The weather hung cold and gray over northern Italy. Snow lay thick on the ground around Barolo. The weather mirrored the mood of the people, and not least the wine producers.
Aside from the usual suspects -- the rich and connected who generally pay no taxes, shockingly like some in this country -- no one seems to have much liquidity, which is to say money, either to invest or to spend on anything but the bare necessities.
"La crisi" is hitting Italy hard. The boom years are long over -- in the wine sector and beyond. A hopeful headline read, "2010, the comeback year." Not likely.
Forget Italian winemakers conquering China or finding salvation there. What they should be doing is figuring out ways to reconquer the American market. They need new prices (of course), and more. New strategies for self-differentiation and for zonal cooperation. Southerners in particular are too jealous and insecure to band together effectively, as have done many northern Consorzi and associazioni. You can be sure that, as usual, Italian Wine Week will be dominated by big-name regions and appellations from Tuscany north. Yet these very areas tend to offer a less attractive package of me-too wines and unconvincing prices. Brunello or Chianti, anyone?
Let us not delude ourselves on either side of the Atlantic -- 2010 is going to be a tough year. Maybe tougher than 2009.
Italians, you're getting back into Neorealist territory. Survival will be hard. Just don't resort to your old peasant tricks. Keep it (the wine) clean.
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