Robert Steele / Passion statement

"In the UK market awash with BOGOF Chardonnays and identikit Merlots the wine enthusiast’s palate is looking to find new and exciting flavours. Italy has them all" – Robert Steele director, For the Love of Wine

Italian wines at the moment, to quote The Clash on the classic London Calling album, are “all lost in the supermarket”.

In these “must have it now and haven’t got time to think about what I’m buying” times, most of Joe Public write their shopping list as “wine, cheese, chilli and bananas”. Now I may be wrong, but I don’t think many of us have ever written the shopping list as “Sangiovese, Gorgonzola, Scotch Bonnets and Cavendish”. In this world Italian wine quietly gets lost in the supermarket, as the super brands shout loudly at the punter.

You would think that Italian wine would be right up there with all the trendy Italian lifestyle trappings like the espresso machine and Milanese fashions. We eat pizza and pasta, nibble on sun-dried tomatoes. Most red-blooded men would love to drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini at full throttle. Italy is a country full of passion, colour and history.

But when it comes to Italian wine, the majority of the public, at least most that I meet, have a very low perception of Italian wine. You could put it into three categories: the cheap plonk from the local pizza place, big heavy reds that take an age to become drinkable, and Pinot Grigio.

There is nothing wrong with cheap plonk as long as it is drinkable, and sold as cheap plonk and not dressed up as something else. There is nothing wrong with big heavy reds that need age – look at Brunello and Barolo to name but two. As for Pinot Grigio, well what can you say apart from thanking Terry Wogan? If a good Pinot Grigio is the first Italian wine that you have enjoyed, then great.

The perception has to change, and the question is who is responsible for doing this? I believe it is down to the importers. We are the ones who are closest to the wine and to the producers, and we are the ones that have the passion. But I would like some help from the Italians. A better understanding of the UK market would be a very good start!

Every time I talk to a producer, they are always under the illusion that Italian wine is in the top two or three wine countries sold in the UK. It’s a bit hard sometimes to tell them, “Actually, you are about fifth.”

I am not talking about a generic “Italian Wine is Great” type of campaign, as I don’t think they work, but I would like to see more of a willingness to listen and to work with the likes of us. I would also like to see less reliance on the bigger players’ views. It’s time to start speaking to the smaller and medium-size importers and producers. And it’s not just the Italians, but the UK-based wine writers too. But I do see a light at the end of the tunnel, admittedly very faint. It’s not from major players. It’s from the likes of us – For the Love of Wine – and other independents.

Italy has to re-evaluate its strengths, and to me a main strength is the vast amount of indigenous grapes it has. In the UK market awash with BOGOF Chardonnays and identikit Merlots – and yes I know Italy is not blameless in this department – the wine enthusiast’s palate is looking to find new and exciting flavours. Italy has them all.

The problem is: where are you going to get them from? The growing band of independent wine merchants is where. These brave wine fans, (and you’re not going to be anything but a wine fan to set up a wine shop, are you?) are passionate and enthusiastic. As they have the time to talk to their customers, they can educate them about the multitude of grapes and flavours.

I can now hear all my wine shop customers saying, “Oi, Robert you know we sell other countries’ wine too!” That is the important thing about the independents – they give space to all their products, be it French, German or South African. For Italy to climb back up the UK charts, it is time for the people who run “Italian Wine PLC” to refocus and look at the growing independent sector, not the supermarkets and multiples. Will that ever happen?

Well, we will be doing our part here at For the Love of Wine, and I am sure that the independents will get stronger. Will the Italians see it? I do hope so.

As an aside, Cavendish is the most widely sold banana in the UK. But in total there are nearly 300 different varieties of banana. Makes you wonder: whatever happens to the rest of them?

© db July 2006