The US is key today, tomorrow it will be China, say top names of “Italia del Vino”

Italian wine is healthy, at least for the first part of 2019, although the domestic market is showing only feeble signs of recovery. The world wine scenario is becoming more and more complex while competition is stronger and stronger, linked mainly to overcrowding of brands on the shelf on historical markets, from America to Europe. And, we must make up for lost time in Asia and especially in China, to which we must add the dynamics that go beyond the wine market, like Brexit and trade wars regarding duties. We also know that moving together, as a team of companies and not only, is helpful to everyone. There is still a lot to invest on markets that to date, have made Italian wine successful the world over: the USA, Canada, Germany and the UK. Then there is the great promise for the future of Italian wine, still up in the air, “hovering between dream and reality”, which is China. These are the sentiments that a very special “observatory” comprised of wine producers and managers expressed, which WineNews interviewed. The organization is Italia del Vino Consorzio, which has united 21 of the leading names in Italian wine (counting over 2.500 employees): Castello Banfi in Bisol 1542, Cà Maiol, Cantina Mesa, Cantine Lunae, Casa Vinicola Sartori, Di Majo Norante, Drei Donà, Duca di Salaparuta, Ferrari Fratelli Lunelli, Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV), Librandi, Marchesi di Barolo, Medici Ermete & Figli, Ronchi di Manzano, Santa Margherita Vinicolo Group, Terre de La Custodia, Terredora di Paolo, Torrevento to Zonin1821 and the brand new entry Zaccagnini, announced, in Rome, at the organization’s 10 year anniversary celebration. The group totals production of over 180 million bottles of wine, 11.000 hectares of vineyards, and more than 1.2 billion euros in total turnover, 10% of the entire Italian exports, and is present on over 80 markets globally. It is a prestigious group of entrepreneurs and managers – the front runners of the “Italian lifestyle” wineries, able, better than many studies, to understand the sentiments of the wine markets, in Italy and all over the world, and able to indicate the road for the sector to grow again.