Italian market of organic wine: a survey on production system characteristics and marketing strategies

Currently, for organic wine it is meant a product obtained from organic raw materials that i) uses products and (if available) substances authorised in Annex VIIIa of Reg. 203, obtained as well from organic raw materials and ii) is subject to processes and oenological treatments provided in Reg. 203. Even before this Regulation, in the wine sector many stakeholders had shown a growing interest for organic production. In Italy, and in many other countries, in recent decades a movement of producers has grown, who have started referring to their wines as “natural”, and to rely on official certification model and on Origin Based Labels (PDO and PGI). Considering the equivalence arrangement established between EU and US, organic certification from EU Reg. 203 must be totally accepted from the US market without any other kind of document: this is very important for the organic wine export because US consumers appear really interested in organic wine purchase (Vastola et al., 2009; www.winemonitor.it).This paper aims to analyse the main characteristics of the organic wine sector in Italy before Regulation 203 entered into force, taking into account also biodynamic and similar productions. In particular the study focuses on marketing practices, either in promotional and in strategic terms, adopted by wineries. By reflecting on the survey results, it may be possible to define the potential of European certified organic and biodynamic wine on the Italian market.