Prosecco DOC breaks record again in 2021: over 627 million certified bottles

Even though the challenges seemed unending, 2021 was a year of recovery for Italian wine - according to estimates it is projected towards a record 7 billion euros in exports - as many company financial statements have shown, as well as the “territories”. Prosecco DOC Consortium is no exception. The territory, in the last several years, has been the driving force of the growth of Italian wine, and has become the most consumed sparkling wine in the world. And, in 2021, it topped the 600 million bottle quota, growing + 25.4% compared to 2020, according to the Consortium, led by Stefano Zanette, based on Valoritalia data, the leading Italian wine certification body. “To be more precise, we are talking about 627.5 million bottles of Prosecco DOC - explained a note - of which 71.5 million bottles in the Prosecco DOC Rosé version. However, the most interesting data is probably the one related to the increase of single bottle exports, which grew +4% in value, in US dollars”.
“After ten exhilarating years”, explained President Zanette, “our goal is to consolidate the success of the Denomination. This means planning the future of the entire supply chain, while paying very close attention to consumer needs, the territory and its communities, as well as actively involving the entire production system, and more”. The pillars upon which Zanette’s policy focuses, since his first mandate in 2012, have been established solidly on the theme of all around sustainability – environmental, economic and social - accompanied by the iron will to ensure that volume corresponded to a growth in values, and not only economic-wise.
Protection and promotion are the two major areas of action in which the Consortium functions. Together with the increase in notoriety of the name, favored by the joint promotional activity at the global level, there has also been an increase in attempts at imitation. Therefore, the battle against counterfeiting has become more and more challenging. “In terms of promotion”, Luca Giavi, General Manager, explained, “the commitment will be significant. It is a work of intertwining, as well as, I would dare to say, of translation into a language suitable for the general public, and of a set of values ​​that belongs to the territory. Furthermore, in both the Venetian as well as the Friuli Venezia Giulia communities we would like to know each other more and more deeply. Universal human values ​​such as immediacy, cordiality, conviviality, lightness, hospitality, are the qualities that consumers all over the world easily recognize in our products”. Thanks to the work that as been carried out consistently over the past ten years, the denomination has been able to conquer even the most severe critics, the attention of the most qualified International journalism and also the trust of International markets, where in the first three quarters of 2021 the export share has obtained a greatly satisfying + 30%.
“There is still a lot of work to be done”, president Zanette said. “We will be presenting what we could define as the 2030 Agenda of Prosecco DOC, very shortly. This is the important and essential work that awaits us to actively involve the entire production system towards a truly shared growth, paying close attention to consumers, the territory and its communities”. It is an ambitious plan that looks to the future with new stimuli and a new vision. The path, on the basis of a concrete plan, will allow the Prosecco DOC Consortium to involve as many players as possible.
Furthermore, it will continue to be the driving force of the “Prosecco system”. Overall, according to the Iain statistics agency, ISTAT data, updated in September 2021 that WineNews analyzed, the value of exports of Prosecco PDO (and therefore DOC, above all, but also DOCG Conegliano Valdobbiadene and Asolo) has reached 929.9 million euros, compared to 679 million euros in the first 9 months of 2020.