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Issue 480 - July 6th - 10th 2020 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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There are cities where small historic vineyards have resisted urbanization: Turin has its Vigna della Regina, Siena the Senarum Vinea, Venice the Vineyards of the Lagoon, and Paris the Clos Montmatre. And then, there is a less famous, but even more monumental one: the Pvsterla vineyard, four hectares planted with vines on the slopes of the Castle of Brescia, the largest urban vineyard in Europe, which has its roots in the distant 1037, “adopted” by Monte Rossa, the Franciacorta label that will take care of the vineyard, upgrading and enhancing it, to toast the city with the first wine produced in the heart of Brescia. |
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While Italy is coming out of the emergency, trying to regain normality lost for months, in the United States the Covid-19 alert, initially underestimated, continues to bite: the numbers of contagions, after a short period of decline, have started galloping again, and many States have had to back off, postponing the reopening of bars and restaurants. A huge problem for Italian wine, which has its first foreign market overseas, but perhaps the crisis could prove less acute than one might expect, as Gino Colangelo, at the head of Colangelo & Partners Public Relations, one of the reference agencies for the communication and marketing of wine in the United States, tells WineNews. Attention, however, to communicate and promote the reference brands of Italian wine, today, is even more important, so the support of the exhibition and institutional world, from Vinitaly to the Italian Trade Agency, becomes vital. And then, as with every crisis, there are also some positive aspects, such as the relaxation of American laws that limit direct sales from producer to consumer. A big question mark, in the USA as in many other countries around the world, concerns events, because after months of webinars and tastings on Zoom, now Italian wine can’t wait to return to the physical, real, promotional and other events, about which, however, there is still no certainty in terms of timing. “It is impossible to predict when the physical events will start again in the USA and if they will be the same as before: the virus - comments Colangelo - dictates its rules”. Something, however, can be done, “the Italian wineries must keep their relations with distributors and importers firm, but also keep new ones close with the final consumer, exploring new solutions, new channels and new platforms”. What is certain, or almost certain, is that the pandemic will leave deep changes, which will have an impact on the wine market and its communication, which, according to Gino Colangelo, “will hardly ever be the same as before. The future will pass through hybrid strategies and rationalization of both time and resources employed”. |
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Payment of advances equal to 100% of the expenses incurred for wine producers who have decided to carry out private distillation and storage as a result of the pandemic, but also an increase in co-financing from 50 to 60% for promotion measures on third markets, investment, restructuring and conversion of vineyards, green harvesting and harvest insurance: after months of inter-institutional negotiations, the European Commission has published the new exceptional measures for the wine sector, also expected by European policy, as explained to WineNews in recent days by Paolo De Castro, S&D coordinator at the Agriculture Commission in Brussels. On hearing the news of the publication, he immediately commented that this is “a victory of teamwork”.
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For wine, and for the secondary market of collectible labels, this 2020 is an inevitably complicated year, but after a first semester in which the Covid-19 crisis has hit every sector and every market, Liv-ex data show a substantial market resilience. Of course, there was a drop, important, on an annual basis, but the month of June closed in positive for almost all indices, and since the beginning of the year the losses are not dramatic, with some cases - Italy 100, Champagne 50 and Rhone 100 - in positive territory. In detail, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000, which includes the 1,000 most traded labels, has lost 1.12% since the beginning of the year, with a recovery in June of 0.63%, and a decrease compared to a year ago of 3.28%. Better did the Bordeaux 500, the most representative index of the Gironde wine market, stable since the beginning of the year (-0.07%), up in June (+1.13%), with a loss of 2.84% in the last 12 months. The Liv-ex 100 at the halfway point in 2020 left 2.30% on the ground since the beginning of the year, losing 4.41% over the last 12 months, closing in negative territory also in June (-0.22%). Among the sub-indices that have withstood better, Italy 100: +3.93% compared to a year ago, +1.65% since the beginning of the year and +0.12% in the last month. |
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A drop in consumption, evident, in 2020, due to the pandemic, then a major rebound in 2021, and then few changes until 2024, when the quantities of wine consumed in the world will be substantially identical to 2019 levels. Here is the world scenario, designed by the study of International Wine & Spirits Research (Iwsr) for Vinexpo, presented in recent days in a webinar, which “is just the first in a series of digital appointments that we will put at the service of the sector to face the future”, said the CEO of Vinexpo Rodolphe Lameyse. |
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Temple of Italian cuisine in New York, “Del Posto” is the flagship of the long list of restaurants opened over the years, in the Big Apple and beyond, by Joe Bastianich, together with his mother Lidia. The only Italian restaurant to be awarded 4 stars by the “New York Times”, it boasts one of the most well-stocked and interesting wineries in the United States, from which 30,000 bottles, from the most important territories of Italy and France, from the Langhe to Montalcino, from Burgundy to Bordeaux, will end up under the hammer of Hart Davis Hart Wine on July 24 and 25, for an estimated value of 3.1-4.5 million dollars, a part of which will go to charity. |
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In the thick panorama of VIP winemakers, the queen of black music of the nineties Mary J. Blige, singer, writer and actress, winner of 9 Grammy Awards and twice nominated for an Oscar as a supporting actress, who chooses Italy for her debut as a producer. With Fantinel, a winery in Friuli Venezia Giulia, the superstar launched her first two labels, in the “Sun Goddess” collection, a Pinot Grigio and a Sauvignon Blanc, born from the singer’s passion for white wines. |
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