Two climatic factors characterized the 2023 wine year in Piedmont: record temperatures and prolonged drought. No reversal of trend compared to the previous year, except in the grape harvest: this time the climate had a strong impact, decreasing production by around 14%. 2.06 million hectoliters were produced compared to 2.26 million in 2022. 2023 is a vintage that the technicians define as "very good", assigning the grapes an average quality of "eight stars" out of ten. Piedmont is also confirmed as the second region at a national level in terms of turnover impact with a turnover for the wine sector growing to 1,362 million euros (it was 1,235 million in 2022). Exports are holding up: Piedmontese DOP wines performed better than the Italian average, Asti sparkling wine did well even if still red wines suffered a contraction. This is a summary of the analysis made by oenologists, agronomists and sector journalists in L'Annata Vitivinicola in Piemonte 2023 , the annual publication edited by Vignaioli Piemontesi and the Piedmont Region in which technical data and assessments on the recent harvest and on the general economic performance of the wine sector. A work that Vignaioli Piemontesi has been carrying out for more than thirty years, since 1992, meticulously collecting regional data on the ripening of the grapes and the climatic trend in various wine-growing areas of Piedmont and carrying out coordination activities for all the viticultural technicians and agronomists present in the area. The publication was presented in Turin, in the Palazzo della Regione.
The Piedmont Region Agriculture Councilor Marco Protopapa highlighted how viticulture and Piedmontese agriculture in general are «faced with an epochal change: first of all in the vineyard where the climate puts our winemakers to the test. Even in our region, a prolonged drought for two years now, high summer temperatures, snow that does not arrive and, consequently, water reserves that are increasingly reduced, are all sources of great concern for agriculture. The most immediate consequence is the drop in grape production. Added to this is uncertainty that comes from international markets and which affects the Italian wine system in general. It is clear that the wine sector is facing significant challenges; However, in the midst of these difficulties, it is important to recognize and take advantage of the opportunities that may emerge. Investing in the promotion of local excellence, such as quality cuisine, fine wines and our scenic beauty recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, can become a strong point for attracting tourism. This, in turn, could provide essential support to the local economy, creating job opportunities for young people and those involved in the sector. In recent years, Piedmont has been among the main destinations in Italy for wine tourists, with an increase in the presence of foreigners in all months of the year. The Piedmont Region supports the wine sector by activating all the tools at its disposal: the CMO measures to encourage investments and restructuring of agricultural companies and to promote wines in non-EU markets".
«We are facing a vintage where on the one hand we give great quality to the consumer, on the other with critical issues from the production point of view - said Giulio Porzio of Vignaioli Piemontesi – It's time to face the problems: water scarcity and diseases, first of all flavescence dorée, which together lower yields per hectare and therefore the income of winemakers. This makes us extremely vulnerable. It's time to do and not to profess. We need to look to the future and invest in new strategies to give a tomorrow to the viticulture of the UNESCO hills and to those who work there."
Having concluded the technical part, presented by Federico Spanna (Piedmont Region) and Michele Vigasio (Piedmontese Winemakers), the word goes to Tiziana Sarnari (ISMEA) who photographed «The state of health of geographical indications – Focus on Piedmontese Designation of Origin wines » and to Denis Pantini (NOMISMA) who presented «Performance and competitive positioning of Piedmontese wines in the market scenario».
The day ended with the presentation of the book «The Wines of Piemonte» by David Way , a fascinating story of the vines and their territories of origin in Piedmont.
The moderation of the day was entrusted to Alessandra Biondi Bartolini , scientific director of Millevigne, the technical magazine of Vignaioli Piemontesi.
PERFORMANCES AND COMPETITIVE POSITIONING OF PIEDMONT WINES IN THE MARKET SCENARIO
2023 therefore represented a year with many complicated implications for the world of Italian wine, not only for production but also for the markets. Denis Pantini , head of Nomisma Wine Monitor , analyzed the performance of Piedmontese wines, particularly abroad. As regards the export of Italian PDO wines (-0.3% in value, -3.9% in volumes), those from Piedmont fared better than average, in the sense that Asti spumante PDO grew by 5.2 % in values and slightly decreased in exported quantities (-0.9%). Piedmontese PDO still red wines, on the other hand, suffered a contraction of 2.6% in values and 5% in volumes (against, respectively, a drop of 5.6% and 8.1% which affected the entire red category PDO). Looking at the main export markets of Piedmontese PDO wines, the changes compared to 2022 manifested themselves differently. Thus, in the case of firm reds and looking at the values, the main drops affected Canada, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom while on the contrary increases were recorded in France and Sweden. As regards Asti Spumante, the value of exports (Jan-Oct 2023 vs 2022) grew in Latvia (mostly re-exports to Russia), Germany, UK, Poland and Austria while it decreased in the United States, Mexico and Japan.
