One out of three Italians abstain from alcohol, but those who drink choose quality. An Astra Ricerche survey for the Valpolicella Consortium: the average consumer lives in wealthier provinces, is between ages 25 and 44, navigates on the Internet, and is a

One out of three Italians - above all students between the ages of 18 and 24, housewives, and southern residents - completely abstain from drinking wine. Almost half of the remaining 67% are occasional drinkers, another ten is made up of people who drink regularly but not on a daily basis, and the remaining 40% drink wine every day, and, often times, more than once a day. These statistic were the result of the survey titled “Italians and Valpolicella Wines” conducted by Astra Ricerche Consortium for the Tutelage of Valpolicella Wines.

The analysis, which took place in the third week of January 2006 and included 1,001 phone interviews with a representative sample of the adult Italian population (equivalent to 47 million residents 18 years and over) established that the average consumer lives in wealthier Italian provinces, prevalently in urban not metropolitan areas, is between the ages of 25 and 44 (the group most interested in wine consumption, as well as spending capacity), navigates the Internet, and is a strong influencer (in marketing terms meaning that their choices are trend setting).

Italians prefer to drink wine at home (in 60% of cases), followed by lunch and dinner in restaurants, trattorias, and pizzerias (38%). Consumption in wine bars and enotecas (9%), and as an aperitif or after dinner (3%) closes out the bottom of this particular classification.

Italians prefer red wine (76%), and light wine fans (57%) outnumber more robust wine enthusiasts (37%). Still wines (53%) are preferred to bubbly wines (38%), just as rounded and pleasant wines (50%) are more popular than dry (47%) and sweet wines (also 47%).

The demand remains high for quality wines, particular producers, and specific regions: 63% of consumers strongly prefer wines with Doc and Igt seals, not just as guarantees of territorial origin but also as a certification of quality. Only a third of those interviewed (34%) affirmed that they preferred just one type of label, while more prefer wines from their own regions (58%). The most popular red wines among Italians are primarily produced in Tuscany and Umbria (43%), followed by Piedmont (39%), Veneto (32%), and Sicily (30%).

The study reserved a special section for Veronese red wines: 43% of adult consumers know at least a little about these products, but only a fourth of these consumers consider them trendy and in fashion. Working in favor of these products are their long tradition (almost 60%), their easy coupling with traditional Italian foods, their Doc and Igt seals (55%), as well as other noted seals (49%), their easy accessibility guaranteed by the optimum molecular distribution (53%), the connotations of these light and digestible wines (50%), as well as the smooth, round and pleasant flavors (48%), and characteristics that are not overwhelming (42%).