ICE Reports 2004 Vintage Exceptional plus Sales Up
Staff Writer - October 18, 2004
 Two bits of good news regarding
figures released on October 14 in Verona by the Institute for the
Promotion of Foreign Trade (ICE) at the annual Ratti Workshop.
The value of Italian wine exports in the first six months of
2004 went up by 4.9 percent and volumes increased by 10.42 percent. In absolute terms, it means that sales increased from 1,252 million Euros
in the first six months of 2003 to 1,313 Euros in the
corresponding period for 2004. On the production side, the increase went from
6.1 to 6.7 million hectoliters.
The United States were the top buyers
with imports worth 355 million Euros during the first six months of 2004,
followed by Germany with imports worth 330 million Euros. From
April to today, therefore, the Italian wine market experienced a recovery
after the impasse of the first three months of the year. This
was partly due to Vinitaly, the very successful Verona wine fair, as well as to the
sales promotion targeting international markets through the
so called 'Origin Project'.
The ICE reported the year 2004
as being a 'five star' harvest, with 53 million hectoliters
produced (up 20 percent compared to 2003). The ICE also stated that 2004 was a top
quality year in most parts of Italy.
According to Assoenologi, the Italian Association of Enologists, this year's vintage will
produce the best whites in the past twenty years and most of
the reds will be close to the record quality last seen in 1997.
The
Made in Italy marketing campaign in the wine sector will soon
present the best of the Made in Italy food and wine sector and
the "Vinitaly US Tour" is scheduled for October 26 in Miami, Florida and
October 28 in San Francisco, California. With these events Vinitaly is going international with its brand. The American Tour follows the positive
reception experienced in Russia in June with the first edition of Vinitaly
Moscow and will be followed by Vinitaly China in Shanghai
from November 24th to the 26th, after a preview in Bejing.
The
Ratti Workshop, its fifteenth annual this year, was organized
by Veronafiere-Vinitaly, Assoenologi and the National Institute
for Business Abroad.
"We're staying firm by building up
quality through controlled appellation. If the wine sector
manages to get the concept of species of vine across in its
marketing, it would mean Italian produce would appeal to
international consumers", said Stefano Raimondi, head of ICE's Wine and Spirits Line.
"It will be easier for producers to stay
on the market if they are less prone to mass criticism, get the
quality-price ratio right and get themselves a good image based
on the consistency of the vine species and the efficiency of
the production structure which, to the consumer, increasingly
means the right balance between production and innovation", commented Giuseppe Martelli, head of
Assoenologi.
"Vinitaly 2005 will take place between April 7 and 11 and is already
completely sold out, in terms of spaces for companies
exhibiting there", concluded Giovanni Mantovani, general director of Veronafiere.
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