ROME «Rome is the largest Calabrian city with over 500,000 Calabrians and this event is growing significantly. We are investing in this important event destined to grow further in the coming years, also because the climate allows it and the city allows it. We have continued to invest in the communication of our excellent wines. Today we reported an extraordinary result at World Concours Brussels 2024 which was held in Mexico with many medals won by our producers. I believe that this support through intense promotional activity for our wines is fundamental and we are continuing with a claim that we have already brought to Vinitaly where it all began because ours is the land of wine”. With these words the regional councilor for Agriculture Gianluca Gallo intended to testify to the incisive presence of the Calabria Region at “Vinòforum”the largest wine event taking place in Rome these days in the spectacular location of the Circus Maximus.
«Ours – highlighted Gallo – is a small movement, 16 million bottles even less this year with the downy mildew phenomenon, and therefore it is not easy for our wine to be everywhere. However, we are also trying to change the reputation of our wines, we are trying to increase it in such a way as to ensure that our products begin to be branded. I believe that in recent years our movement has grown a lot. Now it must become recognisable. We are doing it through this support action. We want to support our wine producers who have focused on quality in recent years. I often say that the ambition you need to have is that of quality and they had it because they managed the generational transition from fathers to sons, from grandparents to grandchildren well. There are many young people and women involved in our cellars, they have appointed oenologists of national and international importance, improving the quality of the movement. We consider all this exemplary in a region that must focus on quality and we want to fully support this small movement, but also great in quality, also for other sectors so that this action is pedagogical”.
For Gallo «Calabria – continues Gallo – is starting to be recognisable, already at this stage of the year our wineries tell us that they have almost finished their wines which in the last year have increased their prices and no one has contested this among their traders and intermediaries. The objective is to increase production values and above all to ensure that our winemakers and our wine producers are satisfied with their work.”
Export data and the Calabria brand
The export data also highlights a positive trend in 2024. «It is the ninth consecutive quarter – underlines Gallo – the first quarter of 2024 which actually sees us at 26.9% more in terms of exports. We go against the trend compared to the data for the rest of the country, we are in line with the data for southern Italy, but we are the first ever. We are not used to being the first ever, we feared that these data were random in 2022, we confirmed everything in 2023, I think there is also a movement in the growing wine sector. All this must push us to do better and better, to focus on the quality of the promotional action as well as on the quality of the productions, to ensure that this Calabria brand you’re starting to be appreciated by everyone, also because we honestly deserve it.”
If Vinitaly is something historically established, the Circus Maximus area is suggestive and fascinating. But where is the story at? Sibari? «The matter in Sibari – explains Gallo – is in an advanced state, there have been inspections by Verona Fiere already in recent weeks and everything went well. The event will take place on 30-31 August and 1 September in Sibari at the archaeological park and I believe that on that occasion Calabria will once again be able to demonstrate that it can organize these events at home, to make a good impression and above all demonstrate all the best by wearing the best clothes in a context that will finally be national in Calabria too”.
«Our cellars will have an autonomous, individual space available»
Gallo responds thus on the possibility of finally realizing it a single large wine event in Calabria. «This is an idea that we have – he admits –. For example, from this point of view, the first message we will launch through Vinitaly in the City in Sibari will be because, naturally, our cellars will have an autonomous, individual space available. This is our event, albeit with the Vinitaly brand. And then this could be the beginning of a path which naturally must see the protection consortia at the forefront, of which there are four and which I hope to unite soon, perhaps through a superstructure. Because this movement, which in itself does not have extraordinary numbers in terms of quantity, must naturally be unified to have a single umbrella brand which is the Calabria brand.” ([email protected])
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