Wine exports, historic (but expected) overtaking of sparkling wines over reds
The trend of increasing quantities in the first nine months of the year is set to continue, with the production of bubbles, Prosecco in the lead, having increased fivefold in the space of twenty years
-U26420610032AGy-1440x752@IlSole24Ore-Web.png?r=650x341)
2' min read
2' min read
It had to happen, and it did. In the product portfolio of Italian wine exports in quantity and in the first nine months of the year, sparkling wines overtook red wines. On the other hand, it has been years since sparkling wines, led by the Prosecco phenomenon, have been driving Italian exports and, on the main outlet market for made-in-Italy wine, the United States, Italy has for some time now, particularly among the younger generation, been perceived primarily as a country producing sparkling wines rather than red wines.
Now the certification also comes from export data. According to the Osservatorio dell'Unione italiana vini, for the first time, bottles of sparkling wine going abroad (528 million) exceeded those of red and rosé wines (524 million), leaving white wines still at 460 million.
The UIV-Ismea Observatory explains that this overtaking is destined to consolidate in the light of a race, that of Italian bubbles, which has seen its production quintuple in the space of twenty years and is preparing to break the record quota of 1 billion bottles by the end of the year, with 355 million bottles consumed in Italy and around the world for the festive season alone.
Of the many goals achieved by sparkling wine in recent years," commented the secretary general of the Italian Wine Union (UIV), Paolo Castelletti, "this is one of the most significant. Italian sparkling wine is winning over its foreign competitors because it is pop and appeals to a transversal target audience, and because in many cases it can be combined with a cocktail trend that is now becoming global from the USA. The success of the Charmat method is largely attributable to the Prosecco galaxy and its management, for an area that despite representing only 6% of the Italian vineyard is now keeping our exports afloat".
In fact, it is sparkling wine that is the absolute protagonist of the growth in Italian wine exports (almost 6 billion Euro) recorded in the first nine months of this year. If the contribution of sparkling wines (growing in double figures) were eliminated, the performance of Italian wine exports would drop from +3.4% to just +0.5%.
