TENDENCY: ITALIAN WINE POSSIBILITIES IN 2012- EXPORT AND FOCUS ON DOMESTIC MARKET, “CLASSIC” WINES, PRICE POLARIZATION, ORGANIC AND SPARKLING WINES WILL BE TOP ISSUES. AND A LOOK AT THE WEIRD CLIMATE…

This is not exactly a “revelation” (though the Epiphany is close at hand), rather an attempt to understand what the fault lines will be for Italian wine in 2012, among global financial tensions and “domestic” issues that won’t put smiles on producers’ faces; like the introduction of a new land tax for agriculture and skyrocketing fuel prices. However, “Vineyard Italy” might still have a few aces up its sleeve. Export will be the antidote to hard times on the domestic market. And for Italian wines, the Asian markets, China first and foremost (keeping an eye out for India) will be more important than ever, since they represent a “natural” harbor for great brands while they are a less immediate, but potentially of paramount importance, for less famous ones.
The domestic market, which has been in a constant slump for the last few years could get even more complicated because of the crisis, but many producers seem to want to go back to investing more aggressively in it - if not to bolster consumption, at least to keep it stable. The domestic market could react erratically and prefer a “back to classics” approach - to wines and companies that can count on their brand or on their style and continuing quality standards – a sort of reassuring “hunt” for certainties, so to speak. 2012, in all probability, will see the gap between low-priced (5 Euros and under) and fine wines (50 Euros and up) get even wider, further polarizing consumption. But, it could also be the year of the comeback of “second vin” - priced at the halfway point - that has suffered in the recent past but that, due to a context as fluid as the one that awaits us, could rise up, thanks to its quality, which is often close to the “crus”, and to the competence of informed consumers. The idea of environmental sustainability, moreover, will continue to be appealing - wines made with organic and/or biodynamical techniques are poised for a rise in the “Old World”, but with the potential to do the same on the other side of the Ocean, first and foremost in the U.S. And, demand for more drinkable and balanced wines will also increase, even if global warming keeps on moving the sensorial profile of wines in the opposite direction, particularly regarding alcohol content.

Global warming will continue to bring new issues like the case of the “Britagne”, the sparkling wine made in Great Britain, where the climate is becoming milder and taking wine history back to a couple thousand years ago. We chose this wine typology on purpose because most probably it will continue its success also in 2012. Sparkling wines will maintain their prerogative of being the new style of drinking: light wines, therefore drinkable also in non-traditional situations and good to excellent quality, interpreting the atmosphere of “disenchantment” that seems to characterize our era.