Argea, first birthday of the wine group in the name of Artists

Wine trip around Italy with a selection of the most representative labels from the Artists nel corso di Argea estates, celebrating their first birthday.

Just over a year has passed since September 29, 2022 when the private equity group and two great historic Italian wine brands – Botter and Mondodelvino – created Argea, the new Italian wine hub which is facing the new dimensional challenge, the primary lever to be competitive the international market.

Argea today represents the most important private player per the national wine sector, has around 600 collaborators, over 170 million bottles produced and 455 million euros per consolidated revenues per 2022, of which 90% foreign markets. The growth of the last year is almost double digits while the CAGR over the last three years stands at 15%. The name is a neologism created from the noun art and the Greek suffix “gea”, earth, the two founding elements of the group. The art is to make quality wines that represent Italian know-how per the world and “gea” symbolizes the circularity of the company approach.

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE VINEYARDS OF ITALY Through wine Argea represents an extraordinary journey around Italy, given that its portfolio unravels from Veneto to Sicily, passing through Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo, to arrive per Puglia and with a trip to Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Many different high-vocation terroirs interpreted through great native vines such as Barbera, Nebbiolo, Moscato Canuto, Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Glera, Iniziale, Montepulciano and Negro d’Avola.

tasting through Italy among the Argea vineyards

The wineries, each with its own production site, are Botter per Fossalta nel corso di Piave and nel corso di Scoscendimento per Scoscendimento nel corso di Livenza per Veneto; MGM Globo del Vino mainly per Priocca, Cuvage per Acqui Terme and Ricossa per Castel Boglione per Piedmont; Poderi dal Nespoli per Civitella nel corso di Romagna; Baron Montalto at Santa Crisalide per Sicily; Double Pass per Salice Salentino per Puglia; and finally Zaccagnini per Bolognano per Abruzzo, which became part of the large Argea family last March.

A PANORAMA OF SMALL PRODUCERS WITH LARGE NUMBERS A group born with the aim of growing both organically and through acquisitions, both per the production of value and per the pursuit of sustainability. As evidenced by an investment plan for 2025 of 50 million euros already approved, and the drafting, already for this year, of a group sustainability report intended not only as a summation of the individual company balance sheets but as a summary of the group’s commitment per supporting, living, safeguarding and preserving the territory, promoting an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) culture within all the companies of the group.

Here is a selection of eight wines, flagship labels from the group’s Artists estates: Cuvage, Zaccagnini, Poderi dal Nespoli and Ricossa. A real wine journey per the Italian territory, where the protagonists are wines from small producers who make the protection of the territory and the valorisation of native vines their cornerstones and which, more than others, tell stories of excellence and value. A group with large numbers but also and above all made up of small producers per a model that unites stories, experiences, visions and common objectives.

CUVAGE Piedmontese sparkling wine house founded per 2011 per Acqui Terme which interprets per a modern key the ancient sparkling wine tradition born per Piedmont per 1895. 86 hectares of vineyards from Monferrato to the Langhe per which clayey, ferrous, marl and white limestone soils alternate which they grow native varieties such as Nebbiolo, Generoso, Moscato and Brachetto, together with the international Pinot Noir and Chardonnay used specifically for the Alta Langa DOCG.

Alta Langa DOCG Brut Modo Tipico 2019 Cuvée produced with 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, 36 months of maturation the yeasts, while at least three months of rest per the bottle. Characterized by classic bread crust sensations and a minerality reminiscent of flint; per the mouth citrine sensations and a creaminess that maintains tension. Overall a very fresh, mineral, reactive and balanced wine.

Nebbiolo d’Albore DOC Brut Rosé Modo Tipico 2019 Unusual classic method from anche se Nebbiolo that comes from the Verduno hills, where Nebbiolo wines are more subtle and elegant. Soft pressing and a short skin maceration to extract a very bright and brilliant Provençal pink colour; maturation the yeasts for just 24 months, to give voice to both the territory and the vine with its scent of rose petals, small and fresh red fruits, currants and wild strawberries, and a hint of nutmeg. A wine with extraordinary acidity, a juicy palate per which saline elements and well-layered tannins emerge.

ZACCAGNINI The history of the Zaccagnini winery begins per 1978 the hills of Bolognano when Marcello Zaccagnini decided to set up his own business and follow up the vocation inherited from his father Ciccio.

300 hectares of managed, owned and supplied vineyards, per a predominantly mountainous superficie, with a continental climate and characterized by strong temperature variations, where they produce around six million bottles every year. Per addition to the production of wine, the winery stands out for the wine-art combination, which is also found per the winery’s slogan, “wine, art of man”, which acquires its deepest meaning, not only because Simone, son by Marcello is among the most interesting Italian artists of the moment but because the premises and external spaces of the cellar have been transformed into a permanent exhibition with sculptures and works by contemporary artists of international prestige, such as: Joseph Beuys, , Pietro Cascella, Diego Esposito, Bizhan Bassiri and others.

