Italian wine is rushing to the USA with IEM, restarting promotion in Florida and Texas

The Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini wrote in his song, “Canzone per Silvia”, “The sky in America is a thousand skies above a continent, the sky in Florida is a rag dampened in heaven”. And, as far as Italian wine is concerned, to paraphrase Guccini, the American market is made up of a thousand markets, and Florida is one of the most important. It is fourth in value, precisely, over 126 million US dollars worth of Italian wine imported in the first half of 2021, according to ICE data, marking a sharp increase (26 million US dollars) compared to 2019. There is also Texas, at 98.8 million US dollars (compared to 71.7 million in 2019), making it the fifth US state in value for Italian wine exports. Therefore, in 2022 promoting Italian wine on its most important foreign market will start from these two States. In the Italian wine economy, they follow only “battleships” States like New Jersey (in 6 months, worth 230 million dollars for Italian wineries), New York (204) and California, the “noble homeland” of American wine (191 million US dollars). Overall, according to ISTAT data analyzed by WineNews, in the first 10 months of 2021, the USA imported Italian wine for 1.4 billion euros, up 20% compared to 2020 and 14% compared to 2019). So, Italian wines are touring the US with IEM’s “Simply Italian Great Wines Americas Tour 2022”, organized by Marina Nedic and Giancarlo Voglino. IEM is one of the most influential and important historical companies promoting Italian wine in the world. On February 7, the tour will visit Miami, one of Florida’s symbol cities, and on February 9, it will be in Houston, one of the most important and famous cities in Texas.
The stars of the tour are some of the top Italian wine consortiums, like Asti and Moscato d’Asti, Vini d’Abruzzo, Vini delle Venezie, and FEDERDOC, the organization that represents them all. There are also wineries such as Castomni (of the former Fl driver, Jarno Trulli), Conte d’Attimis, Ricci Curbastro, Vinchio Vaglio Serra, Judeka or Borgo Salcetino (Livon), to name a few. Plus, Masterclasses, walk-around tasting and business-to-business meetings. The tour is in a part of America and the world where the Covid.19 pandemic is viewed with much less apprehension than in Italy, as Marina Nedi, in Miami, explained to WineNews. “Things are very different here compared to what you are hearing in Italy. There are practically no major restrictions in Florida and Texas, except for vaccines and swabs, to participate in some events and to travel to other States. People are being careful, but are no longer fearful. There is much less anxiety and we rely heavily on personal behavior, rather than on restrictive roles”.
Consequently, wine consumption, outside the home and beyond is soaring. “The sentiment is very positive, and wine consumption is galloping, though even here it looks like inflation is starting to grow as much or more than in Europe. The wine market is strong, though and America is back on track. As a matter of fact, some importers have been telling as that due to recent well-known logistics difficulties, they are struggling to fulfill all the requests and orders”.
Obviously, the Pandemic has had somewhat of an effect on the wine market, Marina Nedic explained, “we must keep in mind that each State here is autonomous. Above all, we must take into account that the number of importers has decreased because some of them, especially the smallest, have not survived the crisis, and consequently imports (and distribution) are increasingly concentrated. In any case, things have restarted, many importers are looking for new wineries to work with, there is a positive evolutionary phase, and, most importantly, the premium wine segment is continuing to grow, which is very important for Italy”. In addition to growing or consolidating in the US, Italy is also looking at new markets that have great potential. For instance, Mexico, where the “Simply Italian Great Wines Americas” tour will be visiting the metropolis, Mexico City, on February 22nd.