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Issue 455 - January 13th - 17th 2020 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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Despite the tensions in many markets around the world, Italian wine exports continue to grow: in the first 10 months of 2019, according to the latest Istat data analyzed by WineNews, wine shipments from Italy to the world earned Italian wineries 5.3 billion euros (3,6% sul 2018). The U.S. gives positive numbers, at 1.28 billion euros, at +4.2% over 2018. Germany grew by 3%, to 868 million euros, the United Kingdom registered a drop of 2.2%, to 623 million euros. Switzerland stable (+1.3%) at €305 million, while Canada at €284 million (+4.2%). Among the most important markets for Italian wine, there is France, which imported Italian labels for 174 million euros. |
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The Department of American Commerce launched a public survey against new duties on European and Italian wine, up to 100%, that the Trump administration could trigger on the continent's wine production, making wine producers tremble and the Unione Italiana Vini report has revealed the poll collected 24.000 signatures from American suppliers, importers, distributors, small companies and consumers. producers tremble. This result sends a very strong message, which could play a decisive role in the final decision of the United States of America. There have been many other initiatives on the issue recently as well, like the one in Italy, that is, the letter from the Minister of Agriculture Teresa Bellanova, soliciting the utmost attention on the issue to the European Union Commissioner for Commerce Phil Hogan who is now on a diplomatic mission in Washington. The Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio replied to the letter sent by the sector supply chain organizations, stressing that “we are making every possible effort to ensure the efficacious and timely protection of our sector export”. The numbers of the Vinitaly Nomisma Wine Monitor Observatory explain how the new heavier duties would impact the sector. “One must consider that, thanks to the stocks accumulated in previous months, French still wines subjected to the extra duty of 25%, recorded a 36% drop in sales in value in the United States in November alone, compared to the same month in 2018”, said the director of Veronafiere Giovanni Mantovani. According to the Observatory, in 2019, Italy will close sales to the United States at a 5% growth, achieving a record that will touch 1.8 billion euros. This translates to almost 28% on the global export of Made in Italy wines. In the meantime, the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) and the Wine Institute, the two primary organizations of the wine sector in the European Union and in the United States, have signed a joint document asking to reach an agreement that would provide “zero duties” on wine imports for both of them. The document notes, the United States and the European Union are the main wine market to each other, and the wine exchange on the two sides of the Atlantic, in 2018, yielded over 4.6 billion euros. |
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US duties also frighten the great territories of Italian wine. The concern is evident, mixed with a sense of impotence. “The alert is very high, for Montalcino the USA is worth 20-30% of the turnover”, Fabrizio Bindocci, president of the Consorzio del Brunello, explained to WineNews, “there are those who sent wine at the beginning of January to stem the problem, but little can be done if Trump doesn’t listen”. He is echoed by Matteo Ascheri, president of the Consorzio del Barolo: “the uncertainty alone is already creating problems. The U.S. is fundamental, we are investing a lot in it, the duties would be counterproductive”. “We are worried above all about mid-range wines, such as Valpolicella, which exports 17% of the total to the USA, and Ripasso. But there is also a risk for Amarone, which accounts for 15% of exports in the USA”, says Olga Bussinello, director of the Consorzio Valpolicella ... |
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In the winery of Tenuta Greppo, where Brunello di Montalcino was born at the end of the nineteenth century, the first changes can be seen, brought by the new property, the French group Epi of the Descours family, all aimed to keep the figure of Biondi Santi brand wines unchanged. Raw cement vats peep out in the cellar next to oak conical trunks, in the vineyard the company's zoning project has just started, a meticulous work of analysis, study and soil scanning that brings together agronomy, geology and climatology. Greppo, after all, is “condemned” to enhance its value, both through the consolidation of the vineyard heritage, with the 6 hectares of Brunello vineyards acquired by the neighboring Poggio Landi, with to increase from an average of 90,000 bottles per year to a total production potential of 110.000, both paying attention and taking care of its historical heritage, as recounted by the launch of the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2012 of Tenuta Greppo, the latest wine signed by Franco Biondi Santi, the “guardian of Brunello”, to whom the label was dedicated: the simple addition of a thin strip with the diction “dedicated to Franco Biondi Santi”. |
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Antinori, Caviro and Martini & Rossi: these are the Italian wineries where you work best, especially for corporate welfare, as told by the “Top Job 2020” ranking, drawn up by the German Institute of Quality and Finance (Itqf). In the drink sector, first among the wineries is Marchesi Antinori, with a score of 71.8%, ahead of the Caviro Group, one of the giants of Italian wine cooperation, with 68.2%, and Martini & Rossi, icon of spirits and bubbles, since 1993 included in the Bacardi Group, with 65.6%. |
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The great Italian forerunners of drinking and culture have always been protagonists in the USA, and this will also be the case on January 27th, in San Francisco, when the Palace of Fine Arts will host the grand gala of the prestigious “Wine Star Award” of “Wine Enthusiast”, edition n. 20. On stage there will be made in Italy, thanks to Tasca d’Almerita, one of the creators of the “renaissance” of Sicilian wine, under the guidance of Lucio before and Alberto today, who thanks to the quality of his wines and the many investments in sustainability has won the title of “European Winery of the Year”. And thanks to the historic Nonino distillery in Friuli, “Spirit brand of the Year”, led by “Signora della Grappa” Giannola Nonino, her daughters Cristina, Antonella and Elisabetta and her granddaughter Francesca, who symbolizes the entry of the new generations of the family into the company. |
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The large production of grapes - and the conspicuous stocks of wine in the cellar - explain the absence of increases in the prices of wine grapes that has been recorded in many production areas of Italy, with price lists showing important decreases for the prices of Veneto grapes, from Amarone (-21%) to Prosecco (-14%), but also of Sangiovese del Chianti grapes (-21.5%). The quotations of grapes for Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano are good, according to the report “The prices of wine grapes surveyed by the Camere di Commercio Vendemmia 2019”. |
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