AMERICANS BEWITCHED BY BRUNELLO: ONE IN FOUR BOTTLES OF THE “MADE IN TUSCANY” WINE IS UNCORKED IN THE U.S. (25% OF TOTAL EXPORTS). IN 2005 THE WINE FROM MONTALCINO EARNED 143 MILLION EUROS

Americans continue to be bewitched by Brunello: one in four bottles of the celebrated wine produced in Montalcino is uncorked in the United States, which absorbs 25% of all exports. It is a love that seems unaware of crisis, regardless of the current economic difficulties and competition from the New World. This continued positive performance on the foreign market has been a major contribution to Montalcino’s earnings, which closed in 2005 with earnings worth 143 million euros.

Producers, currently, are preparing for “Benvenuto Brunello” (held in Montalcino on 24-25 February), the annual kermes which, this year, will debut the Brunello 2001 and reserve 2000. The event attracts importers, buyers, and journalists from all over the world, and will also be the occasion for the announcement of the official rating of the 2005.

The passion for Brunello is not only among Italian wine enthusiasts, but also among critics abroad. The definitive consecration to the Tuscan wine in the U.S. was in a recent issue of Wine Spectator, the most important wine magazine in the world, with a passionate article by noted journalist Jonathan Suckling entitled “America Loves Brunello”. Suckling begins his article by stating, “When Americans think of the best Italian red wine, my bet is that most of them have Brunello di Montalcino on their mind”. He goes on to point out that the wine from Montalcino sells more than any other high quality Italian wine in the U.S. Even Wine Enthusiast, another important U.S. wine magazine, will soon be publishing a special issue dedicated to the “Brunello phenomenon”.
Meanwhile, the Brunello Consortium has just returned from a triumphant road-show in New York and San Francisco, during which journalists, buyers, and sector workers expressed great enthusiasm for Montalcino wine’s latest release.
But Americans are not the only Brunello Fans: sales have remained stable in Germany (9%), Switzerland (7%), and Canada (5%), and have registered substantial growth in northern European countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The annual production for Brunello is about 6 million bottles per year (the number varies according the year’s harvest quantity), of which 60% is sold abroad, while the remaining 40% is destined for the internal market. Montalcino makes up 15% of Italian market (of which 7% in direct sales by wine companies), Tuscan wines 10%, the rest of central Italy 6%, northern Italy 8%, southern Italy 1%. Besides his majesty Brunello, Montalcino wine production also includes Rosso di Montalcino Doc (3 million bottles), Moscadello Doc (50,000 bottles), the Doc red a white wines Sant’Antimo (500,000 bottles), the “Supertuscans” (500,000 bottles), and IGT (Indication of Geographic Territory) wines (3 million bottles).

From Brunello’s vinaccia 250,000 bottles of grappa are also made. 250,000 operators work directly in the wine sector in Montalcino, 200 of whom are bottlers. 100% of the producers - the only case in Italy - are enrolled in the Brunello Consortium, the entity that safeguards and controls Montalcino wines. Among the 3,000 hectares of vineyards, over 2,000 are enrolled in the Brunello registry.
In terms of size, the dimensions of the vineyards of 22% of wine producers in the area are smaller than one hectare, for 29% it is between 1 and 3 hectares, 15% have between 5 and 15 hectares, 9% between 15 and 100 hectares, and only 1% produce on more than 100 hectares of land. 9% are exclusively commercial companies.

Brunello is also at the top of the classification list for land value: according to a survey by the National Agricultural Economic Institute (Inea), the quoted price for one hectare of Brunello di Montalcino vineyard is around 350,000 euros (but sometimes these values can reach even 4-500,000 euros). This is one of the highest quotes in absolute among the leading areas of Italian and international wine producing land.