Italy's vintners eye China, Russia to boost sales

China, Russia and Brazil, where consumers are discovering the pleasure of wine, will power the growth of Italy's wine exports while the core U.S. market recovers, industry experts say.

Wine exports from Italy, which competes with France for the position of the world's biggest producer, rose about 11 per cent to $5.62 billion in 2010, according to industry data, as markets recovered from the global downturn.

"Germany and the United States are the most powerful drivers for our sector growth," said Lamberto Vallarino Gancia, chairman of the Italian trade body Federvini, on the sidelines of Vinitaly, a major wine trade fair.

"In the future, I would add China and Brazil, and some other markets which are still small but are growing very rapidly, like those in eastern Europe," he told Reuters.

"The future growth is linked to export."