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Issue 474 - May 25th - 29th 2020 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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An archaeological treasure has been discovered in Negrar, literally in the vineyards of Valpolicella. It is a perfectly preserved mosaic dating back to Roman times. Finding the mosaic there was no surprise, as the first traces of the Villa Romana in Negrar had been discovered back in 1922. All archaeological research had been stopped, however, for almost a century, so the structure and its limits were unknown. Finally, in August 2019 excavations started again, thanks to some small funding from the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the archaeologist Gianni de Zuccato, resumed research, and the first part of the villa’s floor emerged. |
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So far, at least on the shelves, wine has moved, with domestic consumption partly absorbing the drop in consumption outside the home, in bars and restaurants, which is dramatic for many small wineries in the Belpaese, but the next few weeks are an unknown, starting from the impact of the economic crisis on the purchasing power of Italian families, passing through the recovery of the Horeca channel. Moreover, if modern distribution has so far proved to be a solid and efficient channel, it will also have to take into account the pressure of many small wineries pressing to enter the shelves. In short, a clearer picture than that of catering, but with some uncertainty for the months to come, the one outlined in WineNews by several of the most important players in Italian wine. “There has been growth”, explains Giorgio Forlani, Caviro’s GDO Italia manager, “but not exponentially”, echoed Enrico Zanoni of Cavit: “if we look at the average price and the purchase mix, there hasn’t been much change”. In line with 2019, despite “the initial growth, due to a rush to stockpile” the turnover of Feudi di San Gregorio, as Antonio Capaldo recalls. “We did better than the market average, despite the slowdown in recent weeks”, says Stefano Fambi, director of Nosio Spa, the commercial division of the Mezzacorona group. “There have been positive weeks - confirms Corrado Casoli, president of Gruppo Italiano Vini (Giv) - on average with the performance of the sector”. “Sales are going well in the channel - comments Paolo D’Adamo, head of gdo Italia for Settesoli - but in the coming months there will be no return to pre-Covid out-of-home consumption”. Valentino Di Campli, at the head of the Codice Citra, underlines “the growth of proximity stores and the importance of territorial control”. With the end of the lockdown, for Mario Piccini “the phenomenon will end”. From Chianti, Cesare Cecchi emphasizes the “differences between the various price ranges: very well between 3 and 5 euros per bottle, over 10 euros is more difficult”. Enrico Gobino of Mondo del Vino, recalls how “all this must make us reflect on the importance of multi-channel”, while for Raffaele Cani di Santadi, “when everything returns to normal, important wine brands will continue to invest in large-scale distribution”. |
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In a few months or years, when we will look back, we will remember how the first signs of the vastness of the health crisis linked to the spread of Covid-19, came from the international wine fairs, which to cancel all the events scheduled for 2020. Italy tries, also the wine sector, try to return to normality, which means to sit at the restaurant in peace, and then to go back to traveling, promoting and selling wines worldwine. Something is bound to change, but nothing can replace the importance of human relations. As Marina Nedic tells WineNews, at the helm, with Giancarlo Voglino, of Iem, historical leader in the organization of events abroad of Italian wine, which has already put on the calendar the new dates of the 2020 stages of the “Simply Italian Great Wines” tour and launched online the format “World Wine Web Masterclass”.
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Which wines are wine lovers favorites? It turns out they are not that different from the most famous critics’ preferences. Favorite wines from wine lover? They’re not that different from the most critically acclaimed. They are lined up by the “Vivino’s 2020 Wine Style Awards”, which analyzed the scores of the millions of wine lovers who, on the largest wine community in the world, share thousands of reviews, on every kind of bottle, from every territory and every vintage. For Italy, among the 30 Best Red Wines, Sassicaia 1985 by Tenuta San Guido (Best Italian Bolgheri), Barolo Riserva Monfortino 2013 by Conterno (Best Italian Barolo) and Masseto 2006 (Best Tuscan Red). And again, La Mattonara Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva 2006 by Zymè (Best Amarone) and Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta 2008 by Romano Dal Forno. Among the 30 Best White Wines, first among Italians the Gaia & Rey Langhe 2015 by Gaja (Best Northern Italy White), in front of the Orestilla 2017 by Montonale, and the Chardonnay Toscana Collezione Privata 2017 by Isole e Olena (Best Central Italy White). Moving on to the 30 Best Sparkling Wines, Italy present with only two labels: Prosecco Superiore di Altaneve (Best Italian Prosecco) and La Serra Moscato d'Asti 2018 of Marchesi di Gresy (Best Italian Moscato d’Asti). |
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It is the winery that has united two stars “destined for excellence”: Brunello and Ferrari. Founded almost as a “buen retiro”, it has now become a 9-hectare winery claimed to Brunello di Montalcino. It is La Fiorita, a winery run by the ex American actress Natalie Oliveros and her partner Louis Camilleri, chairman of Philippe Morris and CEO of Ferrari. “Camilleri loves Brunello - says Natalie Oliveros - he has some of the most important labels in his extraordinary wine collection. The links between Brunello and Ferrari? Apart from color, both are Italian symbols and both chase perfection”. |
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The best vintage ever for the world’s wine was without any doubt 2009. At least according to Robert Parker, the most influential wine critic in the wine world, who from the pages of the famous “The Wine Advocate” - whose manager in Italy is Monica Larner - has often and willingly ratified the success of a region, a winery and, why not, a vintage. Like 2009 able to line up 32 100/100, as the analysis of the Liv-ex recalls. Among the most interesting aspects, the historic 100/100, dating back two centuries ago, both won by labels from Bordeaux, 1811 and 1847. Then, the exponential growth since the 2000s, with the peaks also reached by the Italian wine, and certified by the 100/100 - just to mention two cases among many - of Sassicaia 1985 of Tenuta San Guido and Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie 2010 of Il Marroneto. |
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To understand what to expect from 2020, we have to take a step back, to the 2019 data analyzed by the Mediobanca Study Area, which indicate how the major Italian producers closed the year with a growth in turnover of 1.1%, a modest result when compared to the previous four-year period (2014-2018). A slowdown due to the negative dynamics of the domestic market (-2.1%) in contrast to the export trend, which marked a growth of +4.4% compared to 2018, although far from the +7% growth in the three-year period 2015-2017. |
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