The storied Asti region of northern Italy saw a lush harvest this year, but many winegrowers are leaving some grapes on the vine, choosing to produce less as US and Russian demand drops.
After two difficult years, this year has been a good one and Italy is expected to once again beat rival France as the world’s leading producer.
However, Union of Italian Wine secretary-general Paolo Castelletti said it was not exactly something to celebrate.
Photo: AFP
“There is a decline in wine consumption especially in the main market, North America,” he said. “The market was supported by boomers... now they’re reducing their consumption.”
US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs also make imports more expensive and could push Italian wines above the “psychological threshold” of US$20 a bottle, he said.
That hit comes on the back of a decline in demand in Russia, where Asti wines were particularly popular, since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
About 17 million bottles were sold there in 2023, falling to 12 million last year, with this year’s sales expected at 10 million.
In total, export demand for Italian wines slowed by four percent in the first five months of this year.
Some vineyards in France have decided to uproot vines to adapt, and the European Commission is pushing in this direction. However, Castelletti said this should be a “last resort” and supports leaving grapes on the vine, or blocking authorization for new plantings.
Leaving grapes is what some winegrowers are doing in Asti to produce less sparking white.
They plan to reduce production of white muscat from 10 to nine tonnes per hectare of vines this year.
At his Ca’ dei Mandorli, or House of Almond Trees estate, an expanse of seemingly endless vineyards, Stefano Ricagno assessed his first juices as Indian harvesters made the final cuts on the vines.
They are leaving some grapes, but the summer heat has reduced production anyway.
“We thought we’d produce a lot, but it was very hot. The muscat harvest is almost in line with our [lowered] targets,” Ricagno said.
Asti made a name for itself with low-alcohol golden sparkling wines, generally around 7 percent for “Asti” and 5 percent for “Moscato,” almost all of which are sold in the US.
Sales of “Asti” fell from 100 million bottles in 2023 to 90 million last year, and are expected to fall to 85 million this year, and winegrowers are seeing their inventories increase.
“We’ll see in 2026 if the wars end and the markets recover,” Ricagno said.
Other Italian appellations, such as Valpolicella in Veneto, have also reduced volumes this year, because of market uncertainties.
However, some want nothing to do with quotas or appellations.
In Nizza Monferrato, Francesco Pozzobon has taken over abandoned vines and is letting them grow without pesticides, sowing clover and broad beans between the rows.
“We’ve overproduced and underproduced,” Pozzobon said. “With the drop in demand, there will be a natural skimming.”
The yield at his Tenuta Foresto is much more irregular and lower than that of his neighbors, at 3 tonnes per hectare, but he commands high prices for his “artisanal” wines, even as far away as China.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS