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Issue 608 - December 19th - 23rd 2022 - Expressly created for 4.422 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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There is no shortage of problems, with inflation, war, high energy prices and recession in sight. But in Italy and around the world there is a desire to toast, as before, more than before. So much so that, in Italy, in the thirty days around the holidays, between 75 and 78 million bottles of sparkling wine will be uncorked (in line with the 78.4 million in 2019), worth 280-290 million at production, which becomes 700 million at consumption. With New Year’s Eve alone seeing between 36 and 29 million bottles of sparkling wine popping, for a consumer value of around 400 million. Early estimates from the Ovse-Ceves Sparkling Wine Observatory, led by Giampietro Comolli, say this. |
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It will still be record-breaking holidays for Italian sparkling wines. Despite inflation and the worrying geopolitical situation, Italian sparkling wines are about to become protagonists again on tables around the world. According to the Uiv-Ismea Observatory, in its usual analysis of sparkling wine consumption for the holidays, 341 million bottles of Italian sparkling wine will be uncorked between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, both in Italy (95 million) and, above all, abroad, which is increasingly witnessing Italian sparkling fever with 3/4 of total sales. Overall, 2022 will close with a new production record very close to the ceiling of 1 billion bottles (970 million), for a counter value of 2.85 billion euros, of which about 2 billion in exports alone. Driving the growth is demand in the key markets of the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, but also established and emerging markets such as Canada, Sweden, Japan, Eastern Europe and France, which are increasingly attracted to Italian bubbles (+25%growth in volume in the country of Champagne). According to the estimates of the Observatory of Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) and Ismea, under the tree it is Prosecco (Doc, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Docg and Colli Asolani) that plays the lion’s share, strong with an incidence on production that today has reached 70% of the sparkling wines bottled in Italy and a propensity to export that makes it the most commercialized Italian agri-food product in the world, with a total value estimated for 2022 that exceeds 1.6 billion euros. But alongside the battleship Prosecco, the double-digit growth of TrentoDoc, the increasing numbers of Asti, and the confirmation of Franciacorta, there are hundreds of productions (or micro-productions) testifying to the effervescence of the type all along Italy: from Oltrepò Pavese to Alta Langa, from Trebbiano to Verdicchio, from Moscati to Falanghine to Grechetti; from Malvasie to Grillo, from Nero d’Avola to Negroamaro to Durello, Vermentino and many others. Productions with a denomination of origin in 83% of cases (at 6% the IGTs) that this year will mark a more contained growth than in recent vintages, but which consolidate their role as a driving force in favor of the entire sector in a period that is certainly less brilliant for still wines. |
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The largest representatives of Italian wine, Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) and Federvini sound the alarm: “the wine world is between a rock and a hard place. Unacceptable increases from suppliers, as well as the rigidity of the large-scale retail trade in accepting price list adjustments”. In a joint statement, the two organizations explain, “the new year will open with a new 20% increase in glass prices, on top of the surplus (48%) already seen in 2022 over 2021. Italian wine seems to be in good health, but continued increases in raw material costs are likely to gloom in 2023, already at risk of recession. Down the supply chain, large retailers are resisting every price list adjustment and, these days, are asking for a moratorium on prices for at least 4-6 months. An unsustainable demand”. |
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Inflation weighs on all sectors, and on the wine sector as well. For wine production, as witnessed by many companies to WineNews, the increase in the cost of all “dry” raw materials (glass, paper, capsules, cages, cartons, corks and so on) weighs much more heavily in these months than the increase in energy costs. According to Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), by the end of 2022, the production chain will have incurred a cost increase of +83% over initial budgets, for 1.5 billion euros in additional expenses. And by 2023, a further +20% increase is already planned for glass. Yet it is evident how some are better able to absorb these costs than others. Explaining this is the analysis signed by Studio Impresa’s Centro Studi Management Divino, led by Luca Castagnetti, for WineNews, which started from the financial statements of 851 companies and focused on the key economic indicator for a company’s success, namely “added value”. From which it emerges, for example, that the increase in costs affects less on “strong” companies, those more capitalized and with an almost complete supply chain, than on “light” ones. But also that a “strong” company in a region like Tuscany will have a significantly lower cost incidence than a “light” one in Emilia Romagna. |
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The topic of alcohol-free wines in 2022 has ignited debate, between those who refuse to call them wines, those who see them as a threat or a boutade, and those who also see them as an opportunity or, at the very least, as a phenomenon to be managed. And Italy is moving, at the institutional and regulatory level. “The Ministry has long been engaged in the elaboration of clear and effective regulations on the production and marketing of alcohol-free and partially alcohol-free wines”, said Undersecretary of Agriculture Luigi D’Eramo. |
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A comprehensive and reasoned catalog of the most beautiful and welcoming wine estates in Italy, to be discovered, visited and tasted: in the guide “Cantine d’Italia 2023”, edited by Go Wine, there are 830 selected wineries, 251 “Impronte d’eccellenza” for wine tourism, 8 special awards, more than 4,550 wines reported, 1,600 useful addresses for eating and sleeping. 16 wineries reach the top of the “Tre Impronte Go Wine”: Badia a Coltibuono; Bellavista; Ca’ del Bosco; Capezzana; Castello Vicchiomaggio; Ceretto; Donnafugata; Feudi di San Gregorio; Ferrari; Florio; Fontanafredda; Lungarotti; Malvirà; Masciarelli; Planeta and San Felice. Among the Regions, Tuscany is confirmed at the top with 53 Impronte, followed by Piedmont (44) and Veneto (35). |
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The most-drunk Italian wine, both domestically and internationally, is still as popular an icon as Tavernello, the brick wine and flagship brand of Caviro, which has now become a true symbol of made-in-Italy enology. Able, in its first 40 years, to drive the growth of what is Italy’s largest wine cooperative, which closed the 2021/2022 fiscal year with consolidated sales of more than 417 million euros, and a 7.1%increase over the previous year, thanks mainly to exports and the circular economy. |
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