One of the great passions of Italians? Champagne, of which Italy is the fourth largest market

One of the great passions of Italians? Champagne: its shipments to Italy, which, in 2022, set an all-time record, both in volume and value, with 10.6 million bottles (+11.5%) and a turnover of 247.9 million euros (+19%), making Italy the fourth largest market for the prestigious French bubbles, thanks to savvy, curious consumers and lovers of high-end Cuvèe (the special ones with Millesimati and rosés account for one-third of the fine bottles arriving in Italy; Comité Champagne data), driving the great success that bubblies are having among the types, moreover, with growing interest in their ability to age on the Champagne model. But also because, like these, Champagne, while remaining the quintessential wine of celebrations, the quintessential symbol of elegance and exclusivity, is gaining a foothold in “informal” consumption, in which it is also increasingly the wine that manages to make an ordinary moment extraordinary. And 176 maisons, including historic and small vignerons, and nearly 1,000 wines from the different production areas, from the Montagne de Reims to the Vallée de la Marne, from the Côte des Blancs to the Aube, in considerable growth, will be the protagonists of the “Champagne Experience 2023”, the most important event for industry operators and enthusiasts in Italy, signed by Società Excellence, a reality that brings together 21 of the largest Italian importers and distributors of wines and spirits of excellence, at edition No. 6, on October 15 and 16, at ModenaFiere.
An event - to open which, on October 15, will be a gala dinner (by invitation only) by the three-starred chef Massimo Bottura of Modena’s Osteria Francescana, at the Palazzo Ducale in Modena, home of the Military Academy (whose guests will include WineNews, which will follow the “Modena Champagne Experience” 2023, recounting it in a video and tastings in the weekly newsletter “I Vini di WineNews”, ed.) - which “this year, too, is growing in double digits in the number of companies participating, with a 25% increase”, explains Luca Cuzziol, president Società Excellence (which includes Sagna Spa, Meregalli Group, Cuzziol Grandivini srl, Pellegrini Spa, Balan srl, Sarzi Amadè srl, Vino Design srl, Teatro del Vino srl, Proposta Vini sas, Bolis srl, Les Caves de Pyrene srl, Premium Wine Selection PWS srl, Ghilardi Selezioni srl, Visconti 43 srl, Première srl, AGB Selezione srl, Apoteca, Ceretto Terroirs, Philarmonica srl, Spirits Colori srl and ViteVini) - the idea of selecting and inviting maisons that have well-structured marketing in our country continues to be successful and demonstrates the fundamental role played by the world of quality wine and spirits distribution. Operators know they can find in Modena an ideal place to get to know labels to propose to their customers in their premises”.
The “Champagne Experience”, in fact, promoted with the Modena Chamber of Commerce and the patronage of the Municipality of Modena, brings together French maisons - starting with the “classics” such as Pommery and Louis Roederer (distributed by Sagna), Taittinger and Jacquart, Pol Roger and Lanson, Ayala and Bollinger (distributed by the Meregalli Group, with Chassenay d’Arce and Pierre Gimonnet & Fils), from Deutz to Bruno-Paillard (distributed by Cuzziol Grandivini, with Gonet-Medeville, Mandois, Monmarthe and Domaine La Borderie), from Charles Heidsieck to Piper-Heidsieck-and importers, the most important ones, such as Domori for Champagne Barons de Rothschild, in addition to those mentioned above, but also Italian wine companies that are increasingly increasing their portfolio with Champagne references - from Banfi with Joseph Perrier to Barone Ricasoli with Henriot, from Cantina Terlano with Legras & Haas to Marchesi di Barolo with Mailly Grand Cru, from Famiglia Cecchi with Vollereaux to Masciarelli with André Jacquart, from Serena Wines 1881 with De Vilmont to Vallepicciola with Petite Vallée, among others - proving that the Italian market is very mature. The goal is to popularize the culture for this iconic wine and allow participants to taste hundreds of labels and attend masterclasses of the highest level, bringing together in Modena the best of national fine wine distribution along with restaurateurs, wine merchants and operators interested in keeping their wine lists high, alongside wine enthusiasts.
