ITALIAN FINE WINES SOLD BY THE GLASS TO SPREAD AWARENESS. SAGRANTINO COLPETRONE (SAIAGRICOLA) AND BAROLO SERRALUNGA D’ALBA FONTANAFREDDA, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WINEFIT, ARE THE RAGE ALL OVER ITALY

Audio by winenews.tv:
Giuseppina Viglierchio of Saiagricola and Roberto Bruno of Fontanafredda explain to WineNews why they choose to sell fine wines, like Sagrantino of Montefalco and Barolo, by the glass.
More people drink Italian wine abroad than in Italy and although a good part of what we export is bulk wine, fine wines are experiencing hard times. When it comes to consumption outside the home in a wine bar or restaurant, a bottle of wine often puts the consumer on a spot, so they tend to go towards mid-range wines, partly due to habit and partly due to the economic crisis, which always translates to cutting back. Two major wine groups, Saiagricola and Fontanafredda seem to have found a solution: focus on selling by the glass through a network of wine bars and restaurants and a prolific partnership with Winefit (www.winefit.it). Saiagricola’s brand Colpetrone is betting heavily on Sagrantino di Montefalco, a fine wine that is still struggling on the domestic market: “it is sacrificed,” explains Giuseppina Viglierchio, commercial manager of Saiagricola “because of its importance and is rarely chosen on a daily basis”.
We want to give Sagrantino another dimension by focusing on consumer curiosity: for young people who still do not know the world of wine, or adults who do not know Sagrantino. Keeping in mind, of course, the philosophy of drinking well, without excess and paying the right price, which in this case is the price by the glass and not the bottle. The most important factor in this campaign is probably curiosity,” says Giuseppina Viglierchio, “because a glass of Sagrantino is a wonderful discovery, a great way to make new consumers or simply the curious aware of a little known region like Umbria, through small amounts of a great wine”.
Fontanafredda’s Barolo Serralunga d’Alba is not new to this kind of initiative. “Everything started with the liter bottle,” says Roberto Bruno, Marketing Manager of the Piedmont group, “designed specifically for by-the-glass consumption. Moreover, relaunching by-the-glass consumption with Barolo is perfect because it is probably the wine that has suffered the most selling it by the bottle in restaurants and wine bars. In the meantime, in store purchases for home consumption have increased quite a lot recently”.
The opportunity to taste a fine wine at an affordable price (5 euros per glass), is an key point in the Fontanafredda strategy: “It was not easy to encourage and convince the 500 restaurants and wine bars all over Italy to sell Barolo by the glass - not everyone is used to opening this caliber wine at the bar, but Winefit has made it possible by relying on a network of bars and restaurants that have created a real community, supported by online and offline communication that give visibility”.

Focus - Wine by the glass, fine wines have become democratic. Technological research anticipates the trend and creates a cork that can substitute elitist consumption of fine wines.
From a trend to the symbol of a “democratic” revolution of consumption tendencies, wine by the glass is now an established worldwide reality. Temptations such as bouquet of scents and colors, which it is a sin to resist, but also alcohol test and the financial crisis, have made wine by the glass a fashion that has taken a firm hold in Italy, too. From restaurants to wine bars, to wineries in Europe and overseas, wine by the glass is the only solution that can effectively and immediately counter the decline in consumption, particularly outside the home.
In France, according to a study conducted by “Chd Conseil”, 9 out of 10 restaurants and bars offer a wide selection of high and very high quality wines by the glass and even U.S. consumers appreciate affordable “tasting”, starting with Italian wines. The evolution of quality in the glass, from the classic tumbler of wine at the tavern to high quality wine in the chalice, is possible thanks to scientific and technological research that has developed ways of keeping open bottles in perfect condition thereby maintaining all the key features that make fine wines unique.
The latest novelty that the market is offering wine lovers to encourage them drink the wines of the most critically acclaimed wine producers, is a dispenser (Winefit One; www.winenefit.it) that moves dispensing procedures from the machine to a tap. It is democratic even in purchase costs -wine by the glass is “politically correct” because it encourages the consumption of quality wines and helps to develop the habit of “drinking aware and responsibly”, protecting one’s health and in compliance with road safety laws. Wine is a symbol of Made in Italy quality and is becoming more and more a study subject while Italian institutions are realizing the need to “teach” conscious consumption.
In 2008 the Wine News website highlighted the shift of wine lovers due to the introduction of new rules on road safety. According to the survey in collaboration with Vinitaly the dominant attitude of wine enthusiasts is, “either drink or drive”. In Italy, from north to south there is an almost unanimous chorus of wine lovers that have turned to consumption by the glass to keep in line with the limits established by law, which is the only way to avoid unpleasant surprises when driving and at the same time give everyone the opportunity to drink high-quality wines of the most renowned brands. This new approach to drinking wine, consumption by the glass, is a smart way to increase consumption in restaurants and wine bars (which are down 5% to 7%) thanks to sophisticated technologies that keep the characteristics of wine intact, even after many glasses.