Wine: historic export record of 6 billion in 2017 (+7%)
Rome - Now the New Year's celebrations are over, it's time to draw up the balance sheet for wine Made in Italy, exports of which have gone up 7% and achieved a historic record high of all time of around 6 billion Euros. This is what transpires from an analysis by Coldiretti (the Italian farmers' association) of last year's balance sheet, which confirms the success of the first item in domestic agrifood exports. The rise in exports, in terms of both value and volume, is an excellent result following a harvest that was ranked among the most precocious and poorest in the post-WWII period, with a 26% drop in production compared to last year. This means saying goodbye in 2018 to one bottle of wine Made in Italy out of four - states Coldiretti -, even though Italy retains its world record among producers, ahead of France, with approximately 40 million hectoliters, over 40 per cent of which intended for the 332 wines with a denominazione di origine controllata (controlled designation of origin - DOC) and the 73 wines with a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (controlled and guaranteed designation of origin - DOCG), 30 per cent for the 118 wines with an indicazione geografica tipica (typical geographical indication - IGT) recognized in Italy and the remaining 30 per cent for table wines. In 2017, compared to the previous year, export sales went up 6% in value in the USA, which is by far the principal customer, although the super-Euro does have an impact in 2018, having reached its highest level in three years. The rise was of 3% in Germany, in second place, and 8% in the United Kingdom, which despite Brexit negotiations remains on the podium of principal customers. In terms of percentage rise, however, the best performance with a 47% leap was recorded in Russia, where wine is one of the few agrifood products Made in Italy not affected by the embargo. The 25% growth figure in China is also positive, yet its presence nevertheless remains limited there with respect to its French competitors, which have overtaken Italy this year on the US market too. The growth of Italian wine is spurred - emphasizes Coldiretti - most of all by bubbly, which recorded a rise in export sales of 15% in value in 2017 with a historic export record of nearly 1.2 billion. Among the news this year - Coldiretti explains - there was also a major change on Italian tables in 2017 with a record rise in family purchases driven by DOC wines (+5%), IGT wines (+4%) and sparkling wines (+6%), according to Coldiretti's analysis based on Ismea data for the first semester, which show that, after winning over caf�s and restaurants, there is an overall rise of 3% within the home, with a profound change towards quality, as demonstrated by the fact that only purchases of ordinary table wines have fallen (-4%).