Amarone driving force behind surging sales of Valpolicella
Valpolicella wine sales have jumped by 18% in the past year, with Amarone, the region's famous dried grape red wine driving much of the growth.
According to the Valpolicella wine consortium, Amarone its saw sales surging by 38% to 31st May, after a disastrous start to the year when sales in January were down by nearly a quarter compared to the same month last year, making this the best period for the northern Italian wine region for over a decade.
"A total of 7.4 million bottles were brought to market in this period, two million more than last year,” commented president of the Consortium Christian Marchesini. “Not only is the quantity excellent, but the performance also gives us hope. According to the latest price list of the Chamber of Commerce of Verona, the open goods have increased by 4.5%”
This result is being attributed to a combination of the restrictive measures of the consortium as well as the flexibility of many small businesses, which quickly pivoted to formerly unfamiliar territory such as e-commerce and food retail.
Valpolicella achieved an overall growth of 14% after a strong pick-up in the month of May (+48%) while Ripasso closed with an increase of 12%. Stocks are down for all varieties of Valpolicella, especially Amarone and Recioto. In May 2021, five million fewer bottles fwere registered than in May 2020, an 8% decrease.