Sicily Continues as a Strategic Region in the Wine Sector

 Sicily is the second largest ‘vineyard’ in Italy, with 95,760 cultivated hectares, and it is the Region with the most significant surface area cultivated as organic vineyards. This is one of the statistics emerging from the Observatory on the Competitiveness of Wine Regions – Sicily, produced by Nomisma Wine Monitor in collaboration with UniCredit and presented today in Palermo.

The year 2023 was a complex year for the wine sector, with a global decline in imports linked to both circumstantial and structural reasons. Added to an overstocking of purchases by importers, generated by fears of breakages in supply chains and price increases, were the effects of the economic slowdown and the decline in consumer spending capacity, put under pressure by inflationary phenomena. Alongside these impacts of a circumstantial nature, the effects of the structural changes that have long affected wine consumption have become more evident: Reduction in purchases of red wine, the younger generations’ lower propensity to consume, greater attention to alcohol content and orientation of preferences towards wines that are lighter and have lower alcoholic contents.

White wines and organic cultivation are the driving force in Sicily, which is resisting the drop in grape harvests of the last harvest due to extreme climatic events and the attack of downy mildew. Regarding the exports in Sicily in 2023, exports of DOP red wines decreased (-4%) while exports of DOP still white wines grew (+ 7%). The export of Sicilian DOP white wines increased in the United States (+29%), followed by Canada (+13.9%) and Germany (+6.8%). For Sicilian DOP red wines, the greatest export growth occurred with France (+7.5%), followed by the United Kingdom (+6.8%).
However, it should be noted that the ISTAT export data consider the place of shipment abroad, so the quantities of Sicilian wine that do not leave directly from Sicily for abroad but leave from ports located in other regions to which these product volumes are counted as wine exports. Therefore, it is estimated that, actually, the foreign trade of Sicilian wines and musts is higher than the official ISTAT data. The positive data also comes from large-scale organised distribution, where sales of regional DOP wines grew by 5.3% in terms of value (against a national average of +3.4%) and +0.3% in terms of volume (against a decline of -1.9%).

The 2024 edition of the Observatory was bolstered by the results of a survey involving 1,000 Italian wine consumers, representative of the Italian population by gender, age and territorial residence. The objectives of the survey were, among others, to assess the popularity of the leading denomination wines among consumers, identify the regions most appreciated in the production of wines by type, show the consumption behaviour at a territorial level (frequency, purchasing channels, etc.), and see how the Sicily brand is perceived. Sicilian labels placed fifth behind wines from Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto, and Friuli Venezia Giulia. The Island drops to sixth place among red wines, but rises to third for white wines. Grillo is leading this “white” growth.

“The UniCredit-Nomisma study highlights a global and domestic wine market in continuous evolution – pointed out Salvatore Malandrino, UniCredit’s Regional Manager for Sicily – both for reasons internal to the sector and for broader dynamics pertaining to the economic and geopolitical spheres. This is precisely why UniCredit is committed to renewing its range of supporting tools for the sector to complement the traditional credit support. I am thinking, for example, of the 1 billion euro ceiling as part of the ‘UniCredit per l’Italia’ initiative in support of the investments of agricultural and agri-food companies, of the minibond issues and of the renewed structure of our network with the presence of managers and agribusiness specialists, who are able to support the realities of the sector in an even more targeted way”

“Sicilia en Primeur 2024 will be a special edition with a double birthday celebration: twenty-five years since the foundation of Assovini Sicilia and twenty years since the first edition of Sicilia en Primeur. The association, which today brings together one hundred wine companies, is a leader in the history of Sicilian viticulture and its revolution, thanks to the extraordinary vision of its founders and the commitment of the successors and companies that have worked in recent years to promote Sicilian wine as a cultural ambassador in the world, enhancing the diversity of the Sicilian wine continent”, commented Mariangela Cambria, the President of Assovini Sicilia.

On the occasion of the press conference, the 2024 edition of Sicilia en Primeur, the annual preview of Sicilian wines organised by Assovini Sicilia, scheduled from 9th to 11th May ib Cefalù was presented. Cultivating the Future, the theme of Sicilia en Primeur 2024, retraces the most significant stages of Assovini Sicilia projecting itself towards the future —from its birth to today. Over one hundred journalists, both Italian and foreign, fifty-nine associated companies will be participating in the event, as well as Pietro Russo, the new italian Master of Wine, and industry professionals who will lead the scheduled technical seminars. The event, conceived and organised by Assovini Sicilia since 2004, confirms itself as the most important event for Sicilian wine.