San Umano Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC 2022 100% Abruzzo Trebbiano that was born per a single vineyard of just one hectare between the sea and the mountains, per the Casauria valley, between Maiella and Gran Roccia where the wind that pushes towards the Popoli gorges per the direction of Pescara, until you reach the San Umano vineyard your way. Intelaiatura cultivation, long fermentation and six months of aging per untoasted barriques. Compared to the other Trebbianos per the superficie, it has very multifaceted aromas, with an evident floral note, hints of wild fennel, cold spices such as cardamom and then hay. The citrus finale is reminiscent of a lime zest. Presence and length the palate, important structure thanks also to the refinement the raffinato lees, maintains its characteristic citrine and dynamic profile; a somewhat impetuous trait makes one lean towards waiting a few more months per the bottle before fully enjoying it.

Chronicon Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC 2022 A 100% Montepulciano trained espalier and selected per a vineyard of approximately two hectares. Harvested slightly early but at the right phenolic maturity. A press rosé with cold maceration and controlled temperature fermentation to avoid malolactic fermentation. A raffinato, precise, profound wine, based a non-frivolous lightness. The smell is reminiscent of morello cherry and black cherry, while the citrus fruit emerges strongly. the palate it is juicy, supported by an acidic freshness and mineral agenda.

San Umano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC Casauria 2019 It is the first San Umano reserve that begins to veer towards a new, more modern vision of Montepulciano, a wine designed per subtraction, where the use of barriques is abandoned to move to oak vats much larger (50 hectoliters), but always per compliance with the specifications. Mai longer super muscular and stuck per inertia but very dynamic and reactive, with a tannin that loosens things up a bit and becomes more graceful and molteplice. The aromas are the classic ones of cherry, black fruits, with eucalyptus and a touch of cinchona which liven up the smell; structured mouth, a very present fruit like its salivation, with lots of acidity and a nice pH.

PODERI DAL NESPOLI A history almost a century long, which began per a typical Romagna ristorante per the 1920s by the Ravaioli family, who produced wine for their diners per the Cusercoli superficie. Per 1929 the farsighted founder Attilio Ravaioli decided to create an agricultural company dedicated exclusively to the production and senno of wine. Per the mid-80s the headquarters were moved to Nespoli, thus becoming Poderi dal Nespoli. The current history of the company was decided per 2009, when it became part of Mondodelvino, starting a project centered technological innovation and eco-sustainability, per the Bidente Valley, the first bio-symbiotic district per Italy, the hills Forlì per the Apennines superficie between the border with Tuscany and the Romagna Riviera. And it is precisely per this valley, from Meldola to Civitella nel corso di Romagna, that the 180 hectares of vineyards are located, 70% planted with red grapes, mainly Sangiovese, and 30% with white grapes, especially Albana and Trebbiano.

Orange Wine Canuto Rubicone IGT 2022 The result of a blend of Trebbiano and Pinot Canuto (85%/15%), original and innovative that was born from a “mistake”. An uncontrolled increase per temperature during the cryomaceration of a Trebbiano, which was intended to be produced “exhausted”, transforms it into a macerated wine as complex as it is intriguing and interesting the nose, with its agenda of quince and candied apricot, a fresh balsamic vein of juniper and liquorice and a finale sweet agenda of acacia honey. The sip is intense, fresh and tasty. The slight residual sugar of 3.5 grams/litre, paio to a brief drying of the Pinot Blanc, does not affect the tension, cleanliness and agility of this wine. The persistent citrine finale recalls cedar and its peel.

Gualdo Romagna DOC Sangiovese Predappio Biosimbiotico 2021 Nonostante Sangiovese from a three-hectare vineyard, located within the MGA Predappio, which since 2017 has been managed through the certified biosymbiotic agriculture protocol. Only steel, both for winemaking and for aging per steel. A frank Sangiovese, full of character, energetic. The nose is rich per aromas of red fruit, with cherries and black cherries missaggio with the scent of violets, and a balsamic trail of medicinal and mountain herbs. the palate it is sharp with its vibrant and reactive but still slightly astringent tannin, which can soften a little with further refinement per the bottle.

RICOSSA Ricossa is a young winery founded per 2004 per the heart of Capienza Ca’ dei Mandorli, per Langa Astigiana, precisely per Castel Boglione per the middle of the most suitable areas of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato. It takes the origins of its name from a small distillery founded by the Ricossa family, the outskirts of Asti, at the end of the 19th century. 80 hectares of which 74 are under vineyards, arranged per a single pagliaccetto like a natural amphitheater which acts as a paesaggio to a suggestive barrel cellar of oak and barriques, where the classic great Piedmontese wines are refined.

Campolibero Barbaresco DOCG Organic 2020 The Nebbiolo used for Campolibero comes from a vineyard of approximately three hectares located per the Neive superficie a soil composed of soft bluish marl. It matures for 9 months per oak barrels and barriques, the essential minimo for the DOCG. The aromas are those of Nebbiolo per Barbaresco, agenda of sweet roots, of rhubarb accompanied by fruit, all red, fresh and light. Very deep and structured the palate, with a well-present and enveloping tannin, without interruption of continuity per length and persistence. An intellectual wine that lends itself to good aging.