Spotlight on Italy in the USA: Italian wine star of the WS “Grand Tour”

Now, like never before, Italian wine needs to be visible and the star player in the United States, its number one foreign market, since it is living in fear of the possible new tariffs on European wine that could affect Italy, too. Further, even though it was saved from the first round, which instead hit the wines of France, Spain and elsewhere with 25% tariffs, it was affected by the negative climate, causing a decrease, in December 2019 alone, of -7% in value compared to the same period in 2018, and -12% on still wines. However, overall, the year closed on a positive note, up + 4.2% to 1.75 billion euros (data from the Vinitaly-Nomisma Wine Observatory Monitor). Therefore, it becomes fundamental to take all the opportunities for promotion available on the United States market in 2020, in order to maintain and strengthen this growth trend, at least to counterattack as much as possible the extremely negative impact that new duties could have. One of the most important events, which is organized by the most widely read wine magazine in the United States, is Wine Spectator’s “Grand Tour 2020”, which will visit some of the key cities for American economy and politics, such as Chicago on April 22nd, Las Vegas on April 25th and Washington DC on May 1st. And, to prove that the desire to drink Italian knows no crisis in America, Marvin Shanken’s American magazine has selected, as always, a lot of Italian wineries boasting many of the excellent names in Italian wine, from Piedmont to Sicily. The wines that have been summoned to represent the Italian National team include names such as Aldo Conterno, Allegrini, Altesino, Antinori, Bastianich, Bindi Sergardi, Boscarelli, Brancaia, Cà del Bosco, Caiarossa, Caparzo, Carpineto, Casanova di Neri, Castellare di Castellina, Castello Banfi, Castello d’Albola, Castello di Monsanto, Castello di Volpaia, Ceretto, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona, Damilano, Elena Walch, Fattoria dei Barbi, Fèlsina, Ferrari, Feudi di San Gregorio, Fontodi, Fuligni, Giovanni Rosso, Jermann, La Gerla, Lamole di Lamole, Livio Felluga, Marchesi de 'Frescobaldi, Marchesi di Barolo, Marco Felluga, Masciarelli, Masi, Mastroberardino, Mazzei, Michele Chiarlo, Nino Negri (Italian Wine Group), Paolo Scavino, Pasqua, Pio Cesare , Planeta, Ratti, Rocca delle Macìe, San Felice, Siro Pacenti, Tenuta di Biserno, Tenuta San Guido, Tenuta Sette Ponti, Tolaini, Val di Suga, Valdicava, Vietti and Zenato. They are all top names, called to renew the story of Italian wine in the USA, and to keep up the American passion for Made in Italy wine.