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Issue 511 - February 8th - 12th 2021 - Expressly created for 11.897 wine lovers,
professionals and opinion leaders from all over the world |
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“The 2018 vintage generated wines with unique harmony, and the synergy and interaction among the different terroirs of the Estate have created proportion and complexity. The wine has a soft and silky structure in which all the elements come together in an expression of grace and beauty”, said Alex Heinz, manager of Tenuta Ornellaia, among the great names of Italian wine, of the Frescobaldi family, who presented the latest edition of the historic project “Vendemmia d’Artista”, which, since 2009, has donated over 2 million euros to museums and cultural institutions around the world. The Belgian artist, Jan Fabre, was invited to illustrate the character of the 2018 vintage, “La Grazia”. |
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The return in the yellow zone of a good part of Italy corresponds to the reopening of wineries to wine lovers in many wine territories. February is not historically a fundamental period in terms of wine tourism, but there is a great desire to start again. With two objectives: to return to be able to work steadily from Easter and welcome foreign tourists in the second half of the year. With the awareness that, for now, uncertainty reigns, rooting for the vaccine. So, to WineNews, some of the most representative producers of Italian wine. Among the rows of Sangiovese vines of Brunello di Montalcino, at Castello Banfi “it is still difficult to make forecasts for the return of international tourism”, says the managing director Enrico Viglierchio. At Castello di Ama, in the heart of Chianti Classico, “we are confident, but for now there is not much movement”, says Marco Pallanti. The approach is different at Rocca delle Macìe, where “we are preparing everything as if it were a normal season: it’s better to start with optimism”, reveals Sergio Zingarelli. In Umbria, a cathedral of wine tourism such as “the Museum of Wine Culture in Torgiano is waiting to reopen”, notes Teresa Lungarotti, head of the Lungarotti Foundation. In Montefalco, Marco Caprai, the most iconic producer of Sagrantino, cultivates the hope of “restarting at Easter with internal tourism”. In Sicily, among the Donnafugata estates, only “the store” is open, says Antonio Rallo, while Alessio Planeta expects a boom “like the one of last summer”. Just as Enrico Gobino does, from the Mondodelvino galaxy, “because rural tourism will be revitalized by this period”. In Franciacorta Cristina Ziliani, head of Berlucchi, is aiming at “a month of events for the 60th anniversary of the first bottle, in June”. At Bellavista, Francesca Moretti (Terra Moretti Group), hopes “in vaccines for a new normality”. Marcello Lunelli, vice president of the Lunelli Group, recalls the near-zeroing of seasonal tourism, “linked to skiing”. At Ceretto’s, the mood is one of slow restart, as Roberta Ceretto recounts, “but there is a desire to get back together”. Those who have started over some time ago are Feudi di San Gregorio, where “we have thought of new formulas for an aware and experienced wine lover”, says Antonio Capaldo (full interview in the in-depth article). |
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It has never been more important as in these times how much wine (and at what prices) will be sold than how much is produced, in the last few days, as reported by Federvini, the Ministry of Agriculture has released the definitive official data about the harvesting campaign 2020-2021. In total, Italy produced 49,066,003 hectoliters of wine, with a clear predominance of white wines (28.6 million hectoliters) over red wines (20.4 million hectoliters), taking the data as reported by the Ministry, that is without distinguishing between still wines and sparkling wines. In any case, there are 21.2 million hectoliters of PDO production (13.1 million of white wines and 8.1 million of red wines), 14.3 million hectoliters are common wines, whereas 12.8 million hectoliters are PGI wines. The most productive region, by far, is Veneto. |
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They are a Tuscan wine and an Umbrian label, respectively Bolgheri Sassicaia 2017 (Tenuta San Guido) and Torgiano Rosso Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Riserva 2016 (Lungarotti), the excellences among the excellences, ex aequo, in the “Top 100” of the best Italian red wines, drawn up, as per tradition, by the monthly magazine “Gentleman” of the group “Milano Finanza”, which crosses and adds up the scores of six of the most important Italian wine guides, Vini d’Italia (Gambero Rosso), I Vini di Veronelli, Bibenda (Fondazione Italiana Sommelier), Vitae (Associazione Italiana Sommelier), Annuario dei Migliori Vini Italiani (Luca Maroni) and Guida Essenziale ai Vini d’Italia (Daniele Cernilli). A ranking that on the podium sees two other great wines of Tuscany, from Marchesi Antinori and Castellare di Castellina: Solaia 2017, produced with the most selected Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese grapes from the Solaia vineyard in the heart of Chianti Classico, and I Sodi di San Niccolò 2016, pride of the Chianti winery for having demonstrated the greatness of “Sangioveto” blended with black Malvasia and not with international varieties. |
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According to rumors WineNews has heard, at Castel Gandolfo, in the heart of the Vatican City, the vine cuttings will be planted in spring, and after a few years they will give life to two hectares of vineyards. The varieties are not known as yet, but we do know who is leading the project: Riccardo Catella, president of the Association of Italian Enologists. The wine produced, the first in the Vatican City, will most likely not go on the market. Instead, it will have the “blessing” of Pope Francis, whom we imagine is aware of the project, and it will be a symbolic wine, for internal consumption. |
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The classification ranks the topmost prestigious Italian wines on the secondary market for collectible wines. The ranking, three years after the last upgrade, has been remodeled, and it has a new range dedicated to the only wine that has been able to command more than 600 euros per bottle in value: Monfortino. “Today, Italian fine wines are in the portfolio of collectors all over the world, and even if we cannot boast France’s quantities, in terms of values and popularity, we now have a decidedly central role. Our top wine, Giacomo Conterno’s Monfortino, registered a significant increase, + 41% compared to 2018”, Raimondo Romani, head of the auction house Gelardini & Romani together with Flaviano Gelardini, told WineNews. |
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For now, everything remains as it is. US taxes on European wine, or rather French, German and Spanish wine, remain in force, as confirmed yesterday by the US Trade Representative (USTR), who will not propose revisions to the current tariffs on EU goods as part of the trade dispute between Airbus and Boeing. For the European Union it is not a great news, for the Italian wine - that as announced by the U.S. association of beverage importers (Nabi) is saved once again - yes. For Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) it is however a first important signal of thawing of the new American Administration. |
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