“We took a hangover, the success of the past few years made us think we could go around the world to tell stories in a somewhat naive way. This wine country is unable to tell itself in a unique way. Today we have to find a way to get together, we need to centralize the way of describing wine - today delegated to the regions - as France did. The means would be there, but we hurt ourselves because the bureaucracy does not know how to manage them and we must be put in a position at least to spend the money well. Ours is the wine country while France is the country with wine areas. We have to go back to bringing the bowl to the center, saying that Italy is the country of wine and has found a driver who is represented by Italian restaurants in the world, but today it is no longer so: restaurants often have only the Italian name, and there is a need for a country message where wine becomes the pivot of a world of beauty, gastronomy and wine ”. So Sandro Boscaini, owner of Masi Agricola and president of Federvini, during a round table entitled "Italian wine: white or black?" held at the Wine2Wine in progress, with a deadline scheduled for today, at Veronafiere. The round table was also attended by Ernesto Abbona, president of the Italian Wines Union, Ruenza Santandrea, president of the wine section of the Agri-food Cooperative Alliance and Matilde Poggi, president of the Italian Federation of Independent Winegrowers.
The other names of the weight of Italian wine were obviously expressed on the subject. According to Ernesto Abbona: "The representation of Italy is very different from that of France. Unfortunately, even today our country is a sum of regions that create division and fragmentation of resources. In this sector it is necessary to return to reward meritocracy: those who do not achieve the objectives must not receive funding ".
Matilde Poggi would see "very well a unique company owned by the public and private sectors that deals with the promotion of wine in the world, based on the French model. There is certainly an umbrella brand that can sell the country system. "
Ruenza Santandrea says: “in agreement with the hypothesis of a single company for promotion, but the bilateral agreements to be developed with the European Union are also fundamental. We no longer go in random order in the promotion, we need a large event in Asia dedicated to Made in Italy. An event like this would cost less than many other small initiatives ".
The problem is that this year our country is outclassed by France at the top of the rankings. Then there is the fact that Italian wine does not have much appeal in China, with only 6% versus 40% in France which also sells at a higher price. In China, all the chains have brought wine to large-scale distribution. “We have to focus on our diversity, we in Europe have to count more” says Poggi.
And it is precisely in this direction that Abbona recalls that “Minister Calenda has done important things, and so has Undersecretary Scalfarotto. Our problem - underlines Abbona - is that we need time and in our country people turn around too quickly ”. In short, the problem is politics. And in this regard Boscaini adds that “the means would also exist, but we hurt ourselves and in the face of Prosecco” and its success “there is the hard core of still wines that are not doing very well. Then there are the markets that need to know us ”, Boscaini notes again. That Italy has hundreds if not thousands of winemakers Abbona emphasizes again, who also says: "French wine represents luxury, we represent the wine of the middle class which values wine not only for its image". But “we Italians find it very hard to create a system”, replies Poggi. So much so that the average price is now 2,64 euros in Italy and 5,68 in France. And according to the latest Nomisma data, highlighted by Denis Pantini in 10 years, exports have grown by 74%, sparkling wines, especially Prosecco over 400%, in 5 years the influx of tourists driven by wine in Montalcino has grown by 120%, Barolo + 64% and Valpolicella + 54% or to double in 5 years (+ 96%) the organic surface of the Italian vineyard. On the other hand, the critical aspects are becoming increasingly obscure: such as the recent loss, in favor of France, of the primacy in value in the first import market in the world, the United States, or the weakness of the beautiful country in China (5,6% share market in 2016, against 42,3% in France) and in almost all emerging markets, the dwarfism of the entrepreneurial fabric, the 'growth crisis' of still wines and above all the question of the average price, halved compared to that of leading competitor, France.
Without considering that in Germany our presence has decreased for some years, and in the United Kingdom there is the question mark of Brexit, in short, the export of Italian wine is decreasing. Fortunately, there are 19 companies in the Great Brands that work together, and “they manage to do well”, concludes Boscaini, the Italia del Vino Consorzio is another, and then there is Vinitaly and still others. Finally, I ask that there be no hesitation from the bureaucracy ”.
For Denis Pantini, Nomisma-Wine Monitor manager: “2017 will be remembered as the year of overtaking. Strengthened by a consolidated economic recovery, the international wine trade will close the year with a growth in value of more than 5% compared to 2016, also driven by the impressive recovery of Russia which grew by 40% in the first 9 months, from 'yet another sprint of China with + 14% in October and which definitively displaces Germany from the third step of the podium of the top import markets, as well as the confirmation of the state of health of the USA which stood at + 8% in September, where however it also witnesses the overtaking of French wine over Italian wine mainly due to a comeback of Champagne and an explosion in sales of rosé de Provence ”.
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