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 The Vine and Wine segment, the concluding part of the Sweet Taste was conducted by the President of the National Wine Committee in Italy, Giuseppe Martelli. He had flown into India especially to make a Presentation of Italian wine story, followed by a Tasting of 5 red Tuscan wines including a Brunello di Montalcino, but substituted it with 8 daily- drinking wines that are available in the Indian market- perhaps due to logistics problems.
I have known Martelli for over a decade as I used to meet him at Vinitaly International Wine Competition as a judge or Vinitaly as a visitor. As President of the Italian Winemakers Association, he was the Director of the Competition where his reputation has been legendary. Having judged at a couple of them, I know he is a disciplined soldier. It was said that ‘leaves dare not move without his say-so’ and he kept the judges, sommeliers and the competition staff in rapt attention. The former teacher at the Winemaking Institute of Technology in Conegliano (where Prosecco production is assumed to have started in the 1870s) he has been a powerful and influential wine personality.
His Presentation o Italian wine industry was very impressive with various positive figures showing Italy in good light. At 15% market share it is behind only Australia (thanks to Jacobs Creek) and France in India. Martelli said there were around 20,000 bottlers in Italy. The average holding of vineyard land was merely 7 hA, that forced many co-operatives to be formed as they could perform better as a group and were perhaps in a better position to fulfil the requirements of countries like India. Although he did not dwell upon the clout these co-operatives have in terms of tax benefits or the political power enjoyed because of the voting strength in elections, he projected a good picture of Italian wines which he said, are exported to over 160 countries, with the US being the biggest customer, followed by UK and Japan.
Tasting Prosecco et al
The Presentation was immediately followed by a guided tasting of 2 Proseccos – Ti Amo doc and Bipe Fe Brut Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene docg. Glowing tributes were paid to both being so popular that half a billion bottles have been sold, we were told. That is an astounding number, considering that only two years ago Prosecco with sales of around 320 million bottles barely overtook champagne with slightly under 320 million bottles. An exponential growth of 180 million bottles in 2 years is hard to fathom; last year the sales was estimated at 380 million bottles.
I have visited the classic prosecco area twice- first time when it was either a doc or igt (before 2009) and second time last year to thoroughly understand what has changed the dynamics since 2009. My observation was that the growth was mainly in the new demarcated and extended boundaries in the regions of Veneto and adjoining Venezia-Friuli-Giulia in the Northeast. The classical area of Prosecco produced around 60 million bottles in 2007and around 75 million bottles last year.
For details and/or related information in our previous articles, please visit:
Prosecco Superiore is Superior to Prosecco
Wine Travels: Passing through Prosecco land
Prosecco Elevated to DOCG Status
Prosecco doc vs. Prosecco docg
 There is not much scope of expansion of vineyards in the original classical area which is extremely hilly with deep slopes, making viticulture including harvesting very difficult and expensive. But the soil is special and so is the quality of grapes, according to the producers in this area. However, historically, the demand for prosecco doc and igt increased at such exponential rate during the previous 10 years or so that many countries and regions started producing sparkling wine with Charmat method, calling it Prosecco. The anxious and horrified producers decided in 2009 to promote the doc to docg status (a highly deserved status when one looks at some of the other docg wines that are not so well deserved, according to experts ; igt was raised to the status of doc, getting the GI recognition from the European Union. Implicitly a license was given to powerful producers to grow high yielding Glera grapes at low cost in the highly extended, relatively flat areas, which was never possible in the Valdobbiadene Conegliano belt.
Prosecco vs. Chianti
The current scenario in the Prosecco land is akin to Chianti vs. Chianti Classico (both docg) which was the primary territory defined in 1716 when Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III established the boundaries of the Chianti wine production zone-between the cities of Florenceand Siena. The rising demand had made the Italian politicians to buckle down to pressures from producers to extend the boundaries for Chianti wines. The booming demand led producers to start making higher quantities with less importance on quality. In the 1960s and 1970s they came to be known as cheap Chianti and even today despite many producers making efforts to improve the quality using technology and better viticulture, the image makeover is not yet complete.
It is heartening to see Prosecco boom as a category as it can compete with the Indian sparkling wines despite the heavy import duties. However, it would have been appropriate to highlight the difference of the two for educational purpose so that the wine novices and lovers could learn something and hopefully aspire to trade up one day soon.
UNESCO Heritage for Prosecco
We were informed that the prosecco producing vineyards have been given the Heritage status by UNESCO- something I could not swallow. Italian land is blessed with the beautiful mountainous terrain running from North to South , making it perhaps the singular country where the vineyards are undulating, beautiful and unparalleled in charm. The extended area of current Prosecco doc where Ti Amo is undoubtedly produced, may not be completely flat but certainly would not fall in Martelli’s description of the undulating vineyards-the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene belt is enchanting and rightly deserving the Heritage Status.
It is plausible to see some areas get lucky to get a docg status due to powerful political influence of the type seen in India; most people also take it for granted that docg would be justifiably higher in quality and price. However, it is unlikely that UNESCO could be impressed to make the whole region as Heritage, with perhaps more than half of the new areas encompassing the prosecco doc are new land where the cultivation has only recently moved to viticulture.
Without going into the detailed tasting of the wines selected for the Tasting, suffice it to say that the second wine tasted much more delicious and complex as compared to the first (although it may not always necessarily hold true). Apparently, the Bepin doc retails for Rs. 1800 (in both the Brut and Rose Brut variant). The brut and more particularly Rose Brut would be a much better value than Ti Amo doc though well-priced at Rs. 1250.
Here is a list of wines tasted and the name of the importers:
- Ti Amo Prosecco doc –Brindco
- Bepin de Eto Ebe Prosecco Superiore Conegliano docg (Brindco)
- Piccini Pinot Grigio delle Venezie igt 2014 (Prestige)
- Banfi Le Rime Chardonnay-Pinot Grigio 2014 (Brindco)
- Planeta La Segreta 2014 (Brindco)
- Piccini Chianti docg 2014 (Prestige)
- Pio Cesare Barbera d’Alba doc 2013 (Prestige)
- Umani Ronchi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2014 (Brindco)
Highly Successful Conference
 The conference ‘The Sweet Taste’ was professionally and well organised by the Italian Trade Commission. Bringing the memories of the Italian ‘Dolce Vita’ it was not about the taste flavour of Indian desserts as many might have imagined but it was about the products that make life sweet and enjoyable-food and wine being essential part.
Francesco Pensabene, the Italian Trade Commissioner (short form of his official designation- Trade Promotion, Attaché' of the Italian Embassy and Coordinator for India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh) and his team did a commendable job. Coming after the lifestyle fashion event a few months earlier at the DLF Emporio Luxury Mall, it was good to see the Italians active after a gap. As the Italian Ambassador H.E.Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni said in his welcome address, India and Italy have a lot in common and the past experience showed that we could work together in expanding mutual trade. The importance given by the Italian Embassy and the Trade Commission to this event was clear as one saw the Ambassador present for a major part of the day, including the wine tasting for which he return after a short absence due to prior commitment.
From the Full House seen at the Leela Palace Chanakyapuri Banquet Room for the Workshop, ‘The Sweet Taste: Business Opportunities & Perspectives for Italian Food and Wine in India’ was a sweet reminder of Dolce Vita and one hopes to see an increase of dialogue and more business between the two countries.
Subhash Arora |