The head of Italy’s wine trade body has called on the country’s producers to diversify their export marketplaces after total shipments to the five primary markets plunged in 2023: the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Japan and Canada account for about 56% of Italian wine exports combined.

Republished from 06 April 2023,

Vinitaly 2023 ended with successful numbers and a positive feeling of renewed business impulse for Italian wine at home and abroad. This is a sign of recovery from years of Covid crisis.  Quantitative data is as follows: 93,000 total attendance, of which 29,600 foreigners, according to Veronafiere (Vinitaly’s organising structure), with a +20% increase in the number of foreign buyer entries, over 2022, from 143 countries).

Exposers and organisers were satisfied by the influx of buyers and professional visitors, both foreign and Italian.  National sales represent a share of the total market that, often obscured by export successes, remains the most important, overall.

“We closed Vinitaly 2023 in full swing, with choral participation from operators, institutions and media. We are particularly satisfied with the feedback we are getting from companies and terroirs, which represent the real strength of this event”, said Veronafiere president Federico Bricolo. He added: “the goal is to build a permanent and coordinated promotional platform with institutional partners, capable of attracting incoming investment in Italy and simultaneously on Italian wine exports abroad cantered on Veronafiere, with new impulse in Brazil, China, United States, Japan, South Korea and the Far East”.

“The investments made in favour of foreign attendance”, said Veronafiere CEO Maurizio Danese, “have given a first concrete result to a Vinitaly expo that we want to be increasingly decisive for the business of exhibitors who set aside significant resources for the event. A supply-demand matching that has worked, as demonstrated also by the more than 11,000 appointments planned between exhibitors and buyers on the Vinitaly Plus platform, which are in addition to those set directly between companies and buyers. The new course has begun but it is certainly not over: Vinitaly”, Danese concluded, “will always be the carrier of wine Made in Italy, both here and abroad, in terms of development of the sector and its companies, and this is what we are trying to do”.

The top five countries of foreign attendance are: the United States well ahead of Germany. Third remains the United Kingdom, while China returns to fourth position, bypassing Canada. Notwithstanding the general growth of the European market, we note the great return of operators from all non-EU markets: Asia, which more than doubled (+116%) driven by the return of the Chinese who exceeded 1,000 presences, and Japan (+143%). The Americas marked +38% with exploits from the US (+45%) and Brazil (+46%), as well as further consolidation from Canada (+19%). Australia also in triple digits, at +130%.

After the main expo in Verona, “Vinitaly China” will opened soon, in Chengdu (April 11) the first event organized by the subsidiary Wine to Asia – with one of the most influential platforms dedicated to wine in China: “Wine Sommelier”.  Masterclasses with the only Chinese master sommelier Yang LV in addition to a business forum.  Vinitaly will then fly to Shenzhen, on April 14, in the Italian Pavilion of the Hainan Government Fair, for a tasting and presentation of Italy at “Wine to Asia” (May 11-13), together with !Ice Agenzia and Fondazione Altagamma”. In Shenzhen, at Veronafiere’s international event, attendance is expected at more than 450 exhibitors from 20 countries.

Finally, please note that Vinitaly 2024 will be staged from April 14 to 17 in Verona next year.

Adverse weather events damaged vinegrowing activities across Europe, paricularly in France.  There, hail storms severely hit Meursault and Mercurey, with on average around 10 to 20 percent damage) and the Côte Chalonnaise further south (an initial estimation of 50 percent damage to the Chardonnay and 20 percent to the Pinot Noir at Château de Chamirey in Mercurey, for instance).  Moreover, following recent heatwaves, numerous regions in central and eastern France were hit by thunderstorms, with hail reported (beyond Burgundy) in the Massif Central and heavy rainfall, hail and power cuts Jura and Alsace.

Still in France, a much-discussed mildew outbreaks affected Bordeaux, threatening production.  Bordeaux continues to be plagued with high humidity and heavy mildew pressure – as has Bergerac, the South West (in particular Irouléguy, with parts of Jurançon also hit), Languedoc and even Provence.  The head of the FDSEA (National Federation of Farmers) Union in Bordeaux, Jean-Samuel Eynard, told wine news website Vitisphere.com this week that: “The situation is truly catastrophic” and that “In 40 years in the industry, I’ve never seen the like.”

