Wine denominations in search of critical mass

Concentrated or aggregated wine denominations , rigorously certified, better if sustainable and, as soon as possible, also available in a dealcoholized version: this is the recipe of the certification specialist Valoritalia to restart the Italian winemaking after a 2024 lived in chiaroscuro, marked by discontinuity and unpredictability at an international level. "2024 confirms itself as a year of consolidation, not brilliant but still positive with 2 billion and 19 million bottles placed on the market, down 0.46% compared to 2023 but up 1.4% compared to the average of the last 5 years - says Giuseppe Liberatore, general manager of Valoritalia - An important figure, a sign of the competitiveness of our companies even in moments of transition such as the current one".

In particular, compared to a 5% growth achieved by sparkling wines, the study conducted by Valoritalia highlights a 6.8% contraction of red wines. At the same time, DOCG and IGT wines recorded drops of 2.3% and 6.3% respectively, while DOC wines, which represent 58% of the value of certified wine in 2024, rose by 2.7%. “A progressive realignment between supply and demand is underway,” explains Giuseppina Amodio, operations director of Valoritalia . “The competitiveness of denominations is not only based on historical value but also on the ability to intercept consumption dynamics that are increasingly oriented towards versatility.” The volatility of production , in turn, is also linked to the size of the denominations. Of the 219 denominations certified by Valoritalia, the first 20 represent 86% of the total bottled and 84% of the overall value while the last 140 barely reach 1.4% and 2%, respectively. “The high number of denominations is certainly a source of wealth and biodiversity but, at the same time, it can become a structural limit - specifies Francesco Liantonio, president of Valoritalia - A limited size of the denomination entails, in fact, an equally limited operational capacity of the consortia that struggle to carry out the fundamental functions of protection, promotion and valorization”. The voluntary reform of the consortium system in an aggregative key would allow, in this sense, to bring the fragmented local realities back to a decision-making unit just as the unblocking of the impasse on dealcoholized wines would throw open the doors to a market estimated at over 4 billion euros .