Italian wine flies abroad, the Istat data for the first quarter of 2018 attest to a strong increase in exports of our wines, registering a + 5,9 percent compared to the same period of 2017. A year that had ended with a veritable sales record for an amount of 6 billion euros.
According to Coldiretti this year we will record an increase in production between 10% and 20% in Italy with a forecast of 46/47 million hectoliters compared to 40 million last year of a production that suffered greatly from the drought that hit our village. “The result – observes the agricultural organization – is practically in line with the average of the last decade. In Italy, the current conditions, continues the note, "bode well for a vintage of good/excellent quality, even if the trend of the harvest will depend a lot on the rest of August and that of September".
Like every year, when the balance sheets are drawn up, the traditional challenge for world production leadership comes up again. And Italy has to contend with France, its eternal rival. Last year we won the game The statistical service of the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agreste, estimates French production at 46,8 million hectoliters, 27% more than last year, albeit with concerns about mold and rottenness in Languedoc and Bordeaux”, we'll see.
Anyway. according to Coldiretti's estimates, over 70% of the Italian production will be destined for Docg, Doc and Igt wines with 332 wines with controlled denomination of origin (Doc), 73 wines with controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin (Docg), and 118 wines to typical geographical indication (IGT) recognized in Italy and the remaining 30 percent to table wines.
The exports of Italian wine in the world have a driving effect on the image of Made in Italy as a whole. Sales in the first quarter of the year had an increase in value of 4,7% in the USA, our main customer, even if there are concerns about the new protectionist policies of the Trump presidency.
Our exports to Germany also showed a positive sign (+4,9%) while those to the United Kingdom fell by 5%. And there are concerns about the risks associated with international agreements signed, or being finalized, by the European Union, from CETA with Canada to Mercosur with South American countries, where there are hundreds of Italian DOCs that could remain without protection.
To understand what the problem of the agreements could entail for our producers from a commercial point of view, it is enough to think that only Canada for example does not currently have protection for important wines such as Amarone, Recioto and Ripasso della Valpolicella, Friularo di Bagnoli, Cannellino from Frascati, Orange Blossom from the Euganean Hills, Buttafuco and Sangue di Giuda from Oltrepo' Pavese, Falanghina from Sannio, Gutturnio and Ortrugo from the Colli Piacentini, Tintillia from Molise, Grechetto from Todi, Vin Santo di Carmignano, Doc Venice, Rome, Valtenesi, Terredeiforti, Valdarno di Sopra, Terre di Cosenza, Tullum, Spoleto, Tavoliere delle Puglie, Terre d'Otranto.
