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Issue 607 - December 12th - 16th 2022 - Expressly created for 4.422 wine lovers, professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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Record temperatures and prolonged drought even in summer had led to fears of the worst for the grape harvest in Piedmont. Official data, however, show a very different situation: wine production is slightly lower than in 2021, 2.26 million hectoliters versus 2.3. The other surprise is that 2022 is a vintage that approaches qualitative excellence, of “four and a half stars”. Piedmont ranks as the second region nationwide by turnover impact, with a “wine” turnover of 1.2 billion euros. These are the highlights of “Anteprima Vendemmia 2022”, the annual publication edited by Vignaioli Piemontesi and Regione Piemonte. |
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If Italian wine in 2022 will see its export record upward, pointing toward 8 billion by the end of the year, after the 5.7 surpassed in the first 9 months of 2022 (+12.2% over 2021), it is thanks to growth in value in all major markets, from the U.S. to Germany, from the U.K. to Canada, from Switzerland to France, but also to that of Northern European countries, for example, with Sweden at +12% (for €159 million), or Japan, at +30.4% over 2021 (for €159 million), offsetting several declines in the rest of Asia, from -13.9% in China (for €78.8 million) to -7.1% in Hong Kong (€19.7 million), to -4.6% in South Korea, which seemed to be one of the new “eldorado” of Far Eastern wine (stopped at €57.8 million). In any case, the growth in value is important, but according to Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv), there is not much to rejoice about, because it is an increase “driven more by inflationary pressure than by real demand, and it may not be enough to cover the increase in costs”. With bubbles at +9.2% in quantity and +22.7% in value, while still wines are basically on the same volumes as in 2021 (-0.3%), with reds struggling more (-2.6%) than whites (+2.6%). No less, the country’s good performance in value is inextricably linked to regional performances, almost all of which are growing in double digits, as shown by Istat data reread by WineNews. The locomotive Veneto, with its Prosecco and Pinot Grigio, along with Valpolicella and Soave wines, for example, continues to drive the Italian wine train, with more than 2 billion euros in exports and a growth in the period of +16.6%, followed at a distance by the Tuscany of Bolgheri and Chianti Classico, of Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano, Vernaccia di San Gimignano and an increasingly popular Igt Toscana, at 939 million euros (+15.1%), and, on the podium, Piedmont, at 930 million euros (+5.8%), thanks to Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera d’Asti and del Monferrato, Gavi, Alta Langa, Asti and more. Three regions that alone, together, account for 2/3 of all wine exports in Italian wine. |
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Veronafiere, one of Italy’s most important trade fair and wine & food players, with kermesses such as Vinitaly, Italy’s premier wine event, and the historic Fieragricola, to name only the most important, is changing its structure with a view to greater streamlining and competitiveness: the new governance, approved by the shareholders, provides for greater operativeness concentrated in the figure of Maurizio Danese, already at the top of the Verona fair from 2015 to May 2022, who, already CEO, sees his delegations further expanded by the Board of Directors, which has thus waived the appointment of a new general manager. “The goal”, Danese commented, “is to arrive in 2024 with a structure that is increasingly competitive and ready to seize all possible alliances to ensure its international development”. |
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The historic Marchesi Antinori, a leading reality of Italian wine, led for 27 generations by the Antinori family, which today sees Albiera Antinori as president, together with her sisters Allegra and Alessia, and CEO Renzo Cotarella, leading the group made great by Piero Antinori, among the “bigs”; Donnafugata, one of the wineries that marked the renaissance of Sicily’s wine, now led by Jose and Antonio Rallo, together with the family and president Vittorio Ruggieri, among the “smalls”. here are the best in the Pambianco Award “LeQuotabili22”, given to Italian companies in the “Fashion, Beauty, Design and Wine” sectors that possess the characteristics to be listed on the stock exchange. On the wine podiums, among the big names, after Antinori, are Santero, the celebrated sparkling wine house in Santo Stefano Belbo, and Marchesi Frescobaldi, a group now led by Lamberto Frescobaldi, the story of a family that has been making wine since the early fourteenth century. Among the “small caps”, behind Donnafugata, is Carpineto, an articulate entity led by Antonio Michael Zaccheo, with five Tuscan estates including Chianti Classico, Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino and Maremma Toscana, and “xtraWine”, among the longest-running online wine stores in Italy. |
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The best “extreme” wine? Basile’s Passito di Pantelleria Doc Shamira, Italian champion with the “Cervim Grand Prize” for the best overall score, and also crowned with the “Cervim Small Islands Prize”, at the “Mondial des Vins Extrêmes” of Cervim - Center for Research, Studies, Safeguarding, Coordination and Valorization for Mountain Viticulture, at edition no. 30 staged in Turin. And for which the region with the highest number of heroic wines in the world is Valle d’Aosta, crowned with the “Mondial Vins Extremes Award”. |
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Signorvino’s 2022 turnover forecast exceeds expectations, and reaches 55 million euros, thanks to more than 1.8 million bottles sold. This is the most significant figure emerging from the Signorvino Observatory, the survey (in more detail) presented by Italy’s largest chain of wine shops, with 28 stores. The economic data also reveal that at the restaurant, the average expenditure is 57 euros, that in the wine shop rises to 59 euros, while it reaches 63 euros in combined purchases on both channels, and goes up to 97 euros for e-commerce. The identikit of the Signorvino customer is that of a man (58%), 40 years old, wine expert, with a propensity to buy online. There is growing interest among female customers, while retail and e-commerce show a greater male presence (63%). |
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Nearly 9 out of 10 Italians between the ages of 18 and 65 have drunk wine, at least once, in the past 9 months. And while 69% like to drink wines from their local area, 62% also like to try wines they don’t know, especially if they are produced sustainably (59%) and from small producers (57%). 40% say they prefer organic wines, 35% from well-known wineries and brands, and 26% like to drink expensive wines, while only 20% like foreign wines. This is the portrait of the Italian wine consumer of 2022, outlined by Nomisma’s Wine Monitor research for the Istituto Grandi Marchi. |
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