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Issue 536 - August 2nd - 6th 2021 - Expressly created for 4.250 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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The first harvest of the year is poetry, and it takes us to Sicily, “guardian” of one of the most ancient wine traditions of the world, whose biodiversity in the glass is equal to the extension and diversity of vineyards, as well as the variety of histories, peoples and landscapes that have been interweaving here for centuries. Symbolically, the beginning of the most ancient, fascinating and magic ritual of the world of wine cannot but take place here: grape harvesting. Which, according to tradition and in line with times, started on July 29 with the Pinot Grigio in the vineyards on the sea of Menfi of Cantine Settesoli, and will end in October with the Nerello Mascalese on Etna. |
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The big names of Italian wine, the 106 companies that, together, are worth 62% of the sector’s turnover, will close 2020 with a drop in turnover of 3.2%, in line with the 2020 negative trend of the wine world. An expected result, better than many other economic sectors of the Belpaese, son of a decline in sales on the domestic market of 10.2% and a growth in exports of 2.4%, as revealed by the analysis of Anna Di Martino, the prestigious signature of the economy and wine, for the “Corriere Economia”. The 65 private companies and 41 cooperatives examined produced a total turnover of 6.7 billion euros, of which 3.9 billion from exports and 2.7 billion from the Italian market. One of the most interesting data is the one on the profitability of Italian wineries in 2020, taking into consideration only private companies, and analyzing the ratio between gross operating margin (ebitda) and turnover, revealing a podium of absolute blazon: Tenuta San Guido, a symbol of Bolgheri and home of Sassicaia, led by the Incisa della Rocchetta family, with an index of 59.6%, Marchesi Antinori, where the work of Piero Antinori and his daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia Antinori, together with CEO Renzo Cotarella, led in 2020 to an ebitda/turnover ratio of 42%, and Marchesi Frescobaldi (with Ornellaia and Masseto), the other historic brand of Tuscan wine production, which, under the guidance of Lamberto Frescobaldi and CEO Giovanni Geddes Da Filicaja, reached profitability of 36.6%. It also remains in Tuscany in position no. 4, occupied by Castellani, with profitability of 34.6%. Behind, stands the Santa Margherita Group of the Marzotto family, which in 2020 achieved profitability of 33.9%. At position no. 6, with a profitability of 33%, the Sicilian brand Planeta, followed by another winery protagonist of the Renaissance of Sicilian wine, Donnafugata, of Antonio and Josè Rallo (24.6%). At position no. 8 there is Fantini Group from Abruzzo, founded and led by Valentino Sciotti, with a profitability of 22%. Not far behind is Carpineto, owned by the Zaccheo and Sacchet families (21.5%). The Cotarella family, with a profitability of 21.3%, and Cusumano, with profitability of 21.2%, close the ranking. |
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19% of vineyards in Italy are cultivated following the organic method, and in 2020, 4 out of 100 bottles of wine produced were certified organic. “The organic wine chain” report, conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture – ISMEA, revealed that the organic phenomenon is constantly growing all over the world, considering the numbers of a sector that is still a niche but is rapidly rising in consumer preferences. In 2019 there were 107.143 hectares of organic vineyards in Italy (+109% in a decade), and that is, almost 19% of the total vineyard area of our Country, which is practically the highest in Europe and in the world. There are over 18.000 organic winegrowers, to which we must add all the other players in the supply chain, for a grand total of close to 25.000 people working in the organic wine sector. |
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Italian wine is raising its head again, and after the inevitable drop in sales in 2020 - albeit with a few important exceptions - in the first half of 2021 it not only recovers the lost ground, but in many cases even does better than 2019, as emerges from the data of the top wineries in Italy, which account for a good 30% of Italian wine turnover, analyzed, anonymously, by WineNews. Large numbers and top brands from the most important territories of Italian viticulture, from the Piedmont of the Langhe to the Tuscany of Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Bolgheri, from Franciacorta to Valpolicella, from TrentoDoc to Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Docg, from Abruzzo to Marche, passing through Sicily, Puglia and Friuli Venezia Giulia, with different targets and markets. Those who, a year ago, had to reckon with the prolonged closure of the restaurant industry, today toast to recovery, at sometimes exorbitant rates. The average is, however, very high: +35%, in the first 6 months of 2021 (on the first six months of 2020), but watch out for the second half of the year, because after the rush of supplies in the first months of the year, a slowdown in purchases is to be taken into account (the complete analysis in the in-depth article). |
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A project to bring on the market the wines of Genagricola, produced on the 780 hectares of vineyards of the five estates in Piedmont (Bricco dei Guazzi), Veneto (Costa Arènte, Tenuta Sant’Anna and V8+) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (Torre Rosazza): this is Le Tenute del Leone Alato, unveiled to WineNews by Francesco Domini, sales and operations director of the wine production of the Genagricola group, the largest Italian agricultural company, owned by one of the most important insurance groups, Generali. |
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Beyond the trends of the moment, there are those who are linked to rosé wine by a thin thread, by the peculiarities of their main grape variety, such as Pinot Grigio, on which the Doc delle Venezie, since 2017, has launched a research project led by Crea - Viticulture and Oenology Research Center of Conegliano, focused precisely on the pink or coppery version of Pinot Grigio Doc of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Autonomous Province of Trento, one of the largest single-vine areas in the world. The rediscovery of a typology that to all intents and purposes represents the history and winemaking tradition of this wine-vine, closely tied to the Italian Northeast since the end of the 19th century, where today 85% of the national Pinot Grigio and 43% of the global one is produced. |
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From the gala dinners to the events before the film screenings, to toast the “Golden Lion” in the glasses of the most important actors, directors and international producers there will be bubbles, but also an Italian red and a white: these are the wines of the “International Film Festival” of Venice n. 78 (September 1-11), protagonists of the prestigious Biennale in the selection of Bellussi, the winery of Valdobbiadene of the Martellozzo family, for 13 years official supplier in support of Italian culture. |
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