So much wine in the cellar, Frescobaldi: “phenomenon more pronounced in some areas. Acting on yields

That the world of wine is not going through a formidable moment is an objective fact, between an ongoing change in consumption, declining production, climatic effects, and “alarmist” pushes. A declining interest especially for red wines because, looking at the data, whites and, above all, sparkling wines, are going through a good moment of health, with increasing demands. And then, remaining always in the land of numbers, those Istat, say that, in the period from January to April 2024, Italian wine exports, globally, exceeded 2.5 billion euros (+7% in value over the same period last year) and 690.76 million liters (+5.8% in volume over the first four months of 2023). Of course, the accounts are made at the end, as repeatedly said, variables in the coming months may change the scenario, but, in the meantime, one cannot help but take note of this trend that, at the moment, at least worldwide, is positive. And, alongside companies that are certainly suffering, and perhaps struggling to sell their bottles, as is always the case in an Italian wine world made up of so many different realities, even in the same territories, there are also others that are living an excellent moment and with growing budgets.
So, with only a few days to go before the beginning of the harvest in Sicily, with healthy and quality grapes, how are the Italian “wineries” that will soon make way for the new harvest? And what is the situation at the level of “historical” and therefore accumulated stock, is it a one-size-fits-all situation or are there differences from area to area? WineNews asked Lamberto Frescobaldi, head of Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), a confederation with 770 companies for more than 150,000 wine growers, more than 50% of Italian wine sales and more than 85% of wine export sales. And who, in recent days, in an interview reported by the newspaper “Il Sole 24 Ore” of July 26, 2024 (signed by Giorgio dell’Orefice), had declared that “wineries burst for wine even after a poor year like 2023”. “There are territories in Italy”, Frescobaldi explains, to Winenews, “where the phenomenon is certainly more pronounced, where the prices of bulk wines are “depressed”. But, everywhere, there is a slowdown, and this regardless of how “famous” a territory is. Everyone then in the company will make their own calculations. The reality is that consumption is in great decline, if the market does not work we have to be good at adjusting production, and, certainly, reducing yields is a solution to counter low prices. But, today, for this vintage, it is already late, the communications (i.e., the bureaucratic paperwork to ask the regions and the institutions in charge for the lowering of the yields required by the production specifications and regulations, ed.) should be done earlier. I happen to talk to a lot of people, for example, in Sicily, where the grape harvest has started, and with the grapes there and they are beautiful, this is definitely a positive factor. But, in some way, the production of this harvest, price-wise and quantity-wise, will also affect the next harvests, and if you think about it, 2025 is not that far away. These are all assessments that deserve to be made, production-wise...”.