Wine, positive sentiment for the end of 2021 and 2022. The word by “Istituto Grandi Marchi”

The end of the year is approaching with a positive sentiment for the world of wine, comforted by the numbers (with the domestic market recovering in catering and continue to grow in retail distribution by 9% over 2020 in the first half of 2021, and with the export that, in the first half of 2021, soars to 15,8% (at the same period of last year) and +10% on 2019 records, and with the conviction that “in 2022 we will be able to field all our recourses”, thus leaving behind the period of “substantial “physical inactivity”, but which has seen, however, the birth and take-off of important projects and initiatives (among others , the “Challenge among the Wines”, the chefs “Taste in Challenge” and creation of the “Gruppo Giovani”). Thus the Istituto Grandi Marchi, which brings together 18 of the most important realities of Italian wine (Alois Lageder, Antinori, Argiolas, Ca del Bosco, Carpenè Malvolti, Chiarlo, Col d'Orcia, Donnafugata , Folonari, Jermann, Lungarotti, Masi, Mastroberardino, Pio Cesare, Rivera, Tasca d'Almerita, Tenu ta San Guido and Umani Ronchi) and its president Pietro Mastroberardino yesterday greeted the end of a dark period and celebrated the resumption of activities in Rome in the monumental Palazzo Rospigliosi.
“The Institute’s activities have never stopped - said Mastroberardino - there was a strong commitment of thoughts and projection. Above all, I believe that the most beautiful initiative we have done in recent months has been the establishment of the “Gruppo Giovani”, a varied group that brings together thirty-years-old who know the market, bite the brake and want to take off and very young people who approach our world yet timidly". "This group - emphasized Mastroberardino - is the expression of the multigenerational wine families and the desire that they have for the future perspective".
If the pandemic has strongly reduced the activity of the world of wine and of the producers associated with the Istituto Grandi Marchi, Mastroberadino underlined to the Winenews, the sector, however, has shown that it has solid foundations, a strong ability to react and self-motivation, despite everything: “our companies have been able, some maybe better others worse, to reorient themselves in this difficult phase. They have reconsidered the e-commerce side, they realized the importance of also opening a direct connection channel also with the consumer and not only with business to business. They have made many transformations which, in my opinion, have produced many positive effects, and are a good foundation for the months to come. In the new year we are convinced that we will be able to start at full dimension with the international activities. With 2022 we are happy to be able to put all our resources back into the game”. Regarding the possible entry of new wineries into the prestigious Istituto Grandi Marchi, Mastroberardino noted to WineNews, as “at the moment there are no other openings of the group planned, in any case when opportunities arise, we confront each other internally and evaluate it between ourselves. For the moment we will think about restarting the activities first and then we will see”. Meanwhile, returning to the events in attendance, there is also the initiative of the Grandi Marchi Institute “Il Gusto nella Sfida”, where 18 wines selected by each producer were provided as assistance to the great chefs to create a matching dish and present it on the web, it now moves from social channels, where, moreover, it has been very successful, to 18 restaurants protagonists of the challenge. And on November 18 the final of “Il Gusto nella Sfida” Night will be celebrated, with the dinner in the interested restaurants located in the various regions of Italy where the proposed combinations can finally be served on the table.
“Il Gusto nella Sfida” - explained Mastroberardino - is an initiative born on social media to make the world of wine feel very close to the world of catering that has paid a very high price during the pandemic: each of us producers of the Istituto Grandi Marchi identified a wine and challenged a chef to create a matching dish. We started on the web because it couldn’t be done in other way. A communication plan was therefore created through social media, the idea was then to be able to do it in person and so we will be able to celebrate our wines and connected dishes on November 18 in 18 great restaurants throughout Italy. The dishes created by the chefs will be collected in the quantity that will serve to remember this beautiful moment of new opening and to emphasize once again the importance of catering for our sector”.
The event at Palazzo Rospigliosi, organized by the Grandi Marchi institute, was also an opportunity to assign the Wine Communication Award (edition n.2) to Jens Priewe, a German journalist expert in wine, with a particular focus on Italian reality. While receiving the award, Priewe declared his love for Italy and his philosophy in approaching the world of wine: “not only do I love Italy and Italian wines - he said - but I try to understand them, you have to understand the idea of the background behind it”. “In addition to giving marks, scores, bunches and so on - added Priewe - the important thing is to understand what the producer wants to convey, this is my idea of wine journalism, I don’t just want to taste the wines but also understand them”. Precisely this profound approach to the reality of producers and their wines motivated the awarding of the Prize, explained Piero Mastroberardino, observing that cataloging a bottle of wine only with a score or a symbol, “is truly arid and reductive, our world goes fully behind the bottle and that behind must step on the stage, behind a wine there is the ability and the will of creation from a producer that must be interpreted and transmitted, for this reason our award goes to those who have made an extra effort in transmission of a message that goes to the roots of our professional commitment ”.
“Gruppo Giovani” of the Grandi Marchi, established in July 2021, is also ready to restart and finally hold meetings in attendance. The enthusiasm of the wineries is great, “there is a desire to get to know each other, to discuss and to better examine into the reality of the sector,” explains to Winenews Federica Rosy Boffa Pio, 23, leader of the historic Barolo winery “Pio Cesare” and president of the Gruppo Giovani. “The Gruppo Giovani was born - explains Boffa - because we realized that there was a very strong young soul and, above all, as a response to the inactivity phase during the pandemic. President Mastroberardino turned to us asking what kind of activities we were planning to do, especially on social networks, to stay in contact with the public: we therefore created the “Il Gusto nella Sfida” format with a view to uniting the interest in cooking developed in the pandemic with the desire to taste and thus launching an invitation to try our wines. The group has gradually expanded among the families of producers and today has members ranging from 35 to 14 years old. We will also act as an incubator for the future entrepreneurs ...”.