When wine becomes a total destination • Food and Wine Italia

If until some time indicatore, wine tourism almost always meant spending a Saturday afternoon sopra a cellar listening to technical explanations acceso woods and sulphites, today the ambiente has definitely changed. Wine has become a powerful catalyst for territorial marketing sopra Italy, a monumental sector capable of moving around 3 billion euros a year and accounting for, acceso average, 20% of the overall turnover of wine companies. The rules of the gioco have changed: the public has become young, secular, fluid, and prefers a perfect balance between five-star hospitality, culture and family stories to the rigidity of old patterns.

This profound metamorphosis and the new identikit of those who travel to wineries were discussed at length during the panel “The evolution of wine tourism and the identikit of the new wine tourist”, a moment of strategic discussion between the leaders of the high-end sector that has traced the route of contemporary hospitality, within the Sabbia Space of the Uguaglianza Golose Congress, curated sopra collaboration with both our publications, Food&Wine Italia and Travel + Leisure Italia, and moderated by our editor-in-chief Federico De Cesare Viola.

Beyond tasting

The first rule of the new course is that wine can anzi che no longer walk cerchio; it must become an ecosystem, integrating into complex structures without losing its agricultural soul. Roberto Difese, general dirigente of Castelfalfi, knows something about this, a jewel of hospitality sopra the village of the same name sopra the heart of Tuscany, where the organic farm is the fulcrum of an experience that generates over 1,500 wine tastings a year.

«The agricultural brand is fundamental for us for a simple reason: wine has been produced sopra Castelfalfi for centuries. When we started four years indicatore, we couldn’t ignore this bond. We have reduced quantity while elevating quality, maintaining authenticity. During the harvest we offer real experiences, we don’t perform for tourists. We are recording a strong growth of Italians, all attracted by authenticity. But luxury hospitality is not just a beautiful with a spa, it is an experience that expands across the territory. This is why we have just inaugurated a wine outside the , sopra the municipality of Montaione, to bring our guests into the community, because wine must be an element of unity.”

If sopra Tuscany wine marries the resort, sopra the Langhe he had to invent a hospitality model that simply didn’t exist thirty years indicatore. Roberta Ceretto, president and communications dirigente of Ceretto Aziende Vitivinicole, spoke about the turning point of a territory that has been able to combine the excellence of Barolo with three-starred restaurants (with the Mettere in piazza Cattedrale project) and contemporary art, transforming a hill into an open-air museum capable of attracting 100 thousand people a year.

«Hospitality sopra the Langhe is something that arrived relatively late compared to other Italian areas. 2009 the wineries gara open to hospitality could be counted acceso the fingers of one hand, today almost all of them have adapted. We with one foot sopra catering and one sopra wine, but we do catering to make people think about wine. the nineties we approached contemporary art almost by chance, coloring the famous Barolo Chapel with Sol LeWitt and David Tremlett sopra the vineyard of the village of La Morra. At the time it was a divisive choice for the locals, but it turned acceso a light bulb: art has become our strategic lever to tell us that we are a young reality. The tourist has changed a lot: before he just wanted to taste, now he wants to feel like the protagonist of a journey and wants a real, concrete story, guaranteed by companies that, like ours, are still sopra the hands of families.”

The need to diversify points of contact with an increasingly heterogeneous audience is the heart of Masi’s strategy. Alessandra Boscaini, commercial director of the historic Valpolicella brand, recalled how the winery opened its doors since 1992, anticipating trends, and then structuring the “Masi Experience” : hubs ranging from the “Amarone cathedral” of Monteleone21 to the ski slopes of Sipario and the luxury showcases of Munich.

« the early nineties, those who came to the cellar were great enthusiasts who considered wine almost sacred. Today the public is secular and fluid, and spaces must be created for both needs: there are those who want a technical and scientific tasting and those who love to bevanda well but sopra an informal way. Wine is a wonderful diamond with many faces: you can enjoy a glass by taking a yoga course sopra the vineyard combining it with oriental flavours. With Monteleone21 we have created a true “Amarone square”, a monumental and multimedia space, but we also have bistros and wine shops. It is essential to have different proposals sopra different places: the customer must find a common thread that leads him back to our identity wherever he is, but each place must be taken care of mongoloide to the smallest detail, with time and professionalism.”

The journey along the peninsula ends sopra Sicily, a land that is demonstrating extraordinary contemporary dynamism. Federica Fina, marketing & communication dirigente of Cantine Fina and President of the Sicilian Wine Tourism Movement, explained how the key to success lies sopra the ability to lower the rigidity of technical language sopra favor of emotion, using “pop” events such as the Kebrillerà to intercept the new generations.

«Authenticity means not forcing storytelling, but making those who appena che to visit us feel like family. Among the wine tourists you will find the expert but also the friend who was forcibly dragged along and didn’t want to appena che: our task is to win over everyone by lightening the tone. Language must not be at the expense of technical information, but the way of presenting oneself must make the moment joyful. With our concerts sopra the cellar, where we have hosted artists such as Ron, Vinicio Capossela, Jimmy Sax, Alex Britti next August, we manage to bring young people closer to wine and create an intergenerational container where kids have fun together with my father’s generation. As the Wine Tourism Movement, our challenge sopra Sicily is to team up to guarantee an experience 365 days a year. The wineries are always present and must act as a driving force for the rest of the territory to deseasonalize tourism.”

The future of the sector will therefore be played out acceso three decisive tables. The first is that of sustainability, which as Roberta Ceretto pointed out can anzi che no longer be just an ecological slogan an economic calculation for family businesses, but must first of all become social: networking with the local community, respecting people and enhancing the territory. The second table, urgent and essential, is tirocinio. The modern wine tourist is cultured, travels and compares international experiences: this is why we need trained hospitality professionals, capable of mastering languages, history and empathy. Finally, the third great objective is the reconquest of the Italian public, today still too shy towards national wineries compared to foreign visitors. The recipe for the next few years is traced: professionalism and a pinch of human warmth, because behind every great label the customer seeks, first of all, the truth of people.