If this message is not displayed correctly click here |
Issue 651 - October 16th - 20th 2023 - Expressly created for 4597 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world | |
|
|
| | | Put together “Corriere della Sera”, Italy’s No. 1 daily newspaper, and James Suckling, one of the world’s most established wine critics: this, from WineNews rumors, is what’s new in Italy’s wine guide scenario. Since the 2024 edition of the guide “I migliori 100 vini e vignaioli d’Italia” (the presentation on November 9, in Milan, at the “Corriere della Sera”), will be signed as always by Luciano Ferraro, deputy editor of “Corriere della Sera” and, for the first time by James Suckling, who, with his JamesSuckling.com, has become a reference point of international criticism, especially in Asia. | |
|
| | The health of Italian wine exports to the world is not improving, which, in the first 7 months of 2023, record a -1.2% decline over the same period in 2022, standing at €4.45 billion, according to WineNews analysis of the latest Istat data. At the same time, volumes of Italian wine shipments also fall: -1.5%, to 12.3 million hectoliters. France puts in the most solid performance: +20.7%, to 195.5 million. The Netherlands’ figure is also positive, slightly more than +1%, for a turnover of 138.3 million euros. Germany, the second largest market for Italian wine and the first in Europe, is still solid, with growth of +1.6%, to 682.6 million euros. The United Kingdom also is doing well, with growth in the period of +3%, to 454 million euros. Austria is also growing, with +5.2%, to 79.7 million euros. The sore notes come first from neighboring Switzerland (-4.2%, to 235 million euros), then Belgium (-2% and 129.7 million euros). The Scandinavian countries perform badly: Denmark loses 12.3%, to 84.8 million euros, Norway loses 9%, to 61.2 million euros, and Sweden scores -5.2%, to 120 million euros. Russia’s positive trend continues, despite the war in Ukraine: 80.7 million euros (+45%). The most worrying data comes from overseas, from the first and fourth markets for Italian wine, which see a worsening of the trend recorded a month ago. The United States marks a contraction of 8.1%, for a turnover of 1.04 billion euros, Canada even -17.4%, to 206 million euros. Finally, the markets of Asia, which show no signs of recovery even from Japan, where shipments of Italian wine mark -6.1%, to 111 million euros. There is a slowdown in China, which still loses -8.3% over the first seven months of 2022, stopping at 58.6 million euros, while in South Korea the propulsive push that began before the pandemic has definitely run out, with imports down 34.8%, to 31.8 million euros. The only “light” comes from Hong Kong, for years the privileged gateway for fine wine to the large Chinese market, which in recent months, seems to be back on track: between January and July 2023, it imported 16.6 million euros of Italian wine, a growth of +4.6%. | |
|
| | Slight improvement in wine sales in Italian large-scale retail in the summer months, bringing the cumulative figure for the first 9 months to 2.1 billion euros, up +3.4%, essentially due to inflation, while volumes record a 3.4% drop, improving from -3.9% in the first 6 months of 2023, as revealed by the Uiv-Ismea Observatory based on Ismea-NielsenIQ. Still wines mark a 3.9% drop in volume, but also a +2.6% growth in value, while sparkling wines return to the positive side: +0.6% in volume and +6.2% in value, to 455 million euros. There remains a cautious attitude of consumers among the shelves, with “defensive” purchases favoring products on promotion or some cheaper types at the expense of others. | |
|
| | | In the U.S., Italian wine’s No. 1 market, the scenario today is quite different from the euphoric one told a year ago. As shown by Customs data, on the first half of 2023, analyzed by the Ice Agency in NewYork: imports of Italian wine stood at $1.05 billion, down -7% on the same period 2022. A significantly worse performance than France, which was essentially stable (-0.1%), at $1.25 billion, and the market in general, at -2.6%. Very bad for still wines, better, but still down, for sparkling wines. And it is becoming more and more important to preside over it, as explained (in more detail) by rumors, gathered in recent days by the “Simply Italian Great Wines Tour” by Iem (Giancarlo Voglino & Marina Nedic), which touched important cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. “There is a change in the markets, and in the way of consuming wine, so”, comments Marina Nedic, “it becomes even more important to preside over the markets themselves, to understand how tastes are changing, pricing policies, to understand the preferences of new consumers. And if, in New York, a walk around tasting signed by the Istituto Grandi Marchi was staged, and the “New York Wine Experience” by “Wine Spectator” is underway, in Chicago, on October 22-23, there will be Vinitaly’s trade fair debut in the United States, with more than 200 Italian wineries. | |
|
| | | Alessio Planeta, at the helm of Planeta, is the “Wine Maker of the Year”, globally, according to the “Wine Star Awards” of the renowned U.S. magazine, Wine Enthusiast. A prestigious award, won over the years by names such as Alvaro Palacios or Peter Gago, but also by the Italian Carlo Ferrini. An award that is a recognition to the person, but also to the company and to the Sicily of wine, as Alessio Planeta himself comments to WineNews (in more detail). | |
|
| | Umani Ronchi, a pearl of the Marche region, as “Winery of the Year” (as anticipated by WineNews); Barolo Vigna Rionda Ester Canale Rosso 2019 from Giovanni Rosso winery as “Red of the Year”; Collio Chardonnay Riserva 2018 from Marko Primosic as “White of the Year”; Franciacorta Nature 2016 from Gatti, a historic maison of the appellation, as “Bubble of the Year”; the “Cooperative of the Year”, on the other hand, is Cantina Tramin, in Alto Adige, among the best interpreters of the territory: these are some of the Special Prizes awarded by Gambero Rosso’s “Guida Vini d’Italia 2024”, among the most important and widespread in the Italian wine market. Which awarded 498 “Tre Bicchieri”, the highest recognition of the guide edited by Marco Sabellico, Gianni Fabrizio and Giuseppe Carrus. | |
|
| | To Domaine de la Romanée Conti the “World’s Best Producer Award”, to Ridge Vineyards the “Best Fine Wine Producer in the Americas Award”, and to Penfolds the “Best Fine Wine Producer in the Rest of the World”: these are the “All-Star Winners” of the “Golden Vines Awards” 2023 by Liquid Icons, the protagonists of the international wine scene, awarded for the third consecutive year, in Paris. Among other awards, the “Sustainability Award” to Abruzzo winemaker Emidio Pepe stands out. | |
|
|
|
