Italy: An Excellent Organic Wine Pavilion at Vinitaly

In the context of the project, Monday 23 March welcomed the FederBio Conference titled "Review of legislation on organic wine. The industry point of view", that aimed to launch a far-reaching consultation path involving all players in the Italian wine sector in order to develop the groundwork for alliances and synergies with similar organisations in other European countries in readiness - three years since the approval of European organic wine production regulations - for the request for a review in the context of more general proposals for horizontal organic farming regulations.

Vinitaly Bio was also home again to the Organic Wine Store, with tastings of a large selection of organic wines. It also involved exhibiting companies present in other halls offering conventional wines plus a certified organic line (about 200 wineries offering organic wines attended Vinitaly in their region’s or Chamber of Commerce’s pavilion).
FederBio co-financed the participation of some foreign buyers and four half-day sessions of guided wine-tasting were organized.

Picture: Exhibitors were extremely satisfied with the quantity and quality of business contacts.

Facts and figures

Looking at the facts and figures, organic wine-growing in Italy is steadily expanding, with more and more companies focusing on organic methods, especially in view of the significant growth in interest and demand among consumers.

Italian Organic Vineyard

Source: Elaboration by SINAB of control bodies’ data.

As regards land area in Italy in 2013, vineyards covering 44,174 hectares were certified organic and 23,763 were undergoing conversion, totalling 67,937, which equates to growth of 18.5% over 2012.
The organic wine-growing area is very dynamic, going against the trend for the vineyard area as a whole that in 2013 came to 646,000 hectares compared with 655,000 ha in the previous year.
Seen in this light, the expansion of organic vineyards is even more significant, by now representing 11% of the total area, with Sicily in the lead in terms of hectares, followed by Apulia and Tuscany.
Production in 2013 came close to a potential value over 400 million tons of wine grapes, equivalent to approximately 240 million litres of wine that represent more than 7% of total national output.

Trend: wine-makers are going organic

Many Italian wine-makers have taken up the organic trend, which by now embraces all Italian wine production regions. They range from historical brands such as Marchesi de' Frescobaldi,  boasting 700 years of history, which is adapting production to make organic wine, starting with Castelgiocondo, its Brunello di Montalcino estate, as well as other renowned, major Italian wine companies such as Tenute Lunelli. Lunelli Group (Ferrari) , has undertaken complete conversion to organic farming, starting in Tuscany: the Podernuovo Estate was the member of the group that obtained organic certification (in 2012), followed by the Castelbuono Estate in Umbria (2014), while the historic Trentino vineyards were entered in the register of organic certification in February 2014.

Staying in Trentino, while Foradori is a case history of a family company where evolution has even embraced bio-dynamic methods, La-Vis and Cavit represent organic production by the giants in the cooperative wine sector. Alto Adige, with well-known examples such as Tenute Loacker, are now joined in the production of organic wines by the famous wine-maker Cantina Tramin.  
Organic wine from Franciacorta has been produced for over 10 years by Barone Pizzini (whose Rosé was awarded the “best organic wine” prize in the International Wine Challenge 2012 of London). In 2014, Berlucchi (4,2 million bottles in Franciacorta) started the conversion of its 85 hectares, requesting its whole supply chain (60 vine-growing farms with over 350 hectares) to do the same. One third of the whole Franciacorta vineyards is already organic or in conversion.

Piedmont's Gavi terroir saw La Raia also take up the organic philosophy quite some time ago. Returning to Brunello vineyards around Montalcino, investment in organic production has been made by Allegrini, with the San Polo cellars , while Col D'orcia began its conversion to organic output in 2010. Yet Tuscany too boasts many examples, from Tua Rita in the Maremma area to important names producing Nobile di Montepulciano, such as Salcheto with organic and bio-dynamic agriculture and even energy self-sufficiency. There is also the historic Avignonesi, with over 100 hectares of vineyards, which has converted entirely to bio-dynamic production.

