CONSORZIO VINI DOC SICILIA PROTAGONIST OF 2022 THOUSANDS OF CONSUMERS REACHED BY PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN ITALY AND ABROAD

2022, which in some way represented the return to life after the pandemic crisis, also developed for the Consortium with the clear intention of establishing a renewed relationship with enthusiasts, consumers and professionals in the wine sector from all over the world, including Europe, Canada, USA, China and UK.

"One of our goals for 2022 was to meet enthusiasts, consumers and professionals again over a glass of DOC Sicilia wine - underlines Antonio Rallo , President of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia - in Milan as well as in Beijing or New York. We are proud of how the "Sicily" denomination is increasingly representative of a territory which, with all its particularities, restores the idea of a wine-growing continent. In 2023, the marketing and promotion activities of Sicilian wines born under the sign of the Denomination of Controlled Origin and represented by the first ambassadors of the DOC Sicilia in the world, Grillo and Nero D'Avola".

In Italy there were three appointments dedicated to the Italian Press during the year, starting with the special tasting in Milan of Nero D'Avola DOC Sicilia paired with a vegetarian menu created by chef Carlo Cracco, the press incomings in the summer and autumn, respectively dedicated to Grillo and Nero D'Avola, which involved a hundred journalists, influencers, operators and producers, and reached thousands of followers on the web, who were able to experience the days of masterclasses, tastings and visits to the cellar through the social accounts of the Consortium.

Other masterclasses, dedicated to the two main native Sicilian vines, took turns at Fermento Milano both in the summer and in the autumn, involving about a hundred subjects, including sommeliers and sector operators in various capacities. The Consorzio DOC Sicilia was present at two European trade fairs: at Vinitaly in April with its own stand and at the Vievinum in Austria in May, as a guest region together with Alto Adige.

Then, many non-EU activities, dedicated to the media, importers, sommeliers, restaurateurs, buyers and retailers, organized during the year, including masterclasses in China and walk around tastings in the UK, educational dinners and wine tastings in Canada.

In the United States, press lunches, meetings and seminars were organised, both face to face and online, with the involvement of around 300 people including journalists, experts and professionals in the wine sector. Three Press Tours were then organized with the foreign press, for a total of 17 American journalists, at the end of June in Western Sicily and between Palermo and Catania in October; and with 15 English journalists and influencers, from 24 to 28 November in Palermo.

Seven influencer campaigns and extensive media coverage that made the Consortium a protagonist with about a hundred publications in the US.

As regards consumers, they were reached through promotional and marketing activities, such as paid media advertisements in national newspapers, activities on social networks and media relations and press office activities.

Consortium for the protection of DOC Sicily wines

The Consortium for the protection of DOC Sicilia wines (siciliadoc.wine) came to life in 2012, with the aim of representing the wine of the Sicilian territory and promoting the DOC Sicilia denomination, with actions aimed at increasing the visibility of a symbolic brand of Made in Italy and to the protection and supervision in defense of consumers and producers. Almost 8,000 winegrowers and about 500 bottlers are promoters of the Controlled Designation of Origin, a recognition useful to represent them but also to enhance and safeguard the island's wine production. The Sicilia DOC system is a producer of sustainable excellence: many of the more than 24,000 hectares of vineyards in the Denomination are cultivated in compliance with the sustainable viticulture regulations of the SOStain Sicilia Foundation