Feature: Italy's Barolo wineries expect excellent 2020 vintage

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-28 23:34:06|Editor: huaxia

ROME, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The early reviews for wine produced in what the Italian media calls the "COVID vintage" are promising, but none are quite as good as those for the wine from the Barolo region in northwestern Italy. Barolo is the best-known Italian wine in China.

The 2020 vintage has been a challenging one for winemakers across Italy -- though for unusual reasons. The summer was hot, requiring extra attention in the vineyards. However, tens of thousands of seasonal agricultural workers who live outside Italy were prevented from returning to work in the fields because of the coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The result was lower production levels but high quality in many of Italy's most important wine regions.

Just weeks after the grapes were picked, some are already bragging that the 2020 Barolo vintage could rival iconic vintages for the region like 2016 and 2010, which were rated 97 and 98 points, respectively, on the 100-point scale of famed wine critic Robert Parker.

"In terms of the weather, everything that could go right went right," Gianni Gagliardo, owner of a Barolo wine estate that bears his name, told Xinhua. "Every vintage is different, and it may be too early to say the wines will resemble those from 2016 or 2010 or any other vintage. But I do think we have a vintage that will take its place among the best."

Barolo producers -- including Gagliardo -- started focusing on the Chinese market years ago, before their counterparts in Italy's other top-level wine-growing regions. This is now paying off, according to Silvana Ballotta, chief executive officer (CEO) of Business Strategies, a consultancy that focuses on Italy's food and wine exports.

"Barolo producers were the first top-level Italian wine producers to stress the Chinese market and add to that that Langhe is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage area, something that resonates in China," Ballotta said in an interview, referring to the wine area that includes Barolo. Italy and China both have 55 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than any other country.

Ballotta also noted that Barolo is among the 100 European food and wine products that enjoy a special protected status in China, and according to Federvini, a leading wine industry group, Barolo is the best-known Italian wine in China.

Ballotta said the evolution of Barolo from a powerful and rustic wine that needed years of aging to show its elegance into a wine that is balanced and easy to drink even when young is another key factor in the wine's popularity in China.

Gagliardo, who has traveled to China to promote Barolo many times, said that the average Chinese wine drinker is also becoming more accustomed to European taste for wine.

"Traditionally, Barolo is exported to what we look at as 'mature' markets and that is what China has become," Gagliardo said.

To be sure, wine is still a niche product in the massive Chinese market. According to the data firm Statista, Italian wine last year accounted for just 6.4 percent of all imported wines in China, trailing wines from market leaders Australia, France and Chile.

In the same way, Barolo is just a small part of Italy's overall wine production, with some 370 Barolo producers producing around 13 million bottles of wine per year -- equivalent to around 1.6 percent of Italy's overall wine production by volume. But in terms of quality, critics say that is another story, especially when it comes to the difficult 2020 vintage. Enditem

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