Wine, the rally of bulk prices in the first 7 months of 2020 (on 2019), according to Ismea

With cellar stocks substantially in line with 2019 (45.7 million hectolitres of wines and musts on July 29 2020 out of the 45.1 of the same month of last year), Italy has seen the end of the 2019/2020 wine campaign and, with the harvest in fact already started, with the first bunches of the earliest varieties already harvested from Sicily to Franciacorta, started the 2020-2021 campaign. And although the difficulties linked to the pandemic, in terms of consumption in Italy and the world, are clear, a thermometer of the situation, as always, comes from the prices of bulk. According to Ismea data, in general, in the 2019-2020 campaign, prices fell by -3% for IGT wines and -5% for PDO wines. But with different trends between individual designations, as revealed by the comparison between average producer prices (excluding VAT and ex-works) recorded by Ismea between January-July 2019 and the same period in 2020.
Among the great reds of the Belpaese, for example, the Brunello di Montalcino, even though it is down by -9.8%, remains at respectable prices, going from 1,085 euros per hectoliter in 2019 to 978 in 2020. Amarone della Valpolicella remained stable, at 775 euros per hectoliter, while Barolo lost 14.2%, from 740 to 635 euros per hectoliter, with a similar dynamic for Barbaresco, at -11.9%, for an average value, in the first 7 months of 2020, of 493 euros per hectolitre. On the other hand, the prices of the Lagrein of Alto Adige rose, +7.1% to 375 euros per hectoliter, as did those of Nobile di Montepulciano, at +4.4% for 301 euros per hectoliter. Chianti Classico fell but did not fall, down by -6.5% to 264 euros per hectoliter, while Nebbiolo d’Alba lost -11.8%, which quoted an average of 255 euros per hectoliter, while at 200 euros per hectoliter, but with decidedly opposite dynamics, there are two of the most representative designations of the Islands, such as Etna, bishop of Sicily, at +4.4%, and Cannonau di Sardegna, which lost instead -16.3%. Among the great red designations, the growth of Doc Sicilia at 104 euros per hectoliter (+11.5%), Montepulciano d’Abruzzo at 74 euros per hectoliter (+4.9%), while Chianti, at -13.5% for an average price in 2020 of 103 euros per hectoliter, and especially Valpolicella at -33.5% for 136 euros per hectoliter, and Valpolicella Classico at -27.1% for 162 euros per hectoliter.
Among whites, on the other hand, South Tyrol dominates in terms of prices, with all positive trends. The Aromatic Traminer is priced at 450 euros per hectoliter (+12.5%), the Terlano Pinot Bianco is around 305 euros per hectoliter (+8.9%), Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay are between 260 and 265 euros per hectoliter, an increase of over 8%. Franciacorta is stable, at 325 euros per hectoliter, while Trento Pinot Nero is growing at 275 euros per hectoliter (+4.9%). Gavi is basically stable, at 280 euros per hectoliter (-2.3%), while the Prosecco galaxy suffers the most: Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg recorded a drop in average price of -14%, at 198 euros per hectoliter, Prosecco Doc left -9.8%, with an average price of 158 euros per hectoliter. Still, looking at some of the most famous white wines of the Belpaese, Soave shows opposite trends for Soave (-7.4% at 83 euros per hectoliter) and for Soave Classico (+8.9%, at 127 euros per hectoliter), it lost -9, 8, the Pinot Grigio delle Venezie (at 82 euro per hectoliter), and leaves on the ground some points also the Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi (-5.1% for the "basic" version, at 92 euro per hectoliter, -4.9% for the Classico, at 97 euro). Vermentino also shows different trends depending on the type: Vermentino di Sardegna is the white wine that has appreciated the most during the year, with an average price increase of 22.5%, at 192 euros per hectoliter, while Gallura’s Vermentino has a drop of -13.2%, at 250 euros per hectoliter.
Quotations that, as we always repeat, are to be taken as a pure indication, since prices can vary, even significantly, during trading, depending on the quality of individual lots, vintages, market trends and supply and demand needs. But they tell, in any case, once again, the articulated complexity of Italian wine, which is often wrongly spoken of as a unicum, but which is made up, instead, of many very different realities in terms of value and market dynamics.