The event also includes, as usual, many moments of training, discussion, in-depth analysis and debate with the aim of offering visitors an engaging sensory experience along with high-level cultural support.
This year’s masterclasses include meetings led by professionals and profound connoisseurs of the Champagne world: from “Bubbles in the Dark” with sommeliers Luca Boccoli, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne and founder of Selezione Boccoli, and Ilaria Giardini, to “Top Cuvée 1/2023” with Vito Intini, president Onav-Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori di Vino, and at “Tutte le sfumature del rosé”, with Luciano Ferraro, deputy editor of “Corriere della Sera”, and Paolo Porfidio, head sommelier Terrazza Gallia (Hotel Excelsior Gallia, Milan) and coordinator Aspi-Associasione Sommellerie Professionale Italiana, on Oct. 15; from “2008: A Great Vintage” - the vintage of the century in Champagne, ed - with Manlio Giustiniani, lecturer Fondazione Italiana Sommelier (Fis), to “La vinification à l’ancienne” with Michel Bettane, author with Thierry Desseauve, of the influential guide “Le Nouveau Bettane+Desseauve”, and to “Top Cuvée 2/2023” with Francesco Falcone, taster, writer and independent popularizer.
Moments - reserved, by invitation - of the “Champagne Experience” a masterclass dedicated to Pol Roger will be signed by Compagnia del Vino (also present with Champagne Geoffroy), on October 16, with Bastien Collard de Billy, sixth generation Pol Roger, and Chiara Giovoni, international wine expert (and WineNews contributor, ed,) who will tell the maison through the evolutions of a style that has remained true to itself since 1849, from Champagne Pure to Rich, from the unchanged elegance of Brut Réserve to the refinement of Blanc de Blancs Vintage 2015, how the formula for success envisioned by founder Pol Roger is still remarkably relevant today. Among the maisons participating for the first time, however, is Maison Burtin, part of the prestigious and historic Lanson-BCC group and distributed in Italy by Le Tenute del Leone Alato (Generali Assicurazioni is one of the major global players in the insurance and asset management sector, ed.), whose history may be less well known, due to its discretion, and which reflects the character of its founder Gaston Burtin, a great example of austerity and pragmatism, who, while maintaining the utmost confidentiality, led the company with pioneering and visionary drive in Épernay, the “capital” of Champagne, and will present for the first time in Italy precisely the range dedicated to its founder, “Hommage à Gaston Burtin” (Brut, Brut Rosé, Blanc de Blancs 2017 and Brut 2014), and, in an absolute preview, new reference soon to be released on the Italian market. But it will also be possible to discover a territory that likes to call itself “Champagne sauvage”, through the Domaine Alexandre Bonnet, which has become the symbol of a unique terroir in the “flor de bourgogne” Champagne of Les Riceys, of which, with its 47 hectares, it is the Domaine with the largest cultivated land, narrated by Arnaud Fabre, president Domaine Alexandre Bonnet, and Alessandro Sarzi Amadè from the historic company leader in the distribution of great wines and spirits throughout the country Sarzi Amadè srl (also present with the Maisons Françoise Bedel, Henri Goutorbe, De Sousa and Christian Gosset), and from the Champagne Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs, Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs and Extra Brut Rosé, which encapsulate teamwork and a family approach in the bottle, in the area dedicated to the wines of the Côte des Bar.
Returning to the allure and numbers of the bubbles from beyond the Alps, in 2023 the world wine market will also slow down for Champagne, but forecasts for the end of the year say it will reach 314 million bottles that will leave from the maisons to goblets around the world, compared to 325 million bottles in a 2022 that was an extraordinary year for Champagne with the new record in value of turnover that, overall for all markets, exceeded 6.3 billion euros. And, in fact, on the strength of years of success and very high margins (a bottle leaves the cellar averaging around 19 euros), Champagne is also looking relatively calmly to the future, starting with a new vintage of great quality.