EXPORTS SOAR TO 4.4 BILLION EUROS, BUT CONSUMPTION IS FLAT. 1 OUT 5 BOTTLES OF WINE IN THE WORLD IS ITALIAN. CIA SAYS, NEED BETTER REDISTRIBUTION OF EXTRA ADDED VALUE

One bottle in five in the world "speaks" Italian. Italian scored an outstanding performance again this year on over the border markets, marking a new record for 2011, which ended with a leap of 12% more in value and 9% in volume. These figures reinforce the world record amount of wine Italy exports in the world. But if on the one hand, the sector continues to set one record after another across the border, domestic consumption remains flat, and for the first time wine sold abroad exceeded domestic sales, says the CIA, the Italian Farmers Confederation. The Countries that most enjoy our wine are Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. But the ranking is reversed if we look at quality: the U.S. imported the most high quality wines for 948 million euros, followed by Germany 919 million and the United Kingdom 509 million.
Italian wine has been a worldwide success, accounting for as much as 22 percent of the world market, and more than half of the "Made in Italy" bottles have crossed national borders: of the more than 44 million hectoliters representing the total 2011 production, 24 were consumed abroad compared to 20 that stayed in Italy. So, we can toast on the export front, but the result is less exciting behind national borders, where it continues a downward trend in consumption that started in the 70s, when the per capita amount was around 100 liters and in the last 15 years alone has dropped 12 liters, from 55 to 43 liters. On the other hand, Italians are refining their tastes, and looking more and more for quality: the only bottles that have taken a step forward in the twelve months of 2011 have been high-end, particularly designation of origin wines, registering an increase of 11.1% in volume, while sales of wine in stores and supermarkets have felt the effects of the crisis. Just the opposite of what happens across the border, where Italian wines that improved their performance were bulk.

Despite the successes around the world, however, the wine sector still has contradictions that must be confronted, starting with a more equal distribution of gains. "Not all the players in the wine world,” says the CIA president Giuseppe Politi, “have reached the same results from the positive performance of the sector. The "first ring" of the chain formed by the grape producers, who "put in their pockets" less than 15% of the consumer price of the bottle, have suffered the most. That's why a consistent policy is needed that improves the market function, repositioning aids and supports destined for distillation and grape must in order to increase the competitive capacity of the sector, starting from the production base."