Luding Group has become the exclusive distributor in Russia of the Italian winery Allegrini

Alcohol importers continue to compete for well-known European producers of premium wines. Thus, Luding Group became the exclusive distributor in the Russian Federation of the Italian winery Allegrini, which was previously part of the MBG Wine portfolio. Expensive European wines were less affected by the increase in import duties, but to work with such an assortment, expertise is needed, market participants say.

The large importer of alcohol Luding Group has become the exclusive distributor in Russia of the Italian winery Allegrini, Luding told Kommersant. The portfolio includes ten positions of this brand and three other lines of the manufacturer – Corte Giara, San Polo and Poggio al Tesoro, the group clarifies. The terms of the contract and planned sales volumes were not disclosed there. The cost of Allegrini wines available in the Luding catalog is from 3.3 thousand rubles. per bottle and above.

Allegrini dates back to the 16th century and is considered a leading producer in the Valpolicella area and one of the most famous Italian wine houses. Today the company unites four estates in Veneto and Tuscany with vineyards covering more than 240 hectares. The Italian office of Allegrini did not answer Kommersant.

As Luding notes, wines from Italy are highly popular in Russia and inclusion in the Allegrini portfolio will expand the representation of recognized wines from the country on the local market. According to data from market participants available to Kommersant, in January-July 2023, imports of still wines from Italy increased by 30% year-on-year, to 35.17 million liters. Without taking into account the EAEU, Italy during this period ranked first in the supply of still wines to Russia with a share of 18.7% of imports in the category.

Previously, MBG Wine was the distributor of Allegrini in Russia. The head of the board of directors of this company, Irina Fomina, confirmed to Kommersant that it was decided not to continue cooperation with the manufacturer. According to her, the owners of Allegrini took a “completely unconstructive and divorced from the realities of the Russian market” position. As Ms. Fomina explained, having suspended shipments for political reasons for six months, Allegrini then offered to resume them with an advance payment and with a price increase of 30–50%.

Ladoga Import Director Dmitry Zhurkin says that Allegrini is a popular brand and a successful addition to the portfolio, and accompanying farms that come in a “trailer” are rather a burden for the distributor, since the requirements for their representation and sales volumes will be straining. The executive director of the Fort wine trading company, Alexander Lipilin, calls Allegrini an “interesting” producer, adding that this is not the first time that it changes suppliers in Russia. According to him, the sales potential will depend on the distributor’s expertise in working with premium wines.

The head of the WineRetail information center, Alexander Stavtsev, notes that there have been difficulties with the supply of iconic wine brands to Russia in the last year, and Allegrini is a well-known brand, although it does not belong to the first echelon. Wines in this price category are also less affected by increased import duties, the expert noted. From August until the end of 2023, duties on wines from unfriendly countries, to which the Russian government includes the EU, are increased from 12.5% ​​to 20%, but not less than $1.5 per liter. The last month before the tariff increase turned out to be a record for wine imports since the beginning of this year: in January-July, supplies of all wines to the Russian Federation increased by 42% year-on-year, to approximately 251 million liters (see “Kommersant” dated September 1).

In addition, Mr. Stavtsev notes, following the fashion for exotic wines, the popularity of recognized regions and styles is also returning to the wine market. Dmitry Zhurkin says that Ladoga also plans to expand the Italian wine portfolio, including through farms from the Veneto region, Piedmont, and Sardinia.

Anatoly Kostyrev