ROME, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic is changing the way Italian wine is sold, and analysts say it is unlikely to go back to the way it was once the virus is less of a threat.

Restaurants and bars -- normally the top domestic market for Italian wine -- have either been shuttered or been open for business for a dramatically limited period for most of the last year, starting when Italy became the first European country to declare a national coronavirus lockdown.

Blocked from spending evenings out, Italians turned to direct sales. Exports, already a priority for the Italian wine industry before the pandemic, have taken on a new importance, analysts said.

"The industry has been hurt by the closure of restaurants and bars and we don't expect things to get back to normal until at least late 2022," Paolo Castelletti, general secretary of the Italian Wine Union, a key industry group, told Xinhua. "Wine sellers and distributors have had to adapt."

According to research from the Nomisma Wine Monitor Observatory, the number of Italians buying wine from online retailers has grown by at least 10 percent over the last year, with the average cost per order growing as well. Added to that are rising sales for direct in-person sales, such as from wine shops and supermarkets.

"Online sales have seen a dramatic increase, especially for those retailers that advertise or that already had a significant presence before the pandemic," Enrico Sabino, an independent consultant who works with online retailers specializing in wine and food, said in an interview.

Sabino said the increase is not nearly enough to compensate for the drop and sales to restaurants and bars, though at least some of those retailers have switched to online sales in recent months.

"Before, a restaurant manager might order eight or ten cases from a distributor and get a discounted price," he said. "Now, with limited hours and everything closed at night that the same manager might order two cases from an online seller."

Francesca Filippone, managing director of L3, a business development consultancy specializing in the food and wine sectors, told Xinhua the pandemic has only sped up the growth of interest in export markets, particularly to fast-growing markets in Asia.

"Markets in Europe and the United States are almost fully developed, but there is room for strong growth in the Asian markets," Filippone said.

She said the fact that China's economic recovery from the pandemic added to the growing popularity for Italian wine in the country has made it a particularly interesting export market for Italian wine exporters. Filippone said the upcoming Vinitaly China Chengdu wine market will be a popular event for Italian wine industry players looking to make up for a lost time in the Chinese market.

Castelletti, Sabino, and Filippone all said some aspects of the new sales strategies for Italian wines will last beyond the pandemic, whether it is the habit of Italian consumers to buy more wine directly for the home or for retailers to focus more on exports.

"I think that when restaurants and bars reopen there will be a huge, pent-up demand and they will be full," Castelletti said. "But that does not mean everything will go back to normal. The strategies in place now will be more relevant than they were before the pandemic." Enditem

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