"ITALY MUST SEND TOP WINES TO THE USA, BECAUSE THEIR “MEMORY” IS WANING, EFFECTING LOW PRICE WINES, TOO AND IDENTITY IS AT RISK. THE ALARM SOUNDED BY THE ITALIAN WINE & FOOD INSTITUTE IN THE STATES

Italian wine in the U.S. is still the best-selling, but it’s a huge mistake to sit on our laurels: both volume and value fell in the first half of 2012 (though 2011 was a record year). And Lucio Caputo of the Italian Wine & Food Institute in the States says the driving effect of Italian fine wines on the lower-priced but most bought in the U.S., is fading.

"In the last few years of economic crisis, we have done everything possible just to maintain the market share”, he explained to WineNews, “focusing also on wines in the 4-5 dollar range. And, thanks to the allure of the great Italian wines, they have sold quite well. But now this "memory" effect is fading, because the "older", consumers who made Italy’s fortune in the past are getting older, while young people today often do not even know Italy. So when in a shop one has to choose between an Italian wine at $6.50, or an Argentinean one at $5.50, they often choose the latter because that type of consumer is not too interested in where the wine comes from, and therefore the memory effect of “great wines from Italy" regardless of price, begins to break down. And the actual price wins”. The problem, according to Caputo, is that in the past few years in the States "promotion events focused only on excellence are lacking and no one is talking about great wines like Barolo, Brunello, Amarone or Supertuscan any more.

"I'm surprised when I go into stores and see large anonymous masses of Italian wines that cost little more that the Argentinean wines. I am afraid that we have chosen the easy way of focusing on lower-priced wines. Now is the time to bring Italian wines back up to their level of excellence, before they are permanently confused in the mass of competing wines and lose their identity”. This is why there will be a special edition of "Gala Italy”, on December 7th, dedicated only to prestigious Italian wines, at the Pierre Hotel, one of the cult hotels in Manhattan.