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Issue 722 - February 24th - 28th 2025 - Expressly created for 3710 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
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| | | “We have decided, and soon we will announce 25% duties (on products made in the EU, ed.), in general, on cars, but also on all other things. The EU does not accept our cars, they essentially do not accept the products of our agriculture, while we accept all this from them. I love all European countries, but the European Union was formed to cheat the United States, and they did a good job, but now I’m president”: words of U.S. President Donald Trump, who, in the first cabinet meeting of his second term in the White House, “reinforced” the promises on the issue launched in the election campaign. | |
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| | U.S.-EU trade in goods is estimated at 1.5 trillion euros, moving on an axis worth 30% of global trade in goods and services, and 43% of world GDP, according to European Council estimates. It is yet to be understood if the duties will really arrive and when, but the alert now rises more than ever, even for Italian wine, which, in the U.S., exports around 2 billion euros, a quarter of its total, and for all agribusiness, which sees in the U.S. its first non-EU market, with 7.8 billion euros out of 69 of total exports (Coldiretti elaborations on Istat data). Moreover, in an already difficult U.S. economic context, with wine consumption in general decline, although Italian wine imports are expected to grow significantly in 2024. Which in the first wave of tariffs in Trump's previous term (at the time motivated by the dispute between Airbus and Boeing), was saved, while to suffer the greatest direct damage were substantially, above all, French productions. But now it is difficult to know whether there will be differences in treatment between different EU countries, which seems unlikely given Trump’s words. So far, from the trade organizations of Italian agriculture and wine, few official comments, although, in recent days, at the “Stati Generali del Vino” in Rome, the major representations of the supply chain had expressed more than one concern (in-depth WineNews interview with Albiera Antinori for Federvini, Lamberto Frescobaldi for Unione Italiana Vini - Uiv, and Luca Rigotti of Gruppo Vino Confcooperative). Today we stand at the window, waiting to understand in more detail what products, if any, and to what extent, Trump will want to hit. Although launching a new estimate is Coldiretti, according to which “a 25% duty on made-in-Italy agri-food exports to the U.S. could cost U.S. consumers up to 2 billion euros more, with a sure drop in sales, as also demonstrated by the previous experience in Trump’s first term. If duties were to affect the entire agri-food sector, the estimated cost to individual supply chains would be almost 500 million for wine alone, 240 million for olive oil, 170 million for pasta, and 120 million for cheese”, Coldiretti says. | |
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| | Promoting the use of lighter bottles to mitigate environmental impact was a central theme of Slow Wine Fair, in recent days at BolognaFiere (complete with a “Call to Action” signed by Slow Wine Coalition), also discussed with wine buyers and importers, from Italy and North America, in the conference “Light is better: praise of the conscious bottle”. The importance of bottle weight, to be made lighter, is something that is recognized and for which there is awareness (glass is estimated to impact 30% to 70% in the carbon footprint of the wine supply chain), but while the journey has begun there are still many steps to be taken to hit the target. The market and consumers have given the first responses that need to be interpreted in the light of a generational shift, greater demand for sustainability and declining consumption.
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| | | An agricultural and wine model that holds together environmental sustainability, soil protection, quality production, wealth creation and, last but not least, the happiness of farmers and growers, is not only possible, but can chart the course for the future. In Italy, and in Europe, where it has once again become a model to follow on the agribusiness front. Starting with the issue of organic farming, which cannot be done everywhere and everyone, but which is a virtuous example of how to aim to produce healthy, high-quality products, which must be made to pay for their fair value, because without creating wealth, equity is not created either. All this to be done by enhancing made in Italy, on which politics must play as a team. And by promoting in the world Italian quality in the glass and on the plate, with a joint effort involving businesses, institutions and fairs. This is the summary of the message (in more detail) of Slow Wine Fair and Sana Food 2025, for the first time together in a joint path between Slow Food, Federbio and Bolognafiere, in the words of Gianpiero Calzolari, president of BolognaFiere, Matteo Zoppas, president of Ice, Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president of FederBio, Barbara Nappini, president of Slow Food Italia, and Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture.
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| | | Argea, the €449 million Italian wine bigwig (controlled by Italian private equity firm Clessidra), announced that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of WinesU, a historic U.S. importer specializing in Italian and French labels. “This is a fundamental step in Argea’s international growth path, confirming the strategic role of the United States, the leading market in terms of sales and turnover”, commented Massimo Romani, CEO of Argea. | |
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| | No. 1 in Italy and No. 23 in the world. This is the WineNews “rating” according to the analysis portal FeedSpot, the largest online database on blogs and podcasts, which examined the thousands of blogs and websites that, in various ways, talk about wine for traffic, followers on social channels, authoritativeness and originality, drawing up the “45 Best Italian Wine Blogs & Websites”. In the ranking dedicated to Italy, also on the podium are “Vinoway by Davide Gangi”, and “Wine Blog Roll” by Francesco Saverio Russo. In the world ranking, at the absolute top are such realities (all English-speaking, of course) as “Wine Spectator”, “VinePair” and JamesSuckling.com (and the Italian collective blog, Intravino, at No. 14). | |
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| | From the Barolos of Marchesi di Barolo and Ceretto to Argiano’s Brunello di Montalcino, from the Alto Adige whites of Franz Haas to the Trentodocs of Ferrari and Rotari, from Valpolicella with Guerrieri Rizzardi to Gavi from La Scolca, from Nino Franco’s Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg to Cavalier Pepe’s Taurasi, from Podere Sapaio and Tenuta Fratini’s Hortense to Tenute Lunelli’s Sagrantino di Montefalco: these are just some of the 26 Italian wines selected by top star sommeliers in the “World’s Best Sommeliers’ Selection” 2025. | |
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