 Between the years 2000 and 2007, production increased four-fold: the last harvest produced 2.5 million bottles. And in the towns in this Cgdo area, the number of visitors, tourist facilities and beds are also increasing steadily. Wine alone represents a yearly turnover of 60 million €. Is there a Sagrantino story? Obviously, yes, if over a period of seven years, thirty new cellars have opened.
The figures supplied by the various local towns for the number of visitors staying in hotels and other lodging facilities show that this sector is in very good health, ever more beds, restaurants, wine shops and wine bars, places that is where Sagrantino can be consumed along side the local cuisine.
Some figures. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of visitors to the three main towns in the Cgdo area that are the main attraction points: Bevagna, Gualdo Cattaneo and Montefalco, which along with Castel Ritaldi and Giano dell’Umbria represent the Sagrantino area. In Bevagna, in 7 years alone, Italian and foreign visitors passing through have increased from 9,974 to 17,218, those who stay for any amount of time from 37,420 to 62,693. In Gualdo Cattaneo, 3,583 up to 5,731 for the former and 14,566 up to 27,937 for the latter category. In Montefalco, from 5,399 to 9,560 arrivals and from 20,282 to 30,855 presences.
In total, the five towns have facilities for tourists that amount to 149 structures and 2,027 beds ranging from hotels to farmhouses, country houses, boarding houses and B&Bs. But there are also 86 places where it is possible to taste the local wines (restaurants, wine bars, wine shops). These too are increasing in number, indeed, in Montefalco alone (5,700 inhabitants and 42 outlets: shops, bars and restaurants), 7 new restaurants have opened since 2004.
But who comes to stay “in style” in Sagrantino? Among the Italian visitors, those from Lazio, Lombardy, Veneto, Campania, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany come top. Among the foreigners, the Sagrantino area welcomes above all visitors from the Netherlands, followed by Germans and Britons, that is the countries that take part in the Sagrantino Day International, which is a “global” tasting event planned to take place on 21 April in over 30 Italian and foreign cities. Overseas, the figure for the USA is increasing steadily and it is no longer rare to bump into Japanese and Australian visitors in the alleys of Bevagna and Montefalco.
Is it all thanks to Bacchus? Surely not – stresses Lodovico Mattoni, the President of the Montefalco Consorzio di tutela Vini – but the two phenomena are certainly closely linked. The great efforts made these last years to improve quality, the private investments and local development policies have all made it possible to transform the area into a major tourist attraction”.
Between 2000 and 2007, 30 completely new cellars have been built and a further 2 will open in 2008. In the same period, the Cgdo vineyard surface area has increased five-fold (from 122 to 660 hectares), the production of Sagrantino di Montefalco four-fold (from 666,000 to over 2.5 million bottles for the 2007 harvest). Exports also are increasing, they now represent 35% of total production. Cgdo and Cdo together represent a turnover worth 60 million €.
Over the last few years, trends have shown that quality is also improving (4 stars for the 2004 harvest, the latest to be sold). This has been made possible thanks to the hard work in the vineyards, and for 2008, a further quality effort is expected of the producers, with the umpteenth reduction in yield per hectare: 70 quintals instead of the 80 mentioned in the production conditions and rules. The Montefalco Consorzio di Tutela Vini took this decision at the end of March and it will apply to all designation products.
(23-04-2008 07:17)
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