WINE: VERDICCHIO IS THE BEST WHITE WINE IN ITALY

GAMBERO ROSSO, VERONELLI AND AIS ARE THE MOST CREDIBLE GUIDES ACCORDING TO ITALIAN CONSUMERS

A study carried out by Professor Micozzi, lecturer of Marketing in the Department of Management at the Polytechnic University of the Marches, in collaboration with Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini IMT, shows that Verdicchio is the white wine that has won the most awards from Italian wine guides and is most appreciated by wine lovers in Italy.

Verdicchio is the still white wine that has won the most awards from the Italian wine guides in 2014. A few days after the publication of the most influential wine guides of the sector, Professor Gabriele Micozzi, lecturer of marketing at the Polytechnic University of the Marches in collaboration with the Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini (IMT) catalogued the winning wines and the awards given by six of the most authoritative publications (Bibenda, Slow Wine, Gambero Rosso, Vini d’Italia de l’Espresso, Veronelli, Vinibuoni d’Italia 2014). The research was carried out on two lines: winning wines with at least 1 award and a second analysis of the credibility, reliability and reach of the wine guides amongst Italian consumers.

The first branch of analysis showed that out of wines of white grape varieties (containing at least 85% of the mentioned grape), Verdicchio was top of the rankings of the still white wines receiving awards in the 2014 guides. Overall, the ambassador wine of the Marches gained 57 top scores ahead of Fiano (35), Sauvignon (31), Soave (30), Friulano (27) and Chardonnay (26). The director of IMT (the consortium with 850 members covering 16 appellations representing 90% of the wine exported from the Marches), Alberto Mazzoni said, “The guides’ appreciation (of Verdicchio) reflects the evolution of Verdicchio and the hard work that has been put in by the producers to improve quality. This work is a looking glass onto the uniqueness of an indigenous grape variety that makes wines with great structure and longevity. In the past ten years, sales of Italy’s champion of white wine have increased by 500% and the average price per bottle has risen significantly. This upward turn has been repeated also in exports which this year will also stand to register a two figure increase (10%).” Gabriele Micozzi, professor of marketing at the Polytechnic University of the Marches, added, “the success of Verdicchio is an example of how it is possible to work together on a regional level and develop a project around promoting a brand of an area. A unique project that uses resources made available from the Rural Development Plan (RDP) and EU CMO wine programme are facilitate promotion of regional PDO wines on international markets.

To give the research a ‘consumer’ context, the reliability and credibility of the guides was evaluated using a questionnaire completed by a random sample of 1357 people across Italy. The analysis then revealed an “index of credibility” of the guides placing Gambero Rosso (8.86 index) at the top followed by Veronelli (0.77) and Bibenda (0.72) in second and third places. Considering the number of awards won by the types of wine against the index of credibility, Verdicchio was firmly at the top of the classification with a large gap back to the other 6 aforementioned wines. The influence of the credibility index modified the rankings as follows:  Verdicchio (33,18), Sauvignon (22,18), Fiano (20,39), Chardonnay (18,21), Soave (18,07) and Friulano (15,11).

With 24 million kilos of grapes produced in 2013, Verdicchio is the most widely produced wine in the Marche region and over 50% of the production is exported. The Istituto Marchigiano di Tutela Vini guarantees the authenticity of the various types of wines produced within the Verdicchio appellations and has been supporting producers of Verdicchio since 1999.

Top Ten of wines with awards from wine guides

	WINE	TOTAL AWARDS GIVEN BY WINE GUIDES
1°	Verdicchio	57
2°	Fiano	35
3°	Sauvignon	31
4°	Soave	30
5°	Friulano	27
6°	Chardonnay	26
7°	Passito	22
8°	Malvasia	20
9°	Moscato	18
10°	Pinot bianco	17

Top Ten of wines with awards from wine guides adjusted for the credibility index

	WINE	OVERALL SCORE
1°	Verdicchio	33,18
2°	Sauvignon	22,18
3°	Fiano	20,39
4°	Chardonnay	18,21
5°	Soave	18,07
6°	Friulano	15,11
7°	Passito	14,23
8°	Pinot bianco	13,19
9°	Riesling	10,99
10°	Moscato	10,88

 F: IMTdoc nov 2013