Rosé wines

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Hate and love of Italian winemaking, rosé remains a mystery for the Bel Paese.
Praised abroad, regarded with suspicion in Italy where, however, it has a strong tradition dating back to 1943.

That very year, American General Charles Poletti, responsible for supplying the Allies, requested the shipment of a significant quantity of Italian rosé.
Thus was born Five Roses of Leo de Castris, the first Italian rosé that with its American name marks a path that has never been denied: nemo propheta in patria.

Italy is in fact the second exporting country in terms of value, after France – the data are the latest available, dating back to 2014 and processed by CIVP, the interprofessional council of Provence wines, which monitors the situation of rosés not only nationally but also globally.

The value of rosé exports, always referring to 2014, is around 1,5 billion euros. Half of this value is covered by the first two players:
France (31%) and Italy (23%), followed by Spain (16%), USA (14%) and South Africa (3%).
The situation changes when it comes to export volumes, where Spain leads the way with 39%, followed by Italy and France (16% each) and the USA (11%).

As for production, estimated at 23,2 million hectolitres, after France we find Spain (19%), the USA (15%) and Italy (11%).

Italy, however, loses ground when it comes to consumption.
France remains in the lead (48%), followed by the USA (13%) and Germany (8%), the UK (6%) and Italy with only 5% of consumption.
Why the great rejection of rosés in the Bel Paese?
In France, one in three wines is rosé and, despite the contraction in consumption, it is estimated that rosé wines will continue to grow (Vinexpo-IWSR data).

Rosé is so popular that some people are even inventing a hypothetical Prosecco Rosé just to ride the wave using the two most popular terms of the moment.

In the meantime, in Italy, events related to rosés continue to hold sway:
da Italy in Pink on the Brescia shore of Lake Garda, at the Anteprima Chiaretto up to the Apulian RosExpo – the National Wine Competition of Italian Rosé Wines, organized by the Puglia region with the involvement of Assoenologi, is currently suspended.

The world of Italian rosés is also evolving.
Already a few years ago the Bardolino Chiaretto had partially modified its specifications, moving towards a uniformity of colour which has a significant impact on consumer recognition.
Now, in terms of denomination, we are talking about even more marked changes, capable of making the rosé a product in its own right, separated even slightly from Bardolino in terms of its nomenclature.

In the meantime, a major chromatic change is taking place not only on the national but also international scene: it is the shift towards a lighter color, similar to that of the rosés of Provence, the region that in terms of numbers and popularity is depopulating the shelves and the counters of the wine bar.

Provence has literally quadrupled its production, reaching the current 160 million bottles and dictates the law so much so that not only the rosés of northern Italy are becoming lighter but also those of the South and even those of France itself.

Thus, we see Apulian rosés that, instead of the usual strong shade, present a light pink, which may please but risks creating a certain perplexity in the consumer.

Provence has also imposed the dry style, especially on American markets where this typology grew by 5% in 2014 alone, so much so that it has been differentiated, even on a commercial level, from the traditional “sweet blush wines” which in the same period instead recorded a contraction similar to that of White Zinfandel, a sweet rosé.

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