NEWS
PRIMITIVO DI MANDURIA. IMPEDING FALSE WINES IN ITALY, CHILE AND PORTUGAL The protection activity on foreign markets in regards to Primitivo di Manduria DOP by the consortium chaired by Mauro Di Maggio hasn't stopped. The latest results say that deceptive brands have been blocked in Italy, Chile and Portugal and that the opposition to some labels in Germany, France and South Africa is also being negotiated. "Precisely because this wine is so loved abroad," explains Di Maggio, "Primitivo di Manduria is the product on which imitation phenomena must be most concentrated. This is a situation to which we have responded by expanding our vigilance and protection also in view of the wine's production growth". The balance of three years of activity is very encouraging. In the legal battles faced by the Consortium 6 cases were won in Italy, one in Spain and one in Portugal; plus one in Chile and one in China. From the international market, four brands with the European Union wording have been eliminated. The Apulian PDO, which has a turnover of 120 million euro, 70% of which derives from export, in recording in 2018 a significant production growth of 15%, at 20 million bottles. The defense strategy is developing two-fold: internationally, by blocking all deceptive brands that directly recall or imitate the name; and on the other hand, the samples on sale are being taken and analyzed in the large-scale distribution circuit in the laboratory to verify inconsistencies with the specification. For this reason, the agreement with the supervisory agents for 2019-21 has been renewed, increasing inspections by 30%, which will also include stores, retail and the Internet.
CALIFORNIA. IN NAPA VALLEY, WINE TOURISM IS A DRIVING FORCE IN THE ECONOMY Wine tourism is the main asset of one of the most famous wine-growing areas in the world: Napa Valley. The fundamentals of this area were illustrated during the National travel tourism week (Nttw), seven full days dedicated to tourism, founded in 1983 by President R. Reagan and scheduled until Saturday 11 May throughout the country. In the US, tourism today is worth 2,500 billion euro, with 16 million employees in 2018. And in the Napa region, where over 80% of national wine production is concentrated, wine (first sector for employees) is what's driving tourism and the economy. Suffice it to say that in 2018 there were 3.8 million visitors to this area (20% of which foreign) with an average daily expenditure of almost 500 dollars, considering an average family of four, mainly spent in restaurant meals (118 dollars ) and wine purchases in the cellar (85 dollars). In particular, tourists present in Napa Valley are mainly attracted by the wine-related experience: in the survey, entrusted to the Destination Analysts research company, tasting wine in wineries is indicated by 80% of visitors, followed by meals in restaurants (65.2%), followed by vineyard tours (45.3%), shopping (39.8%) and the famous and popular Napa Valley wine train (27.6%). Each tourist, in 2018, visited an average of 3.7 wineries (compared to 3.1 recorded in 2016) participating in an average of 1.4 tastings. As many as 97.2% of respondents said they had made at least one winery visit and 73.8% had joined a wine tasting. Four out of ten wine tourists book their visits in advance, a percentage that rises to 50% for those staying overnight in the area. Compared to total attendance, over 35% of visitors in 2018 have slept at least one night in local accommodation facilities.
GAMBERO ROSSO
6
MAY 2019