Prosecco is the king of summer, Pinot Grigio conquers Canada, Moscato d’Asti China

Prosecco is the undisputed king of summer, not only in Italy, with production increasing by 25.4% in 2021 and a further +17.8% of bottled wine in the first four months of 2022, and exports rising to 27% over 2020. Its success is widely confirmed in the United States, where it seems to be following an unstoppable growth, accompanied by an increasing focus on the choice of premium labels. According to data from the Prosecco Consortium, overseas shipments have reached 98.2 million euros in sales; a growth that did not stop even during the pandemic, registering on the contrary an increase in production value. This is said by the Observatory on data regarding wine preferences in the hottest months edited by Edoardo Freddi International, an Italian export management company in the wine sector that selects producers and wineries in Italy to build brands for export around the world, which collaborates with realities such as St. Michael-Eppan, Marchesi di Barolo, Feudi di San Gregorio, Librandi, Cantine del Notaio and Castello di Cigognola, to name a few.
Pinot Grigio, on the other hand, is one of the most popular grape varieties, and is confirmed as the most popular appellation in Canada, a country that increasingly prefers organic, vegan, orange and sustainable wines. Remaining among the whites, Doc Lugana is in great demand in Germany, while Moscato d’Asti is very popular in China. The latter label, along with Asti Spumante, has broken through the 100 million-bottle production mark, an 11% increase over 2020. According to Xinhua News, the leading news agency in China, China’s low-alcohol beverage market was already worth RMB 20 billion ($3 billion) in 2020 and is expected to grow to RMB 74.2 billion ($11 billion) by 2025. Moscato, in this sense, reflects the tastes of the new generations and, in particular, the female audience, who prefer low-alcohol beverages. Falanghina, among the most nationally and internationally liked wines from Campania, holds a place of honor in Japan. Thanks to its pronounced acidity and aromatic complexity, it fits current wine trends, as shown by the 60% increase in export share over the past 5 years, along with Campania’s Taurasi and Greco di Tufo.
Moving into the red wine category, Nero d’Avola, an expression of an authentic Mediterranean character, is particularly popular in South Korea. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, South Korea’s fiscal organization run by the Ministry of Economy, the country imported $560 million worth of wines in 2021, up by 70% from 2020. This is the first time South Korea’s wine import has surpassed the $500 million mark. This increase goes hand in hand with Korean consumers’ growing passion for still wines-particularly reds with hints of fruit, simple taste, and higher residual sugar concentration-with 55% of purchases.