Coldiretti, an association of the Italian farmers says that the weather helped especially Sicily recover from lower 2007 yields caused by a deadly fungus. "Italy now is the world's biggest exporter by volume, although France remains No 1 in terms of value, thanks to sales of champagne," said Coldiretti official Domenico Bosco Wednesday. The results would be confirmed next month.
Coldiretti claims that this boom year would not result in a global wave of cheap wines and insists that the production increase has been matched by jump in quality as well. Italy has cut the area of land under grape cultivation and the level of wines getting a quality or geographic origin certification has also gone up to 60%.
"It is not just production that is booming, but also demand, led by Amarone, Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Chianti (Classico) and Prosecco, which is priced lower than Champagne and gets even more attractive in times of crisis," said Bosco according to reports.
Produced in the north-eastern Italy, the bubbly Prosecco has doubled in output in the last 15 years. Strong southern reds such as Primitivo (known as Zinfandel in the US and India), were once used to make weak and bulk reds, but are now fast becoming serious and respectable wines.
Italy is now the top exporter of wines to the US in terms of value and volume, with 30% of market share according to Coldiretti, although sales have taken a beating recently due to dollar devaluation and the Brunello controversy.
The Associazione Enologi Enotecnici Italiani (Assoenologi), an association of Italian wine producers gives Italy a 17 % share of the world wine market and a third of the European.
Coldiretti said the country was destined to produce 4.7bn liters of wine, up 8% on 2007 and beating France's 4.44bn litres, which is down 5% from last year.
The results would be confirmed next month. If confirmed, Italy would have regained the title of the largest wine producer in the world, surpassing France for the first time since 1998. |