(Feb 24) – Wine doesn’t know the economic crisis. Brunello di Montalcino, the red wine produced in the province of Siena, as shown by a survey of WineNews, “stays in the wish list of wine lovers, especially outside Italy” with an “average growth 10%-15%, and peaks of 35% for some wine makers”. The survey was conducted among 20 of the most representative makers of Brunello di Montalcino, for history, quality, volume production and international success. The companies will attend “Benvenuto Brunello”, the annual event organized by the “Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino”, which will run until February 27th. An international vernissage where will be presented “three years of excellence”: Brunello di Montalcino 2007, Riserva 2006 and Rosso 2010. “Brunello’s growth – WineNews explains – confirms the passion of worldwide wine lovers for Brunello. The few wineries that have not experienced a significant growth, they have sales in line with those in 2010”. The turnover growth, as the survey points out, is almost exclusively driven by exports to the united States, which are the first target market, but also to Scandinavia and Asian markets. (Roc/Peg)
ITALIAN WINE EXPORTS REACH RECORD LEVELS
The exports of Italian wine have passed for the first time the amount of 4 billion euros, 13% up over last year. This is what emerges from an analysis of Coldiretti on the basis of the trends identified by ISTAT in the first eleven months of 2011. Wine has become the most important agricultural export, with more than and half – Coldiretti remarks – sold in the European Union countries, with Germany and the UK (+10%) as leaders. Around a quarter of foreign sales is in the United States (+16% in 2011). The real surprise – Coldiretti says – comes from Asian countries and China, where wine exports have almost doubled (+80%), while they continue to grow in Russia (+16%). A good omen for the 2011 vintage that – Coldiretti states – reached an historical low of around 40 million hectoliters. As a result of this fall – Coldiretti concludes – Italy has lost the primacy of wine production in favor of France, jumped over with 50.2 million hectoliters (+11% compared to 2010)”.
