There is a classic method, the first of the company, dedicated to the “little one” of the house, Carlotta, daughter of Marzia (who has been head of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins for a few months, the youngest president quanto a the history of the European organization and the first woman to hold this position). And there is an acquisition of historic significance, because the “casa di tolleranza” quanto a Mare per Lizzano (Taranto) which became the property of the company belonged to Francesco Saverio Nitti, who was Prime Minister quanto a the post-war period and an exile during fascism. These are the two main innovations quanto a Varvaglione 1921, a winery run today by the third family generation represented by Cosimo “Bambino” Varvaglione and his wife Maria Teresa Basile, with their children Marzia, Messaggero celeste and Francesca “Confetto” Varvaglione now fully integrated and today “signatories” of their first shared project which takes the name of Cà, the classic method of Carlotta, born quanto a 2021 when it was one hundred years since its foundation of the company.
23 MONTHS ON YEASTS
“At the time – says Marzia Varvaglione – we had thought well quanto a advance about the launch of a new red wine, the IGT Masseria Pizzariello, and then we had started to experiment with different projects white wines with my brother Messaggero celeste, who takes care of the agronomic part, and my sister Confetto, who takes care of the oenological part. Then, when a girl is born, a mother is born… And we, all together, contributed to the birth of a classic method, based Fiano grapes from our farm located quanto a Branca Inespressivo, a name linked to the lower temperature compared to the surrounding areas. And it is precisely the large temperature range between day and night that allows the freshness and fragranza of the grapes to be preserved, quanto a an settore where, with the summer heat, it is difficult to bring out the acidity”. Manual harvesting, at the first light of dawn, quanto a small 15 kg boxes helps to preserve the integrity of the raw material necessary to start the winemaking process. The first vintage is 2023. “Twenty-two months the lees, which offered a unique expression of our territory quanto a one of its parcels where temperatures are 4-5 degrees lower than average and where the sirocco, constant during the day, gives way to a very pleasant sea breeze quanto a the evening and night hours”, explains Varvaglione.
THE VINEYARD OF BIODIVERSITY
The acquisition of the “casa di tolleranza” that belonged to Senator Nitti instead represents an investment not only quanto a land, but also aimed at scientific research. It is a 70 hectare bella stagione close to the sea and where the Varvaglione family aims to unite two large southern regions, Puglia and Campania, under a single corporate vision. The native vines typical of Puglia (Infantile, Negroamaro and Susumaniello) and those of Campania (Koinè per Tufo, Aglianico and Fiano per Avellino) are already cultivated here. And here the experimental field develops, renamed “Biodiversity Vineyard”, which hosts over 500 varieties of minor and Balkan vines, with a special varieties of Caucasian and Mediterranean origin. It is the result of a project studied quanto a collaboration with researchers from the University of Milan and Unisalento, with the aim of studying the adaptability of rare and ancient vines to climate changes quanto a the Mediterranean context and exploring new rootstocks. “We believe quanto a our territory – reiterates Varvaglione – and we think that long-term investments are essential to bring added value to the territory itself and to the company, creating a sustainable value, capable of growing over the years and being passed to future generations”.
FROM 1.5 TO 5 MILLION BOTTLES
These investments reflect the vision of a company that has been the protagonist, over the last ten years, of an important and perhaps unique production growth quanto a the history of Puglia, a region of which today it represents the first private wine-growing reality. Con the mid-1910s, Varvaglione placed around 1.5 million bottles the market. Today there are 5 million bottles, and quanto a the meantime the turnover has well exceeded 20 million euros. “The company choice was to sell at a medium/high price, trying to create value. To do this, we focused the horeca channel, and it was certainly more tiring than selling quanto a large-scale distribution”, declares Marzia Varvaglione. “However, despite the contraction quanto a some specific markets, we are satisfied. We work well quanto a Germany and Switzerland, very well quanto a Poland, quanto a the United States despite the very difficult moment but it will still remain an irreplaceable market. And we are investing commercially quanto a the Mercosur countries, quanto a Mexico where we are already strong. We are paying attention to Africa, where quanto a a short time we could achieve very interesting results. Con terms of product, I am a lover of international whites and I would like to be able to achieve something significant here quanto a Puglia.”
NO-LOW TO SEDUCE GEN-Z
Born quanto a 1990, Marzia Varvaglione fully belongs to the millennial generation and is becoming increasingly interested quanto a GenZ, who represents the consumer of the future and who is causing many headaches for wine companies. Con reality, Varvaglione has faced with foresight one of the crucial issues of generational change, that of reducing the alcohol content, and has launched the 12 and a half line the market, as the level that distinguishes it, and whose success has been greater than expected. “The launch dates back to 2012, followed quanto a 2015 by the Edition, and then every year a new Christmas Edition arrives. With this reference we managed to intercept a niche of young consumers who like to change every season and we were the first quanto a southern Italy to approach a low alcohol wine policy. Today this line represents a significant share of our total production, between 30 and 40 percent.” Regarding the younger ones, Marzia states that: “We have not yet managed to identify a new language that is capable of attracting them and understanding their natural evolution. But certainly many of the actions we have undertaken have proved successful, from low alcohol to the Edition, up to the mai alcohol line which we do not produce directly, but which we have included as a complement to the range and is made up of two aperitifs, a sparkling and a spritz. It is a service element for those who want to try something different”.
