2019: the year ahead

The best wish for the New Year is that Italy’s political representatives and even many normal consumers improve their knowledge of and awareness about the world of wine.

I may be wrong but I believe we will remember the upcoming year for a long time because many problems will be coming to a head. Not only Brexit but also the surge in populist nationalism and protectionist policies that are sure to have an effect on Italy’s little world of wine. This because Italy is a country that exports almost 50% of its wine production and its primary export markets are the United States, Germany and Britain, which are the countries most involved in the changes on the horizon.

Many look to China but only 2% of Italy’s wine exports end up there, which amounts to little or nothing. For sure exports are on the rise there but in terms of numbers they are nothing compared to the above-mentioned markets that together account for over half the turnover from wine exports. And things have already not been going in the right direction. Exports to the US have fluctuated and if it wasn’t for Prosecco exports to Britain would be in trouble, while Germany exports seems to be unstoppably more determined by prices than brands and appellations.

At the same time, exports to the new markets, East Asia in particular, are not taking off while those to Russia have suffered for a few years now due to the economic sanctions imposed by the West. Added to this, the ruble has devalued significantly which means that the buying power of many of those consumers inclined to buy quality wine has all but disappeared.

I am well aware that my analyses may seem somewhat simplistic and should not be taken literally. Nevertheless, travelling as much as I do, some things seem blatant to me even if they are more intuitive than analytical. But what cannot be denied is that Italian wine exports are strong on “old” markets and much less so on emerging ones.

There is often talk about “internationalizing” wine exports but this for the most part remains suspended between rhetoric and theory. This because there is little support, at least for the wine world, from the state sector and one need only look at what the French government does to see how inefficient the Italian one is when it comes to helping the wine sector. While it may be true that Italy now as an Agriculture Minister who is trying to do his job, rather than using agriculture as a trampoline for future political ambitions, and who has done some things, much more needs to be done. And I say this not because I have any sympathy for his political party, something I would never do or have done, but because the facts speak for themselves.

It should be clear to everyone that when it comes to Italian food exports, wine plays a key role and it is a perfect ambassador for these exports. Wine is representative of Italy’s many territorial realities and it speaks about people and places. It can also be very good and travels easily in a bottle, where in some cases it even gets better with age. Wine can accompany almost all kinds of international foods and it is fundamental to Italy’s life style which, no matter what some may say, is appreciated worldwide more than one could imagine. Thus to not support wine exports is simple shortsightedness.

In the year to come, given that there certainly will be problems for the sector that will needed to be tackled, it would be nice to see an improved awareness and knowledge about the world of wine on the part of Italy’s political representatives, as well as many simple consumers. It would be nice to see wine as the subject of economics and geography courses in schools, to see wine tourism expand and to see everyone have a little more pride for something that represents Italy the world over with dignity and, in some cases, prestige. No small thing.