To James Suckling the “international award” of Istituto del Vino Italiano di Qualità Grandi Marchi

After Burton Anderson, Jens Priewe and Monica Larner, top names in international wine journalism focused on Italian wine, now it is another No. 1 like James Suckling, a longtime signature, for many years at “Wine Spectator” and then become a reference point, especially in Asia, with his jamessuckling.com, to receive the “International Award” given by Istituto del Vino Italiano di Qualità Grandi Marchi. That now, with the entry of another prestigious name such as Tenuta San Leonardo of the Guerrieri Gonzaga family in Trentino, brings together 18 wineries such as Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari Tenute, Antinori, Argiolas, Col d’Orcia, Ca’ del Bosco, Carpenè Malvolti, Donnafugata, Jermann, Lungarotti, Masi, Mastroberardino, Michele Chiarlo, Pio Cesare, Rivera, Tasca d’Almerita, Tenuta San Guido, Tenuta San Leonardo and Umani Ronchi, which, together, express a turnover of 600 million euros (4.3% of the total turnover of Italian wine in 2022), more than 55% of which is abroad with a value of 350 million euros (4.4% of the total export share of Italian wine in 2022).
“James Suckling has represented for years an essential point of reference in sector communication - explained Piero Mastroberardino, president of Istituto Grandi Marchi - to the point of being placed, by an important publication such as “Forbes”, in the elite of the most influential wine critics in the world. Our award wants to be precisely a recognition of his activity as a popularizer of quality wines in general and of Italian wines and the territories that these wines express in particular. A commitment, his, absolutely in line with the mission that the Istituto del Vino Italiano di Qualità Grandi Marchi has been pursuing since its foundation and which is based on promoting the best of our production to international markets”.
A “cantor” of Italy’s great wine in the world, James Suckling, according to whom, as he explained in an interview with WineNews, which will be online tomorrow, “Italian wine still has many opportunities to seize in Asian markets, which are many and diverse. China is a difficult market, but others like Thailand, Japan, and Singapore give great opportunities. Seoul, in South Korea, in 10 years will be the most important city for the wine trade”, Suckling said. Who, for some time now, has also bought a vineyard in New Zealand. And that if he were to invest in Italy, he said, he would do so in Sicily, “which is a beautiful region, not only if you talk about Etna, but also Vittoria and Noto, for example, and grape varieties like Nero d’Avola and Frappato that I like very much. I’m looking around, we’ll see ....”.