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Issue 432 - August 5th - August 9th 2019 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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With the first bunch of grapes officially cut in Sicily, Italy enters gradually into the 2019 harvest. According to Coldiretti, first to give its estimates, it should have a production between 47 and 49 million hectoliters, -10% over 2018. Estimate that if respected should see the Belpaese in the position of world leadership in quantitative terms, since in France, as Coldiretti recalls, the forecasts are 43-46 million hectoliters, and in Spain of 40-44 million hectoliters. In any case, numbers to take as always with caution, for a harvest that, to really get to the heart of the matter, will still have to wait a long time. |
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The Coldiretti estimates of the 2019 vintage, which hover around 47-49 million euros, follow those of Confagricoltura, in this first part of August the early varieties of Pinot Grigio in Sicily will be harvested. Now Confagricoltura is forecasting a 6% drop compared to 2018, which, “following the particularly abundant 2018 harvest, the current decrease in production is not a negative aspect”, pointed out the association of agricultural enterprises. According to the survey conducted by the Confagricoltura Research Center on samples of wineries in all of the Italian regions, lower quantities are expected almost everywhere, and especially in Friuli Venezia Giulia (-20%), Umbria (-13%), Veneto and Campania (-12%) and in Trentino Alto Adige (-11%), as well as in Valle d’Aosta (-8%), Piedmont (-7.7%), Lombardy (-3.5 %), Emilia Romagna (-5.5%), Liguria (-8%), Marche (-10%), Abruzzi (-8%), Sicily (-6%) and Sardinia (5.5%). Wine production in Tuscany and Basilicata is substantially stable compared to 2018, while Lazio (+ 16%), Molise (+ 10%) and Calabria (+ 9%) are going against the trend, and up to date, even Apulia has a positive sign, (+ 2.9%). These estimates will depend largely on the months of August (Confagricoltura considers things will be getting down to business around August 20) and September. Thanks to the cold and rainy spring and a hot and dry early summer, the quality of the grapes is excellent heralding a potentially excellent wine production”. The picture is positive for the “wine sector, which is extremely important for the agricultural economy and the food industry in Italy. There are 300.000 wine companies with vineyards”, Confagricoltura underlined, “covering an area of 652.000 hectares planted with wine grapes, of which 50.000 include wine-making cellars, a turnover of around 10 billion euros and an export value of 6.2 billion in 2018”. This record will grow, since, “in the first quarter of 2019 total exports of wines and sparkling wines”, said Confagricoltura, “amounted to 1.96 billion euros, which is up 5.2% compared to 2018. |
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The 2019 vintage is approaching, and if the state of the Italian vineyard does not seem to have particular problems so far, to worry the winemakers first and foremost, but not only, it is the downward pressure on the prices of bulk wines wholesale. Data analyzed by Unioncamere and Bmti (Borsa Merci Telematica Italiana), according to which, on an annual basis, “the drop, which began in the last months of 2018, is now close to double the figure, amounting to -9.4%. To be more penalized in comparison with last year are generic wines, without denomination, with decreases of 12.9% -19.5% for white wines and -24.7% for rose wines”. Worrying percentages, and the drop for Dop and Igp wines: overall, red wines are down by -4.6%, while white wines are down by -5.4%. |
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According to data from the first half of the Osservatorio Signorvino, which WineNews is able to anticipate, based on sales of the most important “wine chain” in Italy, with 16 stores in the most important cities of Italy, from Milan to Verona, from Turin to Florence, from Bologna to Brescia and beyond, capable of moving one million bottles of wine a year, with a turnover of 31 million euros. This shows an increase in the value trend for all types. In particular, if red wines are worth 54% of the value of sales, with a value trend of 5%, under the spotlight, explains Signorvino, there are sparkling wines, at +11% in value, which a weight on sales that has reached 24% of the total. The most sold sparkling wine is Franciacorta (+6%), thanks mainly to the boom in the “zero dosage” type. Second place for the world Prosecco (+4%), which records a significant shift in consumption on quality, given that in the Signorvino wine shops goes for the most is that of Cartizze, absolute top quality of the type. To complete the podium, Trentodoc, the denomination that grows the most (+9%), with the Rosé type at the top. Good also white wines, which have an impact of 15.7% on sales, and grow in value by 14%. |
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Even Barolo, a territory where vineyard prices and the value of wine are the highest in Italy, says stop to new plants for the next three years: to announce it the Consortium for the Protection of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani, led by Matteo Ascheri. He specifies that this is not an “anti-crisis” measure: “The current market situation is not critical, but it is important to be foresighted considering the contraction of exports to some countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany” said Ascheri. |
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For wine lovers tourists Italy is the best destination. The “Wine Travel Index”, the index dedicated to wine travelers developed by the travel site lastminute.com, reveals that Italy is the best destination, from all points of view. First of all, in the number of production Regions (all of them, ed.), the percentage of wineries open to the public (33%), the number of wine tasting experiences (993 throughout Italy), and wines and wineries awarded (19.160). The average price for one person to fly to the Italian wine territories (starting from London, ed.) is 73.17 euros, while the average cost of a night in a hotel is 153.70 euros and the price of a meal is 16 euros. In second place on the “Wine Travel Index” is France and Spain. |
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The value of the global wine market in 2018 grew, at current prices +1.2% on the 50 main markets, reaching 204 billion US dollars, while total volumes dropped 1.7%, confirming the turning point is quality consumption. The United States is still at the top of the list of the most attractive markets, despite the slowdown in consumption of still wines, both volume wise and value wise, followed by Canada, France, Germany and, surprisingly, Holland. According to Wine Intelligence’s “Global Compass 2019”. |
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