An export growth of 20.7% compared to 2016 and 16.8% compared to the previous year. Sicilian wine grows abroad but less than you can imagine. Sicily in 2021 was placed in tenth place in Italy on this front, surpassed by Friuli Venezia Giulia: in value the island exported wine for 139.115 million equal to just under two percent of the Italian total. Here are all the salient data of the research carried out by Winemonitor-Nomisma on behalf of UniCredit and presented as part of Sicilia en Primeur, the event organized by Assovini Sicilia (which brings together 90 small, medium or large Sicilian wineries) which is returned to presence in Erice in the province of Trapani.
The markets where wine grows the most
And certainly the data on turnover deriving from exports make us reflect although the trend is clearly positive: compared to 2016 data, the greatest increase was recorded with Canada (93.1%), South Korea (64.3%) , Sweden (52.9%) and the United States (40.3%) while in exports the red Dop Sicilia recorded an increase of 2% compared to 2019 and the whites Dop Sicilia had an increase of 32% compared to 2019 . These are also issues discussed in Sicilia en Primeur which closes on Sunday 1st May and which, obviously, is an event mainly dedicated to presenting the preview of Sicilian wines to the press: over 50 Italian and foreign journalists will participate. at the festival; to these is added the presence of international influencers, Master of Wine, consultants belonging to associations of wine experts with a series of tastings of over 500 wines from the cellars of Assovini Sicilia. “With its 98,000 hectares of vineyard area, our island is by definition a wine continent, inclusive of multiple territorial and historical influences and this is made evident by the incredible variety offered by its wines – Antonio Rallo, president of the Consorzio Vini Doc Sicilia -. 2021 marked a substantial increase in the bottling of Doc Sicilia, for a total of over 95 million bottles produced, setting up an optimistic scenario also for the future, thanks to the quality of the 2021 harvest products that will accompany us in the markets in the coming years. “.
The theme of Sicily in Primeur
The theme chosen for the 2022 edition of Sicilia en Primeur is “Back to the roots. Sicily that lives the future “,” because we want to share and underline the message that wine-growing Sicily is ready for the challenges of tomorrow by treasuring its precious past practices, many of which have remained intact over the years, compatibly with innovation technological – comments Laurent de la Gatinais, president of Assovini Sicilia -. All this has allowed an oenological evolution in respect of the environment and man ».
In Palermo the event dedicated to sustainability
And another event is dedicated to the theme of sustainability this weekend dedicated to Sicilian wine: Monday 2 May in Palermo at the Teatro Santa Cecilia the symposium “Sustainable Interactions” organized by the Sostain Foundation (26 associated wineries of which 15 already certified) will be held of which Alberto Tasca is president: «The Sicilian wine sector is a promoter of good practices in favor of the ecosystem and the culture of sustainable development, with a national and international perspective, starting from Sicily» he says. On this front, the data say it all: Sicily ranks first in Italy for the area dedicated to the organic cultivation of vines. According to the Nomisma data, on the island the surface of organic vineyards is equal to 30,488 hectares equal to 25.2% of the total area of vineyards in Sicily (120 thousand hectares for a total production of 3.660 million hectoliters) and 25 , 9% of the national total cultivated with organic farming which is equal to 117,378 hectares).
An important novelty of the Sostain Foundation is the “100% Made in Sicily” project carried out, thanks to the solicitation of the Sostain Sicily Foundation, by OI for the production of a light bottle, capable of reducing CO2 emissions deriving from the transport of glass, and produced entirely in Sicily with recycled glass from the Region.