The Regions' exports in the first quarter of 2020: Veneto, Tuscany and Piedmont lead (and grow)

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency, exports of Italian wines have continued to be shipped to world markets, and, many sources confirmed (Vinitaly-Nomisma Observatory, the Italian Wine Union, and Confagricoltura assessments), that they have managed, at least in the first 3-4 months of 2020, to hold their own, despite the countless difficulties that lockdowns implemented in many countries have created. In some countries, where the on market, or Ho.Re.Ca is the prevalent channel of Italian wines, the situation has got worse, while in others, where Italian wines are predominant in large-scale distribution or Monopolies (as US and Canada data have shown), the impact was partially absorbed. Stability on foreign markets, at least in the first few months of 2020, has also been verified by the performances of the various Italian Regions that Istat registered and WineNews has examined.
In general, the FQ of 2020 showed that exports grew +6.2% (compared to the same period in 2019), reaching 1.5 billion euros. The Veneto Region’s wines, Prosecco, Amarone, Soave and Lugana, and others, has been confirmed the driving force of Italian exports, growing +7.4 for 542 million euros. It is ahead of the Tuscan wines Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Vernaccia, to mention the most famous standard bearers, which is the Region that has grown the most, +12.2%, for 246 million euros. In third place Piedmont’s wines, Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera d’Asti, Nizza, Gavi and Asti, Alta Langa and Roero, were substantially stable, at +1.4%, for 235 million euros.
The Trentino Alto Adige Region’s Teroldego and Trentodoc exported 132 million euros of wine (+3.2%) around the world, while the Emilia Romagna region’s Lambrusco and Sangiovese (+ 0.8%) grew to 75 million euros. In terms of value, the Lombardy Region suffered a dramatic fall to -14.3% and 59 million euros, and the Abruzzi Region fell 2% to 44 million euros. The leading wine regions of the South, instead, showed immense growth. Sicily’s wines, including its DOCs, Etna, Val di Noto, Vittoria and so on, grew a whopping + 33.6%, for 45 million euros, and Apulia’s wines Primitivo di Manduria and Salento, Nero di Troia and wines of Castel del Monte grew +20.5% for 44 million euros. Friuli Venezia Giulia’s Collio and Friulano also grew, + 6.9%, and Marche’s Verdicchio and Rosso Conero registered + 5.9% growth. Further, Lazio’s wines grew (+ 6%), as did the Marche (+ 5.9%), Campania (+35%) and Basilicata’s (+6.2%). The trend was negative for Sardinia (-5.1%), Calabria (-7.7%), Molise (-1.2%), Umbria (7.9%), and Valle d’Aosta (-18.1%).
This, then, is the state of the art ISTAT has described, during a phase that the Pandemic influenced only partly, and where the initial drive linked to fears of new tariffs in the US, as well as Brexit in the UK, which it is worth remembering, pushed two of the major Italian wine markets to quickly unload stock. It is not necessarily a “Waterloo”, therefore, but then again it is not a triumph either. Now, everyone is waiting for data of the second quarter of the year, when a large part of the world that had been mostly inactive in April and May 2020 started up again, and accounts at hand, in these past few weeks, has slowly, and with great effort begun opening up.