The value of Italian wine exports in 2008 set a new record of some 3.5 billion euros while wine production in Italy for the first time surpassed that of France, the Coldiretti farmers' union said on Wednesday.
Demand was particularly high from the United States and Germany, the union added, with an estimated one out of three bottles consumed in the US coming from Italy.
Wine production in Italy last year rose 5% to some 45 million hectoliters, Coldiretti said, while production fell 5% in France which produced 44 million hectoliters.
Italy remains the biggest exporter to the US - ahead of Australia and France - where the popularity of Tuscan wines like Chianti and Brunello is now being matched by that of the Piedmont redd Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and Grignolino.
