Ismea data: in 12 months prices of table wines collapse, Brunello leads PDO wines

Italian wine prices have been fluctuating and in November 2018 prices of table wines showed a definite drop compared to a year ago. The drop in white wines in November 2017 marked -21.1% less, while reds and rosés marked -24.5%. This is what the Italian agro-food market Services, ISMEA data revealed and WineNews analyzed (average prices excluding VAT, for the most recent vintage on the market, and ex-cellar). The data, obviously, may differ from the actual prices of negotiations, but they give an idea of the situation, which is in sharp contrast to Spain, where white table wines in the last 12 months have grown + 36.7%, to reach 3.52 euros per hectograde (degree alcohol) and red wines have grown + 43.8%, to 4.45 euros per hectograde, as well as to France, where the quotation of white table wines increased +4.8%, to 6.74 euros per hectograde, and red table wines + 18.7%, to 6.61 euros per hectograde.
The price trend of the principal Italian wine names is decidedly more important. Starting with red wines, Brunello di Montalcino is confirmed the top quoted PDO, at 1.085 euros per hectoliter, as it increased + 3.3% compared to November 2017, followed by the two big names in Piedmont, which, instead, both fell: Barolo, at 760 euros per hectoliter (October figure, ed.), -7.3% compared to November 2017, and Barbaresco, at 510 euros per hectoliter (October data, ed.), down -12.1%. Actually, according to tradition, Amarone is wedged between Barolo and Brunello, and off the ISMEA radar, as according to the Verona Chamber of Commerce quotations remained stable at 800-900 euros per hectoliter, the same as a year ago. Chianti Classico has been confirmed at 282 euros per hectoliter, an increase of 9.7% compared to a year ago, followed by Nebbiolo d’Alba at 250 euros per hectoliter (October figure), which was down -19.4%, while Valpolicella dropped to 234 euros per hectoliter (-6.4%). Prices of Barbera d’Alba, at 210 euros per hectoliter, and also Teroldego Rotaliano, confirmed at 195 euros per hectoliter, have remained stable, while Etna continues to grow, and prices have risen + 12.7% to 177.5 euros per hectoliter; therefore, more than Dolcetto, which fell -17.6% compared to 12 months ago, to 140 euros per hectoliter.
It is a different story for the quotations of the main Italian white wines, which as usual show a very uneven trend, but overall, falling. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco confirmed its leading position in November, at 245 euros per hectoliter, but in free fall in 2017 (-18.3%) followed by the base Marsala wines, at 192.5 euros per hectoliter (+10.6%) and Prosecco, down -21.1% to 177.5 euros per hectoliter. The Oltrepò Pavese Chardonnay also collapses (-39.1%), to 140 euros per hectoliter, while Friuli Grave Friulano stayed stable (140 euros per hectoliter) and Soave Classico grew 9.5% (115 euros per hectoliter) ), while Orvieto was stable at 102.5 euros per hectoliter. Alcamo dropped slightly e (-4.9%), to 97.5 euros per hectoliter, Orvieto Classico was stable at 95 euros per hectoliter, and instead in the top 10 of the highest quoted white denominations, Frascati fell (-5.4%), to 87.5 euros per hectoliter.