From Marketwatch:
"At Taylor’s Wine Shop in Raleigh, North Carolina, Italian wine sales are on the rise this year and up significantly recently thanks to six-pack samplers featuring 750-ml. bottles from small wineries. Taylor’s has been offering two six-pack samplers — one white and the other red — of Italian wines this September. Taylor’s has also planned a “Small Vineyards Italian Wine Dinner” on October 9 with Jody Allen at Encore Ristorante in Raleigh. The five-course feast ($180) features five artisanal wines from family operated single estates. “We specialize in small, family-owned wineries,” says Cory Lyerly, store wine buyer and manager.
The white wine sampler ($116/six 750-ml. bottles) includes three wines from Campania — 2023 Terre di Valter ($23), 2024 Benito Ferrara Vigna Cicogna ($35), and 2024 Ciro Picariello Fiano Irpinia ($30)—and 2024 Argiolas “Meri” ($18) from Sardinia, Il Meridione ($11) from Sicily, and 2023 Ronchi Friulano ($23) from Friuli-Venezia Giulia. “I try to introduce Italian varietals that might be new to people but have been growing there forever,” Lyerly says.
The red sampler six-pack ($139) includes four offerings from Tuscany – 2020 Pagliarese Chianti Classico ($24), 2023 Piaggia Pietranera Toscana ($28), 2023 Altesino Rosso Di Montalcino ($29), 2022 Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ($33) — and 2024 Tre Monti Campo di Mezzo Sangiovese ($22) from Romagna, and 2021 Arnaldo Caprai Montefalco Rosso from Umbria ($26). “We are huge fans of small vineyard imports,” Lyerly says.
Italian wines are the top-selling import category at Taylor’s, and the most popular price point is in the $20-$25 a 750-ml. range. The Giovine family produces the most popular offerings for the retailer and range in price from $12 a 750-ml. of Giovine Valerio Rosso to $25 for 2021 Giovine Inno alla Vita Barbera d’Nizza. “It’s a tiny winery our local importer brings in,” Lyerly says. “We sell a lot of wines from them across the board. Everything from them is popular for us. We also do well with the big hitters like 2020 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Pianrosso Brunello di Montalcino ($98 a 750-ml.).”
Source: Marketwatch Mag - https://www.marketwatchmag.com/retail-tier-celebrates-italian-wines/