US Import of Nobile di Montepulciano Up 17%
Staff Writer - March 22, 2006
 With a growth of 17% over the previous year, the Nobile di Montepulciano (Noble from Montepulciano) has contributed strongly to the rise of Italian wine imports to the US, which in 2005 recorded a total of growth of 11.4%.
In 2002 the export of Italian wines toward the US was at a low a 7.2%, but in 2004 the tide turned around and the percentage touched 9.9%, and in 2005 come the confirmation of the current success of 'made in Italy' wines, which today account for about one third of all imported wines.
"This result does not surprise us," announced Paolo Solini, manager of the Nobile di Montepulciano Wine Consortium. "Given the strong commitment of the Consortium, and above all of the producers, who implemented focused promoting strategies in a country, the United States, which currently represents one of the largest markets for our sector." In general, the sales of Montepulciano wines have been positive with exponential growth for both the Nobile, or the top product, and the Rosso di Montepulciano (Red from Montepulciano).
The 2005 sales balance marked a 17.25% increase for the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG. The wine is back in a positive position, after two years of lower sales because of the world consumer crisis, though it did not decrease as much as other high quality wines. The Rosso DOC imports increased 17.06%, continuing its uninterrupted rise and confirming itself as a consumer favorite.
According to ICE, wine is the Italian food product most imported to the United States, which in 2005 imported from Italy a total of 222.2 million liters of wine and vermouth (around 58.7 million gallon, or 8.9% more than in 2004), for a value of $1,080 billion dollars (check the value in other currencies ). This amount to around 31% of all US wine imports and keeps Italy ahead of the closer competing wine producing countries, namely Australia and France.
The current production of Nobile di Montepulciano is valued around €42 million, while production of the Rosso DOC is over €10 million. In addition to the US, other major importers of Nobile wine are Switzerland, Germany, UK, Low Lands, Japan, Canada and Austria.
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