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Issue 586 - July 18th - 22nd 2022 - Expressly created for 4.376 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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Carlo Petrini, who founded Slow Food in 1986, making it, under his leadership, one of the movements that has most influenced agrifood culture worldwide, is leaving the presidency. The baton passes to Edward Mukiibi, an agronomist, born in 1986, who has been vice-president of Slow Food since 2014. Born in Uganda to a farming family, Mukiibi always wanted to continue his parents’ business. His appointment as president of Slow Food is a recognition of years of work in the pursuit of sustainability and a symbol of the ability and willingness to shape the future of regenerative agriculture. |
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The rising cost of raw materials, the difficulties in finding essential materials for the wine supply chain, such as bottles, corks and labels, but also the labor crisis, which becomes yet another source of concern for producers in Italy. They are all related to macroeconomic dynamics the challenges that companies, after a decidedly encouraging first part of 2022 in terms of sales, both in Italy and abroad, are facing, with few recipes and many hopes. In the words, to WineNews, of producers and managers of leading Italian wine companies - from Chiara Lungarotti (Lungarotti) to Albiera Antinori (Marchesi Antinori), from Andrea Lonardi (Bertani Domains) to Michele Bernetti (Umani Ronchi), from Raffaele Boscaini (Masi) to Angela Velenosi (Velenosi), from Giampiero Bertolini (Tenuta Greppo) to Stefano Capurso (Dievole), from Celestino Gaspari (Zymè) to Caterina Dei (Dei), from Tiziano Castagnedi (Tenuta Sant’Antonio) to Antonio Michael Zaccheo (Carpineto), from Giampaolo Speri (Speri) to Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano Rossi di Medelana (Castello del Terriccio) and Francesco Liantonio (Torrevento) - there emerges, first of all, an awareness of a global dimension of the problem. The inflationary dynamics experienced by Italy are more or less the same as those experienced by all Western countries, and the immediate response, essentially the only one within the capabilities of entrepreneurs in the short term, is one that leads to rising bottle prices. With production costs now out of control, driven by the cost of energy (the sector that is paying the consequences of Russia’s dastardly invasion of Ukraine more than any other) and all manner of materials, margins continue to thin, and turnovers are in danger of reversing. At the same time, galloping inflation, now at 8%, reduces consumer purchasing power. The widespread sentiment, however, is certainly not defeatism, but hope - which has always accompanied the wine world - for a quick exit from a spiral that has swept over the world economy without warning, and which hopefully may have peaked before it finally begins to deflate (all speeches in depth). |
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Romanée-Conti, Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, and Pétrus labels were among the most searched wines among the 600 Liv-ex traders in the first six months of 2022, especially in vintages after 2010. When, however, the analysis is segmented by Region - the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia, and Europe - the results are decidedly different, with the last two Sassicaia vintages, 2018 and 2019, popping up among the most sought-after in Europe and the United Kingdom. If in the U.S. the top ten most searched labels are all from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru, and in Asia Chateau Mouton Rothschild dominates, in Europe the 2019 vintage of Sassicaia is the sixth most searched wine, with the 2018 in the No. 8 position, while in the U.K. the 2019 is even in second place, with the 2018 in fourth. |
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It may seem like heresy to consider just the numbers in the complex historical period we are experiencing. Yet, every Istat figure for wine shipments in the first four months of 2022 shows either the state of health or the challenges of the major world economies, in a positive context for the export of Italian wine exports, which in April 2022, reached 2.32 billion euros, growing + 12.6% compared to the same period in 2021. It is not a coincidence the drop in China, where lockdowns in Shanghai and other major commercial cities in the country are weighing down. Similarly, the slowdown in purchases from Russia is becoming more evident: wine is not subject to sanctions (except for bottles that cost more than 300 euros), but the economic situation is starting to get tough. The U.S. and Canada continue to soar, and in perspective, the US, thanks to the fact that the exchange rate of the US Dollar and the Euro is now equal, is bound to grow even more. In sharp recovery is Great Britain, with Germany confirming its 2021 results. In general, growth is lower than that registered in March, after all, the further we go into the year, the more “normal” the reference period will be: a year ago, from May onward, it was back to normal (in-depth data from all major Italian wine markets). |
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The great landscape architect Paolo Pejrone, the guest star with a new project at the “Radicepura Garden Festival” in Giarre (May 7-December 3), interviewed by WineNews, reiterated how “the fight against climate change must be done with more skill, intelligence and seriousness, and it is up to us to do it each in our own small way. In the wine territories, a return to biodiversity should be encouraged: when someone makes a vineyard, why not ask him to also plant a piece of forest?”. |
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In the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” 2022, Italy, tied with Spain, is the country with the most restaurants on the list: 6, including 2 in the top ten. Lido 84, led by chef Riccardo Camanini, takes the highest position, rising to No. 8 (in 2021 it ranked No. 15); at No. 10 Le Calandre, led by the Alajmo brothers, climbs 16 positions since 2021; the Uliassi restaurant, by three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Uliassi, ranks No. 12, climbing 40 positions since 2021; position No. 15 goes to Reale, chef Niko Romito’s restaurant; Piazza Duomo, led by chef Enrico Crippa (owned by Barolo griffe Ceretto), is at No. 19; and at position No. 29 is the St. Hubertus of chef Norbert Niederkofler, which was at No. 54 in 2021 (full ranking in-depth). |
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Canada has been able to climb position after position, becoming the fifth largest market for Italian wine exports, with imports reaching 134.5 million euros in the first 4 months of 2022 (+26.7% over the same period in 2021). A country that continues to grow, experiencing certain economic stability and widespread prosperity, but looking at it more closely, and focusing precisely on wine consumption, it is decidedly more complex, not to say, to paraphrase the words used by “Wine Intelligence” in its analysis: paradoxical (in-depth). |
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