These were two of the topics discussed in the framework of the Lecture of the sixth edition of the Sitevi. During the day on Wednesday 14, the talks offered the president of Bodegas de Argentina, Juan José Canay, and Area Director of Wine, Javier Merino highlighted.
The sixth edition of Sitevi Mercosur, on his first day, brought together some 4000 visitors. Bodegas de Argentina and INTA organized commercial Cycle Technical Conferences. During the same on Wednesday, Juan José Canay, president of Bodegas de Argentina, spoke about the prospects of post-harvest wine sector.
Post harvest wine Stage During the conference, one of the points that stood out was that while wine consumption in Argentina and the world had declined since the 70s, the change had is that when choosing a wine consumers now turns to quality. The increase in premium wines has been 70%.
One point of this change is that the per capita income in countries such as China has increased and this makes time to buy a wine choose the highest quality.
Something to note is that despite the worldwide decline in non-producing countries consumption had increased while those offering wines had dwindled. One of the points that was emphasized that Argentina should take advantage of trends that are occurring worldwide. One thing is to grab the attention of new consumers, they are in a range of 30-40 years. These new wine drinkers are curious, they like to try new things as well as test variety and diversity. So in this case Argentina has everything to gain, as it has not only species-rich, but also of areas and most importantly has a 200 year history that it should be noted. Another change that has occurred was the association of wine with gourmet. This has made it look to this drink as a form of pleasure. All this makes the customs that thirty years ago had changed, and in the same way also the consumer. The president of Bodegas de Argentina referred to the future prospects and the market having said that Argentina has major competitors today are the New World countries. That which we have seen, the old world have noticed it, because they see how their wine consumption has fallen and do not know how to attract new consumers. As adopted winemaking techniques and even marketing and packaging strategies of New World countries to enter the market again. As for the weaknesses of Argentina, Canay said the lack of infrastructure, lack of planting vineyards, and the lack of equipment in the cellars are some of the core issues. But for all of this is something that is critical is the lack of funding of the sector does not can continue to grow. Transformations of the Argentine vineyard Then the Wine Area Director, Javier Merino, spoke about the transformation of the Argentine vineyard. During the conversation he said that from 1998 to 2006, the global area planted grew by 2.1% and Argentina is within the group of countries that grew up with China and Australia. The changes that have been occurring in the transformation of the Argentine vineyards are the evolution of the area planted with red grapes, which grew in the last 8 years about 48 thousand hectares to almost 100 thousand, 105% more. While the situation of white and pink was totally different. In the case of the former decreased in the same period to an average of 22%, approximately 65 thousand hectares to 48 thousand, and pink, the decline was 30%, in 98 volumes of these was 90 hectares and in 2006 was 64 thousand. Among the red grapes for wine growth has been 105%. The highest growth was varietal Syrah, a 382% between 1996 and 2006 with a total of 9,825 hectares planted. Then, the second is the Cabernet Sauvignon which grew by 258%, some 12,752 hectares. And the third was growing Malbec, which was a variation of 136%, or about 14,064 more.
While white which decreased by 22% the most significant decline was in the varietal Pedro Jimenez, a drop of 29%. But there are two varieties that the surface has not diminished and in the case of Chardonnay which grew by 117% and 152% Sauvignon Blanc. The most exported grapes are the fastest growing on the surface and which pay best prices, because the expansion is directly related to billing and is directly related to export. That’s why those numbers are reflected. The external and competitive environment, is occurring primarily in the structural transformation of vineyards, switching between quality grapes vs. common grapes and red grapes vs. other grapes, height and new regions in different regions such as San Juan and increased performance of new plantations. And this not only happens in Argentina is occurring worldwide. In turn, the Malbec has led the market transformation of grapes and start having differences by region. For prices of Argentine varieties are far removed from the United States and Australia and below but closer to Chile and South Africa. Although they tend to coalesce. Furthermore remarked on the opportunities and threats in the production of grapes. He said that in the coming years the demand for quality grapes and high investments in land expansion will continue, so that wineries should invest in planting, and equipment to remain competitive in the international market. While one of the threats is the economic context to which it is subjected infinitely Argentina. The lack of investment with a high rate of inflation that punishes long-term investment, difficulties in obtaining long-term financing and growth in land prices in some regions are some of the points. Finally, Javier Merino said the key success factors in the production of grapes for wine are the financial ability to endure years of low prices or adverse weather conditions, the availability of varieties of high demand, flexibility in vineyard management, incorporating permanent technological and good long-term relationships between wineries and grape growers.
