We are honoured to have been guests of Cantine Velenosi during this edition of Vinitaly2017, on of the most famous international wine fair held every year in Verona. We had the pleasure the taste six wines from their winery, all of them accompanied by stunning dishes prepared by the Marchegian starred chef Moreno Cedroni.

We remained seriously impressed by Lacrima di Morro DOC Superiore, a single varietal wine, made of 100%  Lacryma Nera,  an indigenous and rare red grape native  of  Marchegian region of Italy. The grape’s name (meaning “tear” in Italian)  derives from its tear-like shape, or, alternatively, from its thin skin that allows tear-like drops of juice to drip from the grape. This great and somehow unique wine is an incredible fusion of passion and mastery which can disclose different features depending on the temperature at which it is served.  (particularity to be noted: Even the various glasses in which it is served may modify its structure). Thanks to  its characteristics this wine can demonstrate to be a faceted product perfect to be accompanied by different dishes.

We ended our tasting with QuerciaAntica Visciole, a sweet red wine  made out of Montepulciano red grape and “Visciola”, a specific type of  wild cherry, followed by white and milk chocolate.  Usually wine expert would suggest to never pair wine with chocolate, but this really particular wine, due to the high concentration of sugar and to the presence of a silky and fragrant cherry syrup  prove to be the perfect end to our journey. 

We had a brief talk with Angela Velenosi, owner and director of the winery. She answered to some of our questions regarding their upcoming quotation and their future business plans.

• We have seen your interest in an IPO in the Italian stock market. What do you want to achieve with it? It is debated that Italian wines are experiencing a gap in terms of value with their French competitors, even when detaining a record in terms of volumes. Considering the current panorama, can we consider this IPO as specifically oriented to a deeper penetration of different markets, such as the Chinese one?

“Yes, it is true that even if we [referring to the Italian wineries] upstaged the French wineries in terms of volume, most of this trend has to be directly related to the Prosecco’s incredibly positive sales. Technically inquiring, a significant gap in terms of value with the French Champagne is still to be noticed. We need a stronger virtuosity in order to follow up and overcome our biggest foreign competitors. We have to work on the significance of our “made in Italy” concept and be focused on the purpose to enrich its specific value, specially when coming into contact with non-Italian markets and consumers.

We are following a three years training for this IPO. With it we want to attract new investors in order to gain power and resources to expand internationally, we want to create the possibility to make bigger investments. We do not share this vision that insists in considering the Italian wineries not able to promote themselves in the Asian markets. As matter of fact the 30% of our current sales derives from Asian markets such as the Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thailandese ones.”

• It has been noticed that you have an incredibly large offer, which is the product that you think will have the best potential in your future sales?

“We have a precise instinct regarding our Marchegian wines, the wines of our territory, such as Vernaccia. We think they are the soul and the origin of our winery, we are proud of them and we want them to represent our core products in the future. Furthermore, we are planning to expand our winery and to acquire some plants and fields in the near-to-us region of Abruzzo, because of the similarities with the Marchegian soil and climate.”

• We have read an interview, recently released, in which you talk about biological wines. Do you consider them as a key element in your future plans?

“This year we began to produce the biological wines and we decide to present them at Vinitaly2017