From Italy’s first DOCG band to recovery: +45% for Nobile di Montepulciano in 2021

Among the wine designations of Tuscany related to Sangiovese, that of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is perhaps the smallest, in terms of volumes, with an average production of 6.5 million bottles of Vino Nobile and 3 million bottles of Rosso every year. But it is also one of the most historical ones, as it is told, among the others, by the work of Redi, the “Bacco in Toscana” (Bacchus in Tuscany), who already in the seventeenth century wrote that “Montepulciano of every wine is the King!”. Montepulciano is also the first DOCG in Italy, so much so that the Consorzio del Vino Nobile has the first band, number 1, in the history of Italian wine, which arrived in 1980. And from one band to another, the 45% increase in the number of bands issued by the Consortium in the first four months of 2021 (compared to the same period in 2020), when the pandemic broke out in Italy, bodes well for the recovery. Not a perfect litmus test of what is happening on the market, that of the state bands, but nonetheless an important indicator that, even in the territory of Poliziano, pearl of the Renaissance, gives hope for a real and near recovery.
“We have to read these figures with even more enthusiasm as we had already recorded growth in the first quarter of last year, despite the start of the pandemic”, commented Andrea Rossi, president of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. “With the reopening of markets and tourism, we hope to be able to continue with this positive trend, which rewards the promotional work done in recent years by producers and the Consorzio”. On the other hand, for Montepulciano, as for many other Italian wine territories, the real recovery comes both from exports, which account for 80% of sales, and from the recovery of tourism in the area, where consumption in restaurants is strong and direct sales are increasingly important.
Among foreign markets, Germany remains the reference country with 43% of the export quota. The second most important country is the United States, which accounts for 22% of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano exports. Asian, Balkan and non-EU markets account for around 7% of exports. Vino Nobile is also appreciated in Switzerland where it reaches 14.5%. Also growing in 2020 was the Canadian market, where among other things some important promotional initiatives by the Consortium were addressed, with an export share that reached 3.5% in 2019.
Numbers that, together with tastings of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2018 and Reserve 2017 (for operators from May 15th by reservation), the rating of the 2020 harvest and the new features introduced by the Consorzio del Vino Nobile (from the possibility of putting the name Toscana on the label to the additional geographical mention “Pieve”, which will be able to enter the market in 2024), will be the focus of the Anteprime of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which on May 18th will be staged in the historic Fortezza Medicea, today the location of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile and the Enoliteca, for media and operators, in accordance with all the restrictions imposed by anti-Covid regulations, during the week of the Anteprime di Tuscany.