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FOOD AND DRINK

Are Italians really drinking less wine?

A new study suggests Italians are drinking less wine than in the past. Is this true - and what could be behind the trend?

Published: 23 January 2024 12:06 CET
Updated: 27 January 2024 10:54 CET
A man smells a glass of Moscato wine in the Monferrato countryside near Alessandria, northwestern Italy, in August 2023.
A man smells a glass of wine in a vineyard near Alessandria, northwestern Italy, in August 2023. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP.

A recently released report from an Italian wine observatory delivered some sobering news for wine producers: wine consumption in Italy fell by eight percent in the five years between 2019 and 2023 – three percent in the past year alone.

The analysis from the Uiv-ISMEA Observatory found that red wines have borne the brunt of the downturn, experiencing a 17 percent decline in sales over the same five-year period.

Sparkling wines, by contrast, saw a 19 percent increase in sales since 2019, and rosé wine a 17 percent increase.

The study was based on data from Italy’s Nielsen company, and examined sales in large-scale distribution and retail trade, comparing 2023 consumption to the previous five years.

While the data shows that Italians are drinking less wine overall, it also suggests their tastes are becoming more refined.

Sales of wines bearing the prestigious DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protettiva) label, which originate from a clearly defined geographical area in Italy’s best wine-producing regions, fell by only two percent.

READ ALSO: Italian food and wine: What does the DOP label mean – and are these products better?

DOP white wine sales, meanwhile, saw a three percent increase since 2019.

A range of factors are likely to be driving the overall decline, but one key data point is that younger generations of people in Italy and across the world appear to be less interested in consuming wine than their predecessors.

La Repubblica newspaper suggests that the rise in popularity of low and zero-alcohol drinks, as well as an increased interest among young people in health and wellness, could be additional factors.

One big winner defying the odds in all this, the report shows, is the Italian sparkling wine Prosecco, whose sales have seen a meteoric 30-percent increase in the past five years.

READ ALSO: Global wine production reaches lowest level since 1961

Prosecco’s rise in global popularity is likely in large part down to the fact that the wine is more affordable than alternatives like champagne, and its sweeter, lighter taste makes it more suitable for regular consumption as an aperitif.

But it may also be connected to the fact that in 2009 Italy created the DOC Prosecco region, abolishing the prosecco grape variety, which became known instead as glera.

This meant that other parts of the world could (in theory) no longer produce prosecco and – at least within the EU – only Italian prosecco could be sold as such, giving Italy a monopoly over the drink.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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