“Excellent quality but a fall in quantity and prices”: that is the verdict of Assoenologi, Italy’s Association of Enologists and Enotechnicians, on the 2009 harvest. Prices are in fact down by 40%, the Association reported on Saturday. The Association puts the drop in the quantity of wine produced down to September’s strange weather all over Italy, but particularly in the south where unusually hot spells were followed by torrential rain. Giuseppe Martelli, who heads Assoenologi, says that this year the quality of wines produced in the central-north of Italy is particularly high.
For the third year running the Veneto sees the highest level of production, at 7.7 million hectolitres for 2009. Piedmont is the region which has seen the highest growth in production this year. Production is down by 10% in Sicily and Le Marche and by 15% in Abruzzo and Puglia. The Veneto, Puglia, Sicily and the Emilia Romagna together produce 50% of Italy’s wine.
Italian wine is as much in demand as ever abroad, though consumers are now choosing less expensive varieties.
Opinion regarding the 2009 vintage is divided outside Assoenologi. The verdict of the National Wine Committee is “good but not exceptional” whilst others deem it a great vintage, particularly for white wines.
Why not taste and make up your own mind? http://www.assoenologi.it/site/
