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Issue 555 - December 13th - 17th 2021 - Expressly created for 4.338 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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More than a vault, it is like the hall of a museum, such is the value - not only economic – safeguarded: 36 vintages of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Biondi-Santi out of the 40 produced since 1888, conserved by Hedonism Wines, the temple of luxury wines in London and one of the most important wine shops in the world. Here, Biondi-Santi has inaugurated a collection that the prestigious London wine shop is selling as a single vertical, starting from Riserva 1945 up to 2013, at £52,400 (€61,357). “I think it’s the first time we’ve seen so many vintages of our Riserva, all together, in the same place, outside “La Storica”, the Tenuta Greppo winery”, comments CEO Giampiero Bertolini. |
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A focus on the trends and innovations that have changed and characterized the global wine trade over the last two years, from import to shelf, and on expectations for the next two years, at the heart of Sopexa’s “Wine Trade Monitor”, which collected the opinions of 1,044 wine professionals - importers, wholesalers, retailers and e-commerce specialists - operating in the most important markets in terms of imports and consumption, namely Belgium, China, Germany, Japan, UK, USA, Canada and Holland. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of countries of origin in importers’ portfolios increased from 8 to 8.6. Japan imports wine from an average of 11 different countries, China from 5.2 and Belgium from 6.4. 90% of respondents import wine from France, 82% from Italy and 76% from Spain. Generally speaking, operators are more optimistic, because after Trump’s tariffs and the long Brexit process, despite the pandemic, international wine trade is back on track, so much so that professionals in Germany, Canada and the Netherlands are the most optimistic about the possibility of growth in the next two years, closely followed by colleagues in Belgium and the USA. More cautious, for obvious reasons, are British operators. In terms of categories, 45% of the wine trade, in all markets, indicate organic wines as those destined for the greatest growth, an aspect that has now surpassed regional origin in appeal. On the other hand, the appeal of rosé does not seem to be waning, as it is now the third best performing category in the forecasts of wine specialists in Belgium, China, Germany, Japan, UK, USA, Canada and Holland. The regions to watch are practically all French and are destined to experience a certain dynamism over the next two years: among whites, the top are Languedoc, Loire and Burgundy. For red wines, the podium, driven by Asian markets, in the expectations of wine trade professionals, is occupied by Bordeaux, Languedoc and Côtes du Rhône. Holland and Germany reward the reds of Puglia and Piedmont, Canada those of Tuscany and Douro (Portugal). Among rosés, the leading regions will be Provence (36%) and Languedoc, with Italy (as a whole) in third place. Competition among sparkling wines is fiercer, with Champagne at the top, followed by Prosecco, Cava and Crémant. |
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Cooperation is a pillar of Italian wine. This is because it accounts for more than half of production, but also, or above all, because in some areas where vineyard ownership, for many reasons, is very fragmented, it allows winegrowers to stay on the market and have an economic return that would otherwise be almost impossible. And in this sense, one of the reference areas is Trentino, where some of the most important cooperatives are located. Such as the Mezzacorona Group, led by Luca Rigotti and Francesco Giovannini, which in 2021, marked by Covid, reached an all-time record for its consolidated turnover, at 196.5 million euros (+1.5% on 2020), with a net profit of 3.2 million euros (+32.5% on 2020), and over 67.5 million euros paid out to members, with a very high economic yield per hectare, on average 18,799 euros. |
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Italian wine shipments are forging ahead on foreign markets and not even thinking about stopping. The report on the first 9 months of 2021, as the latest ISTAT data revealed, registered a +15.1% jump in growth compared to the same period in 2020, and turnover grew from 4.45 to 5.13 billion euros. Everything seems to be going well, and the new trends since the beginning of the year are confirmed. First of all, the “thirst for wine” in the United States, where employment data have agitated the Biden government but do not seem to curb the expansionist pressure of consumption. It is not surprising that Canada, which has steadily been the fifth market for Italian wine shipments, is now right behind Switzerland. Germany and Great Britain are growing at the same pace, although in the land of Albion there is still a lot of work to do, with the race to the lowest average price, which risks turning into a trap. The double-digit growth in France is surprising, now the third (not unusual) destination for Prosecco exports, behind the US and the UK, as is the pace of Sweden and the Netherlands. Finally, China and Russia are in their own race, since the first collapsed under the blows of Covid-19 in 2020, while the second is recovering following years of stagnation and degrowth (country-by-country data in more detail). |
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From “Red Pass” by Italian Stefano Dorigo (first prize), to “Ispirazione diVina” by Italian Malika Romanova, to “Divine Moment” by Russian Anya Kuzai, among the under-35s; Spanish Manuel Arriaga with “Grande Riserva” (first prize), Italian Franco Iacumin with “Abbiamo sete” and Polish Sławomir Makal with “A glass of wine and something else”, among the over-35s. If among young people the satire focuses on Covid, among the over 35s on aged wines in the most biting winning cartoons of “Spirito di Vino 2021”. |
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The world of international sport and great Italian wine are increasingly linked, with partnerships of absolute prestige. Like the partnership just announced between Antinori, one of the most important, well-known and historic brands of Italian wine, and the Ryder Cup, the most important golf competition in the world, which every two years sees the representatives of Europe and the United States compete with their best golfers. And, in 2023, when the competition, one of the most popular sporting events in the world, will be played, for the first time, in Italy, in Rome, at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (from September 29 to October 1), the official wine will be “Villa Antinori”, one of the most representative and long-lived labels of Antinori. |
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A strong presence on several channels, in several countries and with different products for increasingly specific targets, but also an internal reorganization of a complex company system, guided, however, by simple concepts, such as focusing on the specificities of each individual reality, and synergies of cross-sector services and exchange of know-how where appropriate. This explains the 29% increase in Cavit’s 2020/2021 balance sheet, according to managing director Enrico Zanoni (see the interview in the in-depth article): with a turnover of 271 million euros. |
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