Sparkling wines lead Italian wine exports and are the stars of the “Sparkle 2019” Guide

Italian bubbles are still on top of the wave, after many years, and are continuing to lead exports of Italian wine abroad. In some cases, they are “saving” numbers that otherwise would mark an inevitable negative sign. The bubbles closed 2017 at 1.36 billion euros, and in the first 5 months of 2018, according to ISTAT, shipments have continued to grow 14%. This is certainly a beautiful gift, close to a month until Christmas, for Italian sparkling wines, star players of the “Sparkle 2019” guide, edition number 17, edited by the magazine “Cucina & Vini”. And, the main event, on December 1st at “SparkleDAY” in Rome, will be 60 top wines companies coming from Northern to Southern Italy around an enormous tasting table. The highlight, as is tradition, will be awarding the “5 spheres”, the recognition for the best bubbles, which will be given to 70 wines. Franciacorta is the territory in the lead, counting 23 wines, followed by Trentodoc at 16, then Prosecco has 12 and Alta Langa has 4 wines, but now bubbles are produced everywhere in Italy, from Friuli Venezia Giulia to Marche, Umbria, Abruzzi, Apulia and Sicily. One of the companies in the lead, instead, is Ca’ del Bosco that counts 4 different variations of the classic Lombard method awarded, followed by three still in Franciacorta, for Uberti, Ferrari, Letrari and Maso Martis in Trentodoc.
“The sparkling wines guide”, explained Francesco D’Agostino, director in charge of Cucina & Vini and curator of the Sparkle guide, “has now become a veritable manual in order to get closer to an increasingly complex world and above all offering both the highest quality wines as well as very simple ones. Obviously, the territories where sparkling wine grapes grow the best have been confirmed as Franciacorta, Trento, Alta Langa, Prosecco Superiore di Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Alto Adige, Oltrepò Pavese and Roero Arneis, to which other areas must be added that have been guaranteeing top-level wines for many years now. In total, then, there are seventy samples that fear no comparison with the best sparkling wines in the world”.
A parallel data relating to consumption abroad also has confirmed; it is a clear testimony of a healthy and above all, constantly increasing sector. “We are approaching the end of the year”, added Francesco D'Agostino, “following worldwide success that shows no sign of slowing down. In the first half of this year Italian sparkling wine was exported for 651 million euros, marking the growth close to 14% compared to the first half of 2017. And the forecast is definitely that it will exceed the 1.3 billion euro threshold reached last year. On the heels of this progress, other areas in Italy are creating sparkling wine productions aiming for a great appeal in the world, such as Spumante Garda Doc, Spumante d’Abruzzo Dop and Novebolle Romagna Doc Spumante. The model is that of Prosecco, which is an immediate wine that is a winner not only for its style but also and mainly for the shared project. This is, in fact, the most difficult objective to achieve for those companies that, while adopting an appreciable style, cannot count on the endorsement of an important territory and on team work developed over the years”.