 2016 and Allegrini’s Amarone della Valpolicella Fieramonte 2015. “To which must be added “100s” to Barolo Pira Vecchie Viti 2016 and Roagna’s Barbaresco Pajè Riserva 2006, Masseto 2001 and Ornellaia 2013”, Aldo Fiordelli, “Decanter” contributor since 2016, reminds WineNews. |
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At the halfway point in 2022, it seems that Italian wine exports are still not affected by the effects of inflation, which, in fact, in the period taken into consideration by the latest Istat data, analyzed by WineNews, did not register any slowdown in consumption. The result is growth, over the same period in 2021, of 13.5%, for 3.78 billion euros of wine shipped around the world. Looking at individual countries, Switzerland scores +5 %, to 208 million euros. The main partner within the EU - and second largest market overall - remains Germany, which with 5.7% growth reaches 570 million euros. The real exploit is still Great Britain, which imported 368.8 million euros of wine from Italy (+23.18% over the same period in 2021). At the borders, geographical and political, of Europe, exports to Russia lose 29.7%, stopping at 40.8 million euros. In the U.S. the growth of Italian wine is sustained (+12.1%), and touches 963 million euros. In Canada, purchases grow by 16.2% over the same period in 2021, to 208 million euros. Finally, in Asia, it ranges from +24.8% in Japan, with a counter value of 97 million euros, to -14.3% in China, which stops at 56.3 million euros. |
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The Monza racetrack, in recent days, for the 100th anniversary of the circuit, opened its doors to 130,000 fans, mostly from Ferrari, who pushed Charles Leclerc one step away from the feat: the Monegasque driver finished in second place, behind the impregnable Max Verstappen, with Carlos Sainz fourth. Real celebration on the podium, where the drivers rejoiced with a bottle celebrating 100 years of the Autodromo signed, of course, by Ferrari, whose Trentodoc bubbles wet the Formula 1 victories and quench the thirst of fans in the hospitality areas. |
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August 31 will no longer be just another date for Brunello di Montalcino: for the first time in its history, in 2022 the Sangiovese harvest began in the middle of summer. Blame climate change, which is also being felt on the Montalcino hillside. And, indeed, it is a historical record, as witnessed by the Tenuta Greppo Biondi-Santi, where Brunello was born in the late 19th century, now owned by the Epi Group of the Descours family, where the 2022 harvest is the earliest ever since 1888, that is when Ferruccio Biondi Santi produced the first wine officially called “Brunello di Montalcino”. A record shared with many of Montalcino’s most celebrated wineries ( in more detail). |
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The low profitability of the Liv-ex indices in August 2022 should not worry those who routinely invest in the finest labels. Especially if he has placed his bets on the Italian ones, collected in the Italy 100, which, in the last 5 years, has grown by 46%. Even better has been the 2011 Tignanello, Super Tuscan from Marchesi Antinori whose prices have risen 119.4% in five years, to £1,710 per case. Slightly lower was the growth of Tignanello 2010 (+119.2%, £1,360 per case), and that of Tignanello 2009 (+117.7%, £1,720 per case). |
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