If this message is not displayed correctly click here
|
Issue 526 - May 24th - 28th 2021 - Expressly created for 4.220 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Italian sparkling wines are now a must-have around the world. Despite the pandemic, in 2020, according to data from Comtrade, analyzed by the American wine economists (Aawe), more than 408 million liters were exported, for 1.6 billion dollars, at an average price of 4.12 dollars per liter. And if the USA and UK are confirmed as the main importers in value, followed by Germany and, a little surprisingly, by France of Champagne, it emerges that the country that “spends more” for a liter of Italian sparkling wine is Holland, with an average price of 5.75 dollars. Whereas the most “stingy” one is Spain, with 1.9 ... |
|
|
|
|
Awareness of the strength of a sector, that of Italian wine, a world leader, which has suffered (and together with spirits in 2020 lost 1.5 billion euros between the out-of-home crisis and the drop in exports) but on the whole has resisted the impact of Covid, but also of the many difficult challenges awaiting the wine and spirits supply chain, not only on markets trying to overcome the pandemic, but also in terms of regulations, especially in Europe, including new regulations coming up on the labeling of wine and spirits products (where with good certainty there will be the inclusion of nutritional information and not only in dematerialised form, via internet, as explained by Herbert Dorfmann, at the summit of the Wine Intergroup of the EU Parliament, in the in-depth article), but also in terms of promotional resources, which will not disappear but will be difficult to maintain at the same levels seen so far, both in the context of the negotiations on the CAP and in that of the European plan for the fight against cancer, but also in Italy, where the atavistic problem is that of excessive bureaucracy, also due to a simplification that has never really happened. These were the topics on the plate for a “Toast to the future”, the theme and message of the Federvini public meeting, which sanctioned the passing of the baton at the head of the federation between Sandro Boscaini, patron of Masi Agricola, one of the griffes of Valpolicella, and Micaela Pallini, at the head of the historic family-owned liquor company, with Albiera Antinori, at the head of one of the most important Italian wine companies, Marchesi Antinori, at the head of the “Wine Group”. The desire is to look at the restart with optimism. “We are charged up and ready to start again as never before, after a difficult period like never before - said Albiera Antinori - in which the sector has suffered a great deal, but perhaps less than others. For us, Horeca is fundamental, as is the restarting of tourism in the winery, the ideal place to tell the story of the product, link it to the territory and create that added value which is the real theme on which we must work, because it is true that we are leaders in the world in terms of production and export volumes, and first suppliers in many countries, but our values are not yet as high as they should be”. |
|
|
|
|
The red color of Brunello di Montalcino, loved all over the world, in the glass; the green, that means sustainability, more and more intense in the vineyards of one of the most prestigious and green territories of the planet, that discovers itself to be one of those with a greater incidence of organic vineyards in Italy, with one vineyard out of two in organic regime, and more than 4 wineries out of 10 (106 out of 257 companies) converted (or in phase of conversion) to sustainable practice. This emerges from a study of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, on the data of the certifying bodies, for “Benvenuto Brunello” 2021 (during which there were tasted the great vintages 2016 and Riserva 2015, that are flying on the market, together with Rosso di Montalcino 2019, Moscadello di Montalcino and Sant’Antimo, ed). |
|
|
|
|
|
The first four months of 2021 closed on a clearly positive sign for Chianti Classico, registering + 31% in bottles sold (11 million) compared to the same period of the previous year, and also compared to 2019. If a year ago consumption recorded a limited loss (-8%), the response of consumers is excellent, even on international markets, with the new vintages, Chianti Classico 2019, Chianti Classico Riserva and Gran Selezione 2018, the stars of the in person event, “Chianti Classico Connection 2021” (that WineNews had already reviewed in its monograph, “I Quaderni di WineNews”, in March). It is being held in the Great Cloister in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, and simultaneously in London, Chicago and New York. That is to say, in those markets - USA and UK - where close to 1 bottle out of two is sent. A wine, a denomination and a land loved all over the world, a wine journalist and cartographer, wanted to make it completely accessible from anywhere, utilizing two tools. One tool comprises 37 panoramas, revealing the particularities of each valley, of each hill or of an entire municipality from above. And then, the geo viticulture map of the denomination, divided into 11 cartographic units that have been identified having in mind, first of all, the grape vine and its relationship to soils and the geology. |
|
|
|
|
|
In the second half of the 19th century, Carlo Gancia invented the Italian sparkling wine, and gave birth to that sweet sparkling wine phenomenon, Asti, in the “underground cathedrals” of Canelli, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Canelli, a sub-area of Asti and Moscato d’Asti DOCG, will soon become a real DOCG in its own right. This is what is provided for by the amendment to the procedural guidelines, approved by the Comitato Vini, explained a joint note from the Consorzio di tutela dell’Asti Docg and the Associazione Produttori Canelli. |
|
|
|
|
Not only vineyards and wineries: investment funds that focus on wine are now also focusing on distribution. Prosit, founded by Sergio Dagnino and subsidiary of the Made in Italy Fund (the Private Equity fund, promoted and managed by Quadrivio & Pambianco) has done precisely that. It has three Italian wineries in its portfolio, such as Torrevento from Puglia, Nestore Bosco from Abruzzi and Collalbrigo from Veneto, and has now acquired the US importer and distributor Votto Vines. The Italian-American family, Votto, founded the distribution company in Connecticut in 2009, and it has closed the year 2020 with a turnover of more than 60 million US dollars. Today, it represents one of the largest importers of table wines from wineries in countries such as Italy (43.3%), Spain (29%), France (18.5%), Portugal (6.3%), Australia (2.3%) and Chile (0,4%). |
|
|
|
|
During the very challenging year of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, the market of subsidized agricultural insurance policies seems to have held its own, totaling a value of 8.5 billion euros in 2019 (+0,4%). This is stated by the Report on Risk Management in Agriculture 2021 of Ismea. With the wine sector leading the way: wine grapes, with 1.97 billion in insured values, lead the list of most insured crops. |
|
|
|
|
