Vinitaly 2024, the “day by day” by WineNews: this is how Italian wine tells its story to the world

Wine is economy, a sector worth 14 billion euros in production and 7.8 billion in exports 2023, the first item in the Italian agri-food trade balance, which, at the close of the “cash quarterly”, looks, for the future, to the creation of a value chain that, at equal or higher quality, in the different price ranges and not only in fine wines, allows to overcome the gap with competitors; it is employment, with 530,000 companies and 870,000 workers in Italy alone; it is wine tourism, moving 14 million tourists for a turnover of 2.5 billion, from slow itineraries to luxury travel on the Orient Express, the train-myth (of the French group Accor) that, at the end of 2024, will take to Italian wine territories and, in the meantime, will “stop” at Vinitaly; it is beauty, as opera or Cinecittà have also represented it, making it a symbol of Made in Italy, to which the first National Day of Made in Italy is dedicated, which will also be celebrated in Verona (April 15); it is the “medium” of territories, because of the link it has with history, communities, culture and nature, which goes far beyond the “only” organoleptic characteristics in the goblet (so much so that Italy is the first in the world to include landscape among the criteria for evaluating and describing a wine); it is future, because it is always experimenting with new frontiers, such as Ai, artificial intelligence, from the vineyard to marketing. And, above all, wine, and its consumption, are part of our culture, as the works of art exceptionally exhibited once again at the fair, as in 2023, including 34 from Muvit-Museo del Vino of the Lungarotti Foundation in Torgiano, but not only, will testify. After reiterating all this to Europe, in Brussels at the EU Parliament, Vinitaly 2024 by Veronafiere is ready to tell the world about the “value” that the sector has for Italy, in edition no. 56 in Verona (April 14-17), which, as always, WineNews will follow “day by day” (once again, from the only “plural” region of Italy: Marche). Starting with “OperaWine”, the prologue with the tasting of 131 Italian producers selected by “Wine Spectator” (April 13, Gallerie Mercatali), and with “forays” to “Vinitaly and the City”, the off-site event dedicated to wine lovers in the city.
A value recognized to the sector by the Italian government, with Premier Giorgia Meloni expected at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and with the presence of Ministers of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, Culture Gennario Sangiuliano, Tourism Daniela Santanchè and Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini (so far, after the record number of politicians at Vinitaly 2023, and with the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, doing the “honors” as always, ed.) From the transposition of the EU directive on no- and low-alcohol wines (whose market, in Europe alone, is projected to rise from $9.4 billion in 2023 to $16.8 in 2032) and mandatory nutrition labeling, at the national level, to the many open issues for Italian wine in Europe(where the sector is worth 130 billion GDP, thanks to a 45 billion turnover, to which Italian wine contributes one-third), starting with the crackdown on alcohol advertising proposed by Belgium on the wave of growing healthism (after, and worse, of Ireland’s health warnings on labels, and while Canada has modified its food guidelines, limiting alcohol consumption to two glasses a week, and the US is considering similar changes, with revised guidelines scheduled for 2025), the revision of the CAP, promotion in various respects, and the implementation of PDO and PGI reform, and which add up to ongoing conflicts, struggling markets and consumption, and climate change, are just some of the issues that will be discussed at Vinitaly (with 4,000 confirmed wineries from all the Italian reasons, and from more than 30 nations, from France to South Africa, from Georgia to Armenia, and on to China).
It will be discussed, above all, with government representatives from 30 of the world’s most important wine countries at the “Wine Ministerial Meeting”, the first International Interministerial Wine Conference, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and the OIV-International Vine and Wine Organization, which, from Franciacorta, will take them to “Opera Wine” and Vinitaly (April 12-17). And just to reiterate how wine consumption is for Italy, and for the world, culture, the Muvit-Museo del Vino of the Lungarotti Foundation in Torgiano, which turns 50 in 2024, pioneeringly founded in 1974 by Giorgio and Maria Grazia Lungarotti, will exhibit at Vinitaly (but not for the first time, ed.) with the Ministry, 34 works-of the more than 3. 000 that tell 5,000 years of history and make it “the best wine museum in Italy” according to the “New York Times” (as we reported in WineNews), giving everyone the chance to learn about a collection of evidence ranging from the 3rd millennium B.C. to Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Renato Guttuso and Gio Ponti.
Admiring them, and representing the world, at Vinitaly will also be the 1,200 top-buyers from 65 countries, a record (thanks to a direct investment by Ice-Agenzia and Veronafiere of 3 million euros, at +20% over 2023 and +70% over 2022), worth 95% of Italian wine exports, and joined by 30,000 foreign operators from over 140 nations. The largest contingent will be from the U.S., the most important market for Italian wine, followed by three strategic non-EU markets such as Canada, China and the United Kingdom. At the macro-region level, the largest audience will come from North America and Europe, followed by Asia and Oceania, Eastern Europe, Central and South America and Africa. But there will also be major international trade magazines, from “Wine Spectator” to “Wine Enthusiast”, from “Decanter” to “Vinum”, from “Meininger” to “Revjia Vino”, from “Gilbert & Gaillard” to “Iwsc” and “Falstaff”.
This a confirmation of the great appetite for Italy in the world - where, looking to the end of 2024, wine "sales" are expected to touch $353.4 billion for consumption, driven by still wines, despite the exploit of bubbles - thanks also to Italian wine.