Wine, Franciacorta wins the evening of the Emmy Awards

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At the Emmys, the Los Angeles TV Oscars, this year we will toast with Franciacorta bubbles. The Brescian wine consortium has just won a three-year contract with the Television Academy as the official sponsor of the prestigious Stars and Stripes award, the 75th edition of which is scheduled for September 18th. «It’s a pity that we will be in the middle of the harvest, otherwise I would have gladly gone to the grand gala», admits Silvano Brescianini, president of the Franciacorta Consortium, who took home a great satisfaction. «Thanks to the partnership with the Chamber of Fashion we have already been present at the Milan Fashion Week for ten years – recalls Brescianini – and we are also partners of the Michelin Guide, Porsche and the Mille Miglia. Now this international goal too, which in the year of Brescia and Bergamo as capitals of Italian culture falls really well».

On the night of the Emmys, therefore, the stars of the world’s television series will toast Franciacorta. Which of the 126 associates will represent the consortium? «We will bring more labels to the parterre – says the president – starting with those that are already distributed in the USA». To date, out of 20.2 million bottles of Franciacorta, only 2.3 million are exported. For a consortium with a turnover of between 400 and 450 million euros a year, international consumers are therefore worth only 11%. «But in the last ten years they have doubled», says Brescianini: in first place of destinations is Switzerland, where a fifth of all the glasses exported arrive; Japan is in second place, with a share of 13.7%. With 12.1%, the USA is in third place: «Today the United States is the most important market for wine worldwide and their economy is flying – says Brescianini – two weeks ago I was in Miami, Chicago and New York and I have seen with my own eyes that both the spending power and consumption of Americans are growing».

Compared to 2019, sales of Franciacorta in the USA increased by 18%. But two variables weigh on future growth: «The first limit is the land – explains the president – in recent years our production has decreased due to frost and climate change, which decreases yields. The second is the size of our companies, which are family-owned or very small and for them to equip themselves to go to a market as distant as the US is more difficult». Out of 126 members, only 20 export to America today: this is why the Consortium pushes on promotion, and the partnership with the Emmys will be the spearhead of the activities over the next three years.

However, Franciacorta played at home for a while in Los Angeles. The CEO of the Television Academy, Frank Scherma, loves cooking and has a grandfather from Palermo. «Franciacorta will be a great ambassador of Made in Italy at the Emmys and I promise to visit its producers the next time I come to Italy», he says. The official list of sponsors for the 2023 edition will be announced in July, but for Franciacorta the Academy has made an exception: «It’s the first time we’ve worked with an Italian brand – he says – your design and your cuisine are very popular in the US”. Are our TVs too? «Giants like Netflix – argues Scherma – have many French productions, but just as they have recently brought South Korean series to success, the same thing could happen in the future with Italian ones. The second series of White Lotus produced by Hbo, for example, is set in Sicily». And it has also had some success: during the last edition of the Emmys it pocketed 10 statuettes.