The Chianti Classico area also has case histories such as Badia a Coltibuono and Fontodi, Fèlsina and Lamole di Lamole (Santa Margherita Group)  that by 2017 will boast organic certification. Other examples include the Collemassari Group, which operates an organic system on its estates at Collemassari (Montecucco), Grattamacco (Bolgheri) and Poggio di Sotto (Brunello).
In the Veneto Region, Speri in Valpolicella has been applying low impact standards for many years and, as of the 2015 harvest and following the conversion stage, will obtain organic certification, joining the pioneer in organic methods Fasoli Gino . The Veneto region has many other case histories, such as the Nardi family’s perlage wines (organic since 1985), Le Carline (organic since 1993), etc.
Organic lines are offered by Cantine Riunite & Civ, among Italy’s largest wine-makers, as well as by San Patrignano, the most important addiction recovery community in Italy, which produces organic wine in Emilia Romagna, and by Cleto Chiarli. Organic farming is now the watchword in Umbria, with brands such as Lungarotti. The Marches region saw Umani Ronchi decide to diversify its product range by focusing on the organic sector, while Cantine Belisario has been making a certified organic wine for several years from two dedicated vineyards: Vigneti Belisario.

Moving further south to the Abruzzo region, we find names such as Emidio Pepe and Cantina Tollo - in 2010 the “Best European Coop-Winery” according the German magazine Weinwirtschaft.  In 2013, Cantina Tollo sold 13 million bottles, 100,000 of which were organic (+75% on 2012).
In Campania, where Antica Masseria Venditti (established in 1595 and family-owned) was the pioneer in organic wine, Feudi di San Gregorio has implemented an approach that has seen the development of almost 50 hectares of organic vineyards. The conversion of Fattoria La Rivolta was also completed some years ago.
In Basilicata, Cantine del Notaio has been producing wines from organic farming since the late 1990s.
In Apulia, Amastuola operates over 100 hectares organically and mostly with native grape varieties; the Polvanera organic project  is hallmarked by the promotion of Primitivo grapes and other native varieties using organic methods, plus the Bocca di Lupo di Tormaresca (Antinori group), with as many as 130 hectares of vineyards all managed in an organic system.
Organic wine in Sicily ranges from small but well-known cellars such as Occhipinti and Graci near Etna volcano, by way of Centopassi di Libera Terra with organic wines and produce from land confiscated from the Mafia through to larger companies such as Firriato or Cos , which also applies biodynamic wine-growing principles.

Consumers: three cheers for organic wines!

In September 2012 the Italian consumers’ magazine Altroconsumo ordered a range of laboratory tests on organic red wines collected at retail level. We are told in their article: “Our tests show that all wines are high quality and that, in order to drink a good glass of wine, there is no need to spend a fortune.” 
“All the wines are of excellent quality and the best are also the less expensive (with a price lower than six euros)”.
Tests evaluated alcohol content (by comparing values stated on the label and those found by the laboratory), total and volatile acidity and the presence of sulphur dioxide and sulphites.“We had good results: quantities found in most wines are particularly low. Totally absent were pesticides and heavy metals such as cadmium and lead”.
The magazine goes on: “The comparative test made on 14 red wines produced with organic grapes has sanctioned the excellent quality and price ratio of wines and, especially, the almost total absence of sulphites - present in only very low levels”.
The appreciation test, carried out in anonymous form with the scientific method of sensory analysis, produced gratifying results and the article concludes “Price reiterated the golden rule: you do not need to spend too much to drink well; the best wines were the less expensive, with a price under six euros”.

Market: export is most important

Mainstream supermarkets are by no means the main sales channel for organic wines in Italy. Export remains the first channel (above all Germany, but Italian wineries export to all regions, the USA, Japan and China included), followed by organic shops, food service, direct sales (farm-gate or on-line) and wine shops.
But supermarkets’ data are easily available (Nielsen etc.) and help us to understand market trends, bearing in mind their customers aren’t organic enthusiasts, since organic fans usually shop in organic stores, but average Italian consumers. The organic wine market in supermarkets and hypermarkets in 2013 was worth 1,772,672 euros; in 2014 its value was 2,955,127 euros. In 2014, sales grew by 21 % for DOC and DOCG plain wines, 60 % for IGT wines and by a dramatic 357 % for sparkling wines. Please note that the increase doesn’t apply to a constant range: the growth is based on range expansion, which allowed a better response to consumer demand, which suggests to watchful supermarket wine managers that they should continue with expansion.
Share in respective categories is still paltry, but for DOC and DOCG plain wines grew from 0.22% (2013) to 0.27% (2014), sparkling wines from 0.08% to 0.30%. IGT wines’ share more than doubled: 0.14% in 2013, 0.32% in 2014.
In 2014 average supermarket price for organic wines was 6.70 Euro (DOC), 5.70 Euro (IGT), 7.20 Euro (sparkling - charmat).

Photos by Roberto Pinton and Vinitaly