RECORD WINE EXPORTS IN 2011: OVER 4 BILLION EUROS BOOSTS ITALIAN WINE, ESPECIALLY MAJOR TERRITORIES - LANGHE, VALPOLICELLA, CHIANTI CLASSICO REGION, MONTALCINO AND MONTEPULCIANO

Four billion euros in value, 14% more than in 2010: this is the record figure of Italian wine exports in 2011, the year the crisis came back with a bang, making it the single most important sector of national food exports. The data, analyzed by Coldiretti, the Italian farmers association, comes from a study on foreign trade conducted by Istat, Italy’s Institute of Statistics, for the first 9 months of 2011.
And if the U.S. - where exports grew 17% in value over 2010 - represents about a quarter of the business, Germany is still the leader country in the EU, with 13% growth that makes it the destination of 50% of all Italian wines cross the borders. Great performances also come from Asian countries, China in the lead, where exports almost doubled (+87%). The nationwide result has been confirmed by the sentiments of some of Italy’s most important Consortiums.
“We don’t have any definitive data yet,” Andrea Ferrero, Manager of the Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe Roero Consortium, told Winenews, “but exports, the destination of 60 to 70% of our total production, mainly for Barolo and Barbaresco, went well and the signals are also good for 2012, since data on wine bottling is growing at a two-figure rate”. “80% of our production goes abroad,” Olga Bussinello, President of the Consortium of Valpolicella wines, explains, “with great results, particularly for Amarone. And on the plus side, smaller and younger producers are also able to get a foot in the door on Asian or East European markets now”.
“Exports in 2011 went well with an increase compared to 2010,” explains Stefano Campatelli, Manager of the Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino, “and even 2012 seems to have started really well. We are at 78% of production for foreign exports and if we grew in 2011, we owe it to exports,” says Giuseppe Liberatore, Manager of the Consortium of Chianti Classico. Paolo Solini, Manager of the Consortium of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, says good tidings are in store for their members as well: “2011 was a very good year, even though it wasn’t a record one, and exports reached remarkable figures”.