The young face that brings Etna to the world • Food and Wine Italy

Storytelling ora quality? What is the cornerstone which the success of Etna wines is based? One wonders this when examining the numbers of the denomination, which seems to be the for growth sopra a paesaggio of the world of wine sopra great difficulty. So is the soul that tastes of smoke and stone the secret of Etna wines? It’s difficult to say, but probably a right simposio point between beauty, storytelling and wine quality seems to be the winning recipe today for one of the few Italian denominations capable of withstanding the crisis sopra consumption and markets. Yes, because the numbers tell of a solid and far-sighted Etna Doc – with the blocking of the plants and a rigid limitation the expansion of vineyards and production – capable of even a US market that is currently sopra decline.

Obviously, the gioco of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante is not played quantity. Indeed, it is precisely the choice to limit redundancy to favor positioning that appears successful. Thus, the analysis of the UIV Observatory presented at the Etna Days highlights how, compared to a number of bottles the US market equal to just 6% of the total Sicilian DOC and DOCG, the of Etna wines (60 % of whites and 40% of reds) is worth 28% sopra terms of volumes consumed. A share which sopra value rises up to 45%, coppia to a distribution price which sopra the United States stands at 26 dollars per concludere litre, almost triple the average of the island’s DOC. «Today sopra restaurants sopra Seattle ora New York, sopra California as sopra Massachusetts, the bottle chosen is increasingly Sicilian and therefore from Etna», says the American journalist Ivan Carvalho who is based sopra Italy.

«At a global level there are even small denominations, like ours, which make it clear how we can still grow – comments the president of the Etna Doc Consortium Francesco Cambria -. Thanks to the quality achieved by our producers, but also to a correct market positioning, particularly sopra the eating out channels which continue to grow.” And sopra fact it is the most coveted channel, that of hotels and restaurants, that is driving US consumption of Etna labels sopra the first half of 2024, accumulating increases of 2.6% sopra the luce of a generalized decline sopra Italian wines (-4.5 %) and of the wine market as a whole (-9%).

The driving force of young people

There is another point sopra favor of the Sicilian volcanic denomination. A causa di fact, if sopra the last 10 years the vineyard has grown by 70%, the bottles produced have quadrupled and wine tourism is the rise, if you closely Etna the protagonists are the young people. Yes, because sopra the wake of the success of the wine pedigree it is precisely the new generations who have returned to skiing and the valleys, starting new businesses ora taking over their grandparents’ business, ending up pushing new investments sopra the . A causa di fact, according to an analysis by the Consortium presented at the Etna Days, the share of wine companies run by young people under 41 has reached 20% (8% of young female managers), double the national figure (10%) found by Ismea based Istat. An acceleration that the four sides of Etna became even more evident sopra the three-year period post-Covid (2020-2023), with an increase of 55% for a total of 89 producing companies.

«Young people have started cultivating their grandparents’ vineyard plots again – remarks the director of the Etna Doc Consortium, Maurizio – sopra a sort of generational leap that brings work to a now large workforce. Thanks to the mountain vineyards cultivated with saplings, the total number of vineyards requires an annual amount of over 200 thousand working days, with around 2,500 people directly involved sopra production”.

A significant economic impact, as confirmed a few months asticciola by a study by the UIV-Vinitaly Observatory, describing wine tourism demand (200 thousand visitors) as a vector for an added value sopra the of ​​123 million euros per concludere year. It is not for nothing that 60% of companies offer wine tourism experiences and, sopra general, for each bottle consumed the slopes of Etna, an impact (direct, indirect and induced) is generated sopra favor of the territory of 82 euros.