The drop of Italian wine on the shelves of the US, Germany and the Uk in the first half of 2022

A contraction that affects all the main denominations of Italy: in the USA, Pinot Grigio - which represents almost half of the sales of still wines - drops by almost 3% in volume and is exceeded in value by the New Zealand competitors of Sauvignon Blanc. Other historical standard bearers of Made in Italy in the stars and stripes market are also in difficulty, such as Lambrusco and Chianti, which respectively sell 16% and 11% less than the bottles marketed in 2021.

And if in the US Prosecco is stable and is preparing to approaches Californian sparkling wines by volume, in the UK off trade it is reported to be in sharp decline (-18%), as well as all the main productions: from Pinot grigio (-9%) to Sangiovese (-22%), from Primitivo (-18%) to Montepulciano (-15%). In contrast to the trend are the rosé wines, which accelerate to + 12%. In Germany Primitivo, king of Italian sales, give up over 9% of the volumes purchased, while Pinot Grigio (-18%), Nero d’Avola (-24%) and Chianti (-19%) do even worse. On the other hand, Grillo (+ 6.5%) and rosé wines (+ 9%) go against the trend.

For the general secretary of Unione Italiana Vini, Paolo Castelletti, “There is a significant delta between the export data recorded at the start of the year and the actual consumption found in organized distribution which - it should be remembered - in the top 3 markets on average accounts for about 70% of the total sales of imported wine. The fear is that the contraction in consumption will lead to a slowdown in orders in the coming months, even more so when the weight of inflation will also be felt more clearly on foreign shelves, while it is hoped that the catering channel, in sharp rise, will be able to mitigate as much as possible the effect of a conjuncture that does not help”.