The weekly review of news on Italian wine for the Chinese market!
Let’s open this episode with the key moment of wine: the harvest! The official numbers of the 2020 vintage, published by Assovini, confirm a production of 4.46 million hectoliters, on average with the last 5 years but with a -11.3% compared to the average of the last 10 years. Grillo and Catarratto, are the varieties that in 2020 recorded the best productive and qualitative performances, with an average production of 110 quintals per hectare.
Meanwhile, a picture is being drawn for the 2021 harvest. To make the summary, net of the climatic uncertainty of this period, are Assoenologi, Ismea and Unione Italiana Vini (Uiv) with a report on the climatic-vegetative trend of the next harvest. The report specifically indicates that in terms of quality, the situation of the vineyard is “generally good, with levels of anomalies related to rainfall, scarce or great, still limited today, while the frosts have caused damage in the regions of Northern Italy, Tuscany, Sardinia , Umbria and on the Adriatic side up to Foggia “.
E-commerce continues to grow even without lockdown measures. According to the recent Nomisma Wine Monitor report on sales in the off-trade channel in Italy, carried out in collaboration with NielsenIQ, wine sales in generalist sites (distribution chains + Amazon) recorded a growth in value of 351% for the first half of 2021 and by 310% in volume compared to the same period of the previous year which included two months of total lockdown (and therefore of exponential growth in online wine purchases by Italians).
We now move on to heroic Italian wines. 3 grand gold medals, 104 gold medals and 37 silver medals: this is, in summary, the outcome for Italy of the 29th edition of the Mondial des Vins Extremes, the international competition dedicated to heroic wines organized by Cervim which was held in Valle d’Aosta. Over the two days, an international and specialized commission tasted and selected 838 wines from 22 countries, of which 483 from Italy and 355 from abroad, from 302 wineries, of which 179 from Italy and 123 from abroad.
In closing we talk about one of the most important events of the summer of Italian wine: Calici di Stelle, from 31 July to 15 August, in the cellars of the Movimento Turismo del Vino and in the squares of the Città del Vino, but also in unique and suggestive locations, with the leitmotiv “Between Heaven and Earth”, an invitation to stop, as if suspended, and to let yourself go to the pleasant sensations that only wine can give. From Tuscany to Abruzzo to the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, a rich calendar of events to toast to the stars with Italian wines, making a wish.
