Legacy Brings Old World Italian Wine to the New World Chinese Consumer

Legacy Wine and Spirits International Ltd. (LWSP:

legacy wine & spirits intl l com

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Last: 0.90-0.03-3.23%
3:59pm 11/17/2008
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LWSP 0.90, -0.03, -3.2%) reports that the company has begun the process of importing select brands of Chianti, Syrah, Montepulciano d' Abruzzo, Nero d' Avalo and others from the wine producing regions of Sicily, Venice, Piedmont and other lesser known areas of Italy.

As reported by the wine website www.italianmade.com, Italy's glowing reputation with wine is due not only to the fact that it produces and exports more than any other country but that it offers the greatest variety of grapes, covering the spectrum of color, flavor and style in wine. A vast majority of Italian grapes and varietals can only be grown in Italy and thus fall under the strict regulations of the Italian government's appellation system.

According to the International Wine and Spirit Record, Chinese wine sales could grow by more than 80% by 2011. China, currently the leading wine market in Asia and 10th in global consumption (soon to be ninth), is one of the fastest-growing markets on the planet. Recently American auction house Acker Merrall & Condit held its first auction in Hong Kong in May and sold more than $8 million worth of wine in one day, setting a new record for Asia.

Sipping and swooning with Italy's wine royalty

The royalty of Italian wine visited Miami this week, bringing some of that country's rarest and best wines. The group of 18 top producers, called Il Grandi Marchi, is led by Tuscan pioneer Piero Antinori.

''We are all highly individualistic, competitors but with a real friendship,'' said Antinori.

Their wines are individualistic too.

''Our wine is an expression of our soil,'' says Alberto Chiarlo, who poured a powerful, mineral-scented barbera. ``We used to feel inferior to barolo, so we want to make a very special wine.''

Barolos, meanwhile, are trying to soften their image. Based on the inky nebbiolo grape, they have been known as powerfully tannic when young, needing years of aging. That's changing.

''It's partly because of global warming,'' said Pio Boffa, of Pio Cesare. ``But we also learned to decrease our yield, which makes the grapes ripen earlier.''