Wine is Italy’s most exported agri-food product and is rightly considered the country’s heritage Made in Italy. The entire chain of wine production consists of 310,000 farms with vines covering an area of 600,000 hectares. One and a half million people work in the entire sector, including fields, cellars and distribution. Coldiretti’s data shows this The annual turnover is close to 14 billion euros.
635 wine varieties are registered in the Vine Register, of which 332 are DOC (controlled designation of origin), 118 IGT (typical geographical designation), 76 DOCG (guaranteed controlled designation of origin). 30% of the production is made up of local table wines, often with a thousand-year tradition. However, Despite the incredible variety, Italian wine producers continue to experiment with new qualities.
When it comes to wine production in the world, Italy is almost always at the top of the list: just imagine that the annual wine production is around 50 million hectoliters. Lately because of climate change, when droughts alternate with heavy rains, a decline in harvests was recorded throughout the southern hemisphere. Although there was a -12% decrease in wine productivity in Italy in 2023, this did not affect the very high quality of the product.
Parameters that define wine quality
How is wine quality defined? We asked Luca Moroni, post author”Wine tasting” from the encyclopedia Treccani, creator of the yearbook of the best Italian wines for 30 years, met in Rome at the event he himself organized “The best Italian wines 2024” with the participation of 120 companies.
“The quality of the wine – explains Luca Moroni – it is the pleasantness of its taste, never sour or bitter, when its taste-aroma resembles the smell of the grapes from which it is obtained. THE 3 parameters that determine the pleasant taste of wine it’s consistency, balance and integrity of flavor. For consistency we mean the concentration of the grape fruit used, the amount of its pulpy extract, which must not be too watery. L’balance it is given by the dosage of the components that determine its acidity (PH): the fruit is balanced if its taste is not sour, sour or bitter. For integrity we mean bottling without residues, without microbiological contaminants and in the absence of taste aromas not typical of the grapes”.
New wine production:
the key to Italian success
No other wine-growing country in the world has such a wealth of grape varieties as Italy. This explains the vocation to experiment. Among the producers who represent the winemaking excellence of our country, we met Antonio Bellicos, the founder of the Piedmontese company of the same name, at the mentioned event “Best Italian Wines 2024”.
“The passion for wine was born when I was young studying agriculture and oenology – explains Antonio Bellicoso – Passion then became work, which began with the purchase of 5 hectares in the hills of Monferrato (Asti). During these 20 years, I did not strive for size, but for quality, and my sacrifices have been richly rewarded with sales throughout Italy and Europe.”
“With my family business – continues the businessman – I created two new Barbera d’Asti products: Merum, awarded as the best Italian wine of 2023 in the Moroni yearbook with a rating of 99/100, it is a young wine, vintage 2021, 16% vol. and aged in a barrique (small barrel). L’Amormio awarded Gambero Rosso 2024 among the best Italian wines under 20 euros, aged in steel tanks. I recommend all young people to enter this world of wine, an activity that never disappoints.”
The next meeting will be the Vinitaly Fair (April 14-17), which has been held annually in Verona since 1967. The prestigious event is the most important exhibition of wines and spirits at international level for meeting producers, buyer AND stakeholders.