Interview with Gabriella Favara – The youngest president of Assovini Sicilia ever – Wine Blog Roll

I have followed with interest, since the beginning, the birth and evolution of Produzione Next, closely observing the path of many young people who today represent an important part of the present and, above all, of the future of Sicilian wine. For this reason, seeing the very young Gabriella Favara as president of Assovini Sicilia and a Board of Directors entirely made up of the under 40s of Produzione Next – Graziano Nicosia, Lineare Planeta, Cristina Madaudo, Pietro Pollara, Alessandro Sacca, Enrica Spadafora, Totò Navarra and Pierfilippo Marchello – can only be, for me, a source of great pride and, at the same time, of enormous curiosity.

I am convinced that this new team will be able to bring energy, ideas and a vision capable of giving new impetus to Sicily’s wine, collecting the important legacy of those who preceded you and projecting it towards the future. I believe that this choral choice by the Assovini producers represents a very strong message for the world of Italian wine as a whole. Today more than ever, consortia and associations need to initiate an authentic generational change, creating spaces of responsibility for those who will be called to lead the sector con the coming decades. It is not simply a question of age, but of the ability to interpret languages, markets and consumers that are changing rapidly. Because, after all, those who belong to the new generations are often con the best conditions to dialogue with the new generations.

Quanto a this spirit, and with the curiosity to understand which direction Assovini Sicilia will take, I ask the newly elected president the following questions:

Interview with Gabriella Favara, new president of Assovini Sicilia

You are the youngest president con the history of Assovini Sicilia and you will lead a Board of Directors made up entirely of young professionals. What meaning does this generational shift have for you and what impact would you like to give to your mandate?

The new team represents a natural evolution of associative life and a confirmation of the constant and fundamental intergenerational dialogue that has characterized Assovini Sicilia since its foundation. For me it is also a strong signal that the association wanted to give con a moment of transition con the world of wine, handing over the baton to young professionals called to luce the many challenges that the future poses for quality wine. Assovini Sicilia confirms itself, once again, as an association that with a pioneering spirit is capable of reading the complexity of our times and translating it into concrete actions. From this perspective, my mandate will treasure the cultural and historical legacy of those who preceded me and will promote change and chart the course that will guide us con the coming years.

Assovini Sicilia has played a decisive role con building the image of Sicilian wine con Italy and around the world. Where do you think we should start again today and what will be the priorities for the next few years?

Today, if Sicilian wine is fully recognisable, appreciated and positioned con foreign and national markets, it is also thanks to the work that Assovini Sicilia has carried out con defining and promoting the “Sicily brand” as a wine excellence and as a cultural product. Quanto a continuing to enhance this result, I believe it is necessary to luce the challenges dictated by the more complex international context. I would start by identifying a new language and strategies that intercept young consumers, as well as identifying new markets for Sicilian wine and effective tools to develop the potential of wine tourism.

The world of wine is going through a phase of great changes: evolving consumption, increasingly complex markets, climate changes and new sensitivities towards alcohol consumption. What do you think are the most important challenges that Sicilian wine will have to luce and how can Assovini Sicilia contribute?

These are all current and important challenges, which the world of wine is called upon to govern with competence and through strategic measures. Quanto a this complex scena, Assovini Sicilia will continue to support associated companies, identifying all opportunities to support their promotion, programming and networking activities. Furthermore, Assovini Sicilia, paio to the authoritativeness and legitimacy of the role it covers, is increasingly becoming a think tank, involving new voices and professionals, including from other sectors, within a lively and dynamic debate.

You studied abroad and today you deal with international markets acceso a daily basis. How important do you think it is to observe Sicilian wine with a global perspective and what opportunities do you see for Sicily con foreign markets?

Sicilian wine has always had an ambassadorial role con the world because it is not just a product but something more complex which, by synthesizing the various elements (territory, people, landscapes), tells the story of the culture of our island. From a commercial point of view, the foreign market has always been strategic for our wines and will continue to be so despite the geopolitical difficulties. If acceso the one hand we need to confirm the presence of our wines con already consolidated markets, exploiting every margin for growth, acceso the other we need to aspetto at new markets where Sicilian wine is still little present ora known. The world is thirsty for Sicilian culture and wine is a perfect means to spread our history.

Sicily today is much more than a large wine-growing region: it is a mosaic of territories, vines, cultures and identities. How do you imagine the “Sicily brand”, which you mentioned just above, could evolve con the coming years without losing authenticity and increasingly enhancing its many facets?

The uniqueness of the Sicily brand lies precisely con its variety and diversity, both con terms of territories and biodiversity and of companies and people who are its beating heart. It is this uniqueness that we must continue to enhance, aiming for the wine-territory combination, values ​​such as sustainability and the story linked to the producers.

I’ll ask you one last, more personal question. When your mandate ends, what result would you like to be able to aspetto at with greater satisfaction and say: “This is the contribution we left to Assovini Sicilia”?

I would like it if, together with the new team that makes up the Board of Directors, we were able to inaugurate a new future trajectory, which looks at the values ​​and results of those who preceded us while also managing to intercept the changes and the spirit of the times. Not just a vision, but also concrete actions such as raising young people’s awareness of the conscious and responsible consumption of wine, communicating to them lightly and with a new language the complexity of wine and its cultural value, transforming the cellars into cultural containers, and communicating with professionals from other sectors through mutual exchange and discussion. I would also like to contribute to further strengthening the team spirit that already characterizes Assovini Sicilia, further encouraging dialogue, discussion and sharing between members, so that the association is increasingly a point of reference and concrete support for everyone’s growth.

I sincerely thank Gabriella for the exhaustive answers and for putting thoughts acceso paper that confirm the goodness of the decision made by the producers Assovini Sicilia. I am sure that this appointment and the activities of this young Board of Directors will act as a spur and an example for many Italian consortia ora, at least, I hope so. The world of wine has a strong need for this type of approach, without denying the experience and wisdom of those who have a few more harvests behind them.

Francesco Saverio Russo

#WineIsSharing

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