ITALY PRODUCES MORE WINE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY. SO WHAT? THE ANALYSIS OF AN ALLEGED TRIUMPH SAYS EVERYTHING AND NOTHING. FRANCE PRODUCES LESS BUT EARNS ALMOST TWICE IN EXPORTS, EVEN IF ITALY “STEALS” A FEW MARKET SHARES...

Well done, you produced more wine in 2010, but the value of our exports is almost twice as much. This is the French response to the (yet another) news that Italy has produced more wine than France, certified by Coldiretti, by the data from the European Commission (49.6 million hectoliters Italy, 46.2 France) and by the newspaper “Le Figaro”, which said that the value of French exports is 6.33 billion euros, compared to Italian exports at 3.93 billion euros.
Who should be cheering, then? Everybody and nobody, probably. The record production for Italy means little or nothing, if the average price per liter stays the same or increases very slightly, if vineyards are explanted to reduce production, if we ask crisis distillation because no one knows where to put surplus wine. On the other hand it is true that Italian exports are growing in value and volume, especially in the U.S., and they are also gaining market shares, often at the expense of France. Therefore, since consumers cannot drink ad infinitum, if they drink a few more bottles of maybe less expensive Made in Italy wine and a few less French, it certainly will not hurt. Nevertheless, it is wrong to announce victories, like many do (not everyone), giving the impression that, in one fell swoop, the myriad problems of the Italian wine world have been resolved.

Some producers prefer not to comment on what they called a “non news”, because what counts when compared to a competitor is whether you have been able to “steal” the market, whether your promotion has worked better and so on. Other producers have been nicer, but not at all enthusiastic, like Joseph Liberatore, Director of the Consortium of Chianti Classico, one of the biggest names in Italy and export-oriented: “I do not share the emphasis put on this news: production is important, but sales and profits are more important and from this point of view, the French are still ahead of us. However, it has given us the sense of being a great producing country, which relies on a product that is positive for food and agriculture GDP, and therefore must be protected and supported for its value in the working world. And if it is true that sometimes we’re gaining market share, especially in the United States, we must consider that the French in recent years have moved their target and recovered much of what they had lost in the Western world, thanks to Asia. Their numbers in China today are positive and still developing because they implemented a certain kind of policy: they introduced very powerful retail chains such as Carrefour and Auchan, which have penetrated the market heavily and are showing excellent results. Our exports in the world are consolidated and are “stealing” some market shares in the West, but we have to work hard, respecting fair competition, to do the same in Asia”. And, not just play the game of who produces more wine.