2019 in the estimates of the producers of the Belpaese? “Conditioned” confidence

After a 2018 not very brilliant for Italian wine in the world, which struggles in the U.S. and resists without shining in China, while maintaining its positions in the main markets of the Old Continent, WineNews has collected the expectations for 2019 of producers in the Belpaese, at the test stand of ProWein, in Düsseldorf until March 20. A “microphone tour” among some of the most iconic brands of the boot, which ideally starts from Valpolicella, with the optimistic vision of Pierangelo Tommasi, head of Tommasi Family Estates, a group with its own companies also in Tuscany, Oltrepò Pavese, Puglia, and Basilicata.
“I’m an optimist, I think that today we need to sell wine, we need to work hard, we need to set clear goals. In our case we can have a rather complete picture of the situation: Valpolicella and Toscana well, other territories are struggling a bit more, but Italy has something more, in terms of territoriality and typicality, although we need to work as a team, and it is perhaps the aspect that worries me the most”.
Big of the wine of the Marche region, with 200 hectares between ownership and management, Angela Velenosi instead launches the alarm on “a market that is holding back, and even the new destinations, such as China, has suffered a setback. The positive note comes from the domestic market, and then perhaps it would be worth focusing on Italy, which we have neglected in many, finding, I am convinced, even growth in profitability. America is quite still, and so is Germany, but let's not give up. And Sicily? According to a dean of Trinacria viticulture and wine markets, Alessio Planeta, “it’s not going badly, the work on the Sicily DOC is getting important results, our goal was to raise the average price and we have succeeded.
It was a generally good 2018, also due to the excellent performance of Etna. After years of dizzying growth, it’s up to us to catch our breath, especially when many situations do not help, starting with Brexit, but 2019 is expected to be positive, even if Italian wine depends on the big markets, the U.S., Germany and Great Britain, that’s where we do the numbers.
If there is a wine that seems to be immune to any external influence, that is Prosecco, ready to grow again in 2019 after a very good harvest - says Elvira Bortolomiol, head of the Prosecco di Conegliano organic farm - which has given us great results. The market demands more and more quality, controlled and guaranteed. We expect Germany to get back on track, while on the Asian markets we are still trying to have an adequate position”.
Filippo Mazzei, the head of the historic Tuscan wine family, paints a “worrying scenario for 2019” that embraces the brands of Chianti Classico (Castello di Fonterutoli), Maremma (Belguardo) and Sicily (Zisola). “Between Brexit and any duties, there are problems that we hope to avoid. After all, I think that Tuscany is coming back out on a big scale: Canada flies, Russia is fine, Asia is doing its job, Europe is holding back, starting from Germany”.
A frontier producer, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, with whites that have made the recent history of Friulian wine, Ornella Venica gives a positive reading of the moment. “Italy, even if not very much, continues to grow and give satisfaction, the United States is doing well, Germany instead needs special attention, but the markets must be followed all, supported by quality and sustainability, environmental and social, the basis of future satisfaction”. A winemaker by choice, not by chance, and with passion, Bruno Vespa is now a permanent presence at the major wine shows around the world and has an original point of view on the situation. “We are a young company - explains the journalist - in continuous expansion, and it is not certain that where there are difficulties for larger groups we cannot open up possibilities for us.
Italian wine is always better if we were a team player it would not be bad ”. The reasoning of Vespa Roberto Anselmi, head of the Venetian label that boasts 70 hectares of vineyards between Monforte and Soave. “The trend of 2019 will depend a lot on the starting situations, those who are growing will continue to do well, while those who have difficulties less, but the 2018 vintage, which nevertheless set a new record that will go on the market, it was excellent even in terms of quality ”.
”For Chiara Lungarotti, who heads the family business with her sister Teresa in Torgiano, in the heart of Umbria, “the glass is half full, but in 2019 we will have to deal with many specific situations, all over the world. Apart from the unknown of Brexit and its possible weight, there are the unknowns of North America, with the unpredictable policies of President Trump, and then China, again a question mark, reinforced by the dust from the negotiations for the “way of the Serta”, In the end, what makes Italian wine successful is the quality, the thing that really matters. Finally, the estimate of Alessio Di Majo, Dimajonorante, a symbol of Molise’s wine in the world, is cautious. “The first two months of 2019 have given positive signals, but there are ups and downs. Germany hesitates, the United States, Japan, and China are doing better, a lot will depend on the performance of the world economy, but the situation in England also requires us to be alert”.