In Bergerac, the head of the Federation of Bergerac and Duras Winegrowers organisation told regional newspaper Sud-Ouest: “We’ve been at war [with mildew] for two months and we’ve lost”.

Piedmont (Italy) was hit with hail in early July after a supercell storm broke just southeast of Turin, hitting parts of Roero and Asti on a northwest-southeast line across Alba. Reports indicated that the likes of Barbaresco, Neive and Alba itself were hit although the damage varies from commune to commune.  “We received reports of hail the size of tennis balls and extensive damage to crops,” Alberto Cirio, president of the Piedmont Region, told regional news station TGR Piemonte. Other reports said hail the size of walnuts had damaged crops and vines in the region. Europe isn’t alone. Wildfire season has also hit California although fires there are, so far, confined to the Central Valley region and its eastern hillside (the Sierra Foothills) and appear to be some distance from vineyards.

Bordeaux’s Entre-deux-Mers wine region has been cheated out of €43,000 ($48,000) after payment for a bulk shipment of wine glasses for a tasting event went through a scam email.

According to regional newspaper Sud-Ouest, the scam only came to light at a general meeting of the Entre-deux-Mers winegrowers union in which its president, David Labat, revealed the region had been duped out of the cash several months ago.

“We’re trying to talk to our bank in an effort to retrieve some of the funds but it is not going well,” Labat reportedly said.

It’s understood the culprit was located in the Rhône-Alpes region of southeast France although they remain at large.

“Luckily, the wine region known for its whites is not in the red,” said Sud-Ouest.

Contract grape prices in Rioja are causing worry in the region with some growers being offered 40 cents ($0.45) per kilo – a figure that, one prominent Rioja Alta winery reportedly said, would not cover the cost of pruning.

According to local Rioja news outlet Nuevecuatrouno.com, some wineries were offering prices of “52 or 55 cents per kilo of grapes and some cooperatives are trialing 50 cents with a first payment of 15 cents”. Reports of prices of 40 cents per kilo had one unnamed winery up in arms.

The source said: “This is a disaster,… at that price not even the pruning costs are covered. And then there is talk of wanting to make quality wines and for Rioja to recover its value.”

The uproar comes in the midst of the region’s move to distill excess wine stocks (in line with approval from Brussels and similar efforts in Spain and France) and a green harvesting initiate to reduce yields. For more on this see Rioja Glut Prompts Distillation Bid and Extremadura requests crisis distillation in New Rosé Good for the Gut.

Last week it was announced that the Rioja region would receive €15 million ($167m) in aid for the wine sector this year with a further €17 million available in 2024.

In the largest ever genetic analysis of grapevine varieties, including samples from previously undocumented specimens in private collections, researchers provide new insights into how, when, and where wine and table grapevines were domesticated, which has been a longstanding question. “This work represents a major international collaborative effort, challenging to do in any circumstances but especially so given that we conducted it during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns,” said author Wei Chen, who will also participate in an embargoed briefing on this study this week.

Even though wine and grapes are very important culturally, when wine and table grapevines were domesticated, and where, has been difficult to confirm. This is largely because there haven’t been sufficiently wide genetic sequencing analyses on grapevine varieties. As a result, there are several standing hypotheses in the literature that remain uncertain. For example, researchers have thought the cultivated wine grapevine (Vitis vinifera) had a single domestication in Western Asia, from which all wine varieties stemmed, and that it happened before the advent of agriculture. They’ve also thought wine grapevines were cultivated before table grape grapevines. Now, a study by Yang Dong and colleagues pushes back on both ideas. Based on vast grapevine genetic data studied, their report shows there were two domestication events for the cultivated wine grapevine in two distinct places – Western Asia and the Caucasus region – separated during the last glacial advance. “Despite being separated by over 1000 [kilometers], the two domestication processes appear to have occurred contemporaneously with a high degree of shared signatures of selection on the same genes,” writes Robin Allaby in a related Perspective. What’s more, they showed that these domestication events took place 11,000 years ago – in line with the advent of farming, and about 4,000 years later than some studies have shown. The genetic data also suggest that wine and table grapes were cultivated at the same time – not the wine grapevine first. The authors also identify some genes involved in domesticating grapes – improving flavor and color and texture – that could help winemakers improve wine today and make varieties more resilient to climate change and other stresses. Among their findings, they uncover more about the genetics underlying white grape color, and the ancient muscat flavor; at least one allele underlying muscat flavor may be detrimental to plant health, they say.

To do this work, Dong and colleagues generated a high-quality chromosome level reference genome of wild grapevine progenitor Vitis sylvestris. They then re-sequenced more than 3,000 individual grapevine plant samples collected from wide geographic locations – including from wild locations and from private collections. “Our collaborators reached out to their connections and looked for old and local varieties,” said Chen. “For instance, a lot of the Armenia [samples] from old vineyards turned out to be undocumented varieties.” The multimedia related to this paper includes videos from several international collaborators reflecting on the study’s process and significance.

From 19 January to 23 February 2023 Vinitaly the main trade fair in the world for Italian wine production will promote itself travelling to 9 countries (12 cities, 13 stages in 3 continents: Europe, Asia and North America) which together cover two-thirds of Italy’s total wine exports.

The first stage is scheduled on 19 January in Rust (Austria) followed by Princeton (USA) on 23 January, New York (USA) 24-25 January, and Copenhagen (Denmark) also on 24 January. The calendar for February includes appointments in Chicago (USA, 2 February), Munich (Germany, 6 February), Brussels (Belgium, 7 February), Zurich (Switzerland, 8 February), London (UK, 8 February) and Cardiff (UK, 9 February). The month closes with appointments in Tokyo (Japan, 21 February) and Seoul (South Korea, 23 February), again in collaboration with institutions, the ICE-Trade Agency and the chamber of commerce system.

The 9 countries selected by Vinitaly for promotional missions cover two-thirds of the value and volume of Italian wine exports in 2022 (cumulative data as of September). According to the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory, more than 10.5 million hectolitres were shipped (-2% compared to the corresponding period 2021), worth 3.8 billion euros (+10%). In terms of value, the USA is the leading market for Italian wine (1.4 billion euros, again in September 2022, with a 25% share of total wine sector turnover in the world), followed by Germany (851 million euros, 6% and a 15% share) and the UK (10% share, 581 million euro, with 15% growth). These three markets combined represent half the total value/volume of Italian wine exported worldwide. In general, between sparkling, semi-sparkling and bottled still wines, the latter still take the lion’s share of the 9 markets: values above 70% of the share by volume were posted in Germany, Korea, Japan and Switzerland, with a peak of 90% in Denmark. Sparkling wine gained ground over still wines in the USA (33% against 60%), but above all in the UK (43% against 55%), Belgium (38% against 59%) and Austria (31% against 46%). The highest percentages for semi-sparkling wines were posted in Austria (23% of total) and Germany (15%). On adding up the values for these 9 markets, the Observatory indicates that still wines cover 64% of export volumes, sparkling wines 28% and the rest (8%) for semi-sparkling wines.

The 55th Vinitaly (scheduled at Veronafiere 2-5 April 2023) will combine the international incoming project with a homeland tour of the main Italian wine producing companies – promises to be even more strategic in terms of business, especially through innovations linked to direct company-buyer B2B meetings, as well as an enhanced “Taste and Buy” event, with operators identified by Veronafiere’s international network of delegates in collaboration with companies. Special emphasis is also given to the digital format of the “Vinitaly Plus” platform to consolidate business relationships throughout the year; it also provides a personal agenda for meetings between buyers and producers during the event itself.

2022 ended in  sorrow for Italian wine industry with the death, at 91 years of age, of Francesca Colombini Cinelli, the celebrated “Lady of Brunello” in Montalcino.

After the death of her father Giovanni in 1976, she took the reins as director of her family’s historic Fattoria dei Barbi winery and farm in Montalcino. Under her leadership, the property became one of the first major Italian producers of fine wines to ship their wines beyond Italy’s borders. She envisioned an international future for Sangiovese Grosso (Montalcino’s specific varietal). She guided her family’s estate through a major shift in how Tuscan wine was produced and how it was perceived throughout the world. Under her leadership, the property became one of the first major Italian producers of fine wines to ship their wines beyond Italy’s borders.

2023 started with another heavy loss; this time one of the Langhe ambassadors: Luciano Sandrone, who passed away at the age of 76, in recent days. Sandrone’s Barolos, from the Cru Le Vigne to the Cannubi Boschis and Aleste, have achieved top-level success in global fine wine appreciation. Luciano Sandrone’s wine adventure began in 1970s as a true “garagiste”, growing in quality, reputation and sales success ever since.