Stop with the consumption of Barolo priced 10 €: keep Barolo in its luxury identity the international market of fine wine consumers is requiring
Posted on: 23-04-2019 om 10:41:44
| Karina Imschoot
The new wine years of Barolo (harvest 2015), Barbaresco and Roero (2016) were tasted at the end of January in Alba on 'Grandi Langhe 2019'.
The debut of the wine years of the prestigious Piedmontese red wines, with 206 companies, brought a total of 600 specialized operators and journalists from more than 20 countries to the Langhe region.
The organiser of the fair said: "Today's results are the result of what was sown 30 or 40 years ago. And we must continue to sow:
An explanation in a panel discussion of the concerns of many producers without mentioning names:
What risks do you see?
"Of the approximately 14 million bottles of Barolo that are produced annually, about a third end up on the shelves of discount stores at much lower prices than the other two thirds. A phenomenon that does not occur with other, equally prestigious wines. And that damages the Barolo brand".
And why is that happening?
"Because apparently everyone wins that way. Farms that sell surplus bulk wine to bottlers at affordable prices. To the bottler who, accustomed to very low margins, earns more here".
And what is the damage?
"That a Chinese or American, but also an Italian consumer will continue to wonder how it is possible that a wine that pays hundreds of euros in a restaurant or wine shop can then be found on those shelves for ten dollars.
How do you get out?
"Producers need to understand that this sales channel has no future and that the wine can be sold in bottles, no longer in bulk and at much higher prices. And then work on the production discipinari: reducing yields and promoting the MGA (additional geographical indications, cru, prestigious vineyards whose names appear on the bottle ed). And on the harvest reserve, the tool that allows you to modulate the amount of Barolo that is marketed according to the harvest year. Then improves communication. Little has been done so far".
Really?
"The producers have done it one by one to go around the world to tell the story of their wines and our territory. A creditable action, but now we need one voice to do a promotion on the brand and to do it on those who uncork and drink the bottles, not on those who sell them: in the US, in China, all over the world. To communicate how precious these wines are and what a wonderful story they have".
So far we have talked about Barolo and Barbaresco. And Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera?
"In order to be able to manage Barolo and Barbaresco with the limited effort of the past decades and which have guaranteed these results, the other denominations should, in my opinion, have more flexible rules".
What does this mean?
"With the help of the Langhe DOC to restart Barbera, Dolcetto.... It is a Langhe name that can have the effect of Bordeaux or Burgundy in the world. Let's use it".
It happens already with Langhe Nebbiolo, which has become a kind of second wine for Barolo and Barbaresco.
"Yes, a success and a risk. Because that's how the whole of Langa is "smeared". And Dolcetto is disappearing. A sin and a problem".
So you see a great future?
"Yes, if we don't forget where we come from.... Recently a Nebbiolo patriarch like Beppe Colla died. In 2018 we had already lost Bruno Giacosa, Beppe Rinaldi, Gigi Rosso. Today everything seems easy, but we must not stop trying to understand what has been done and why it has been done to make these wines great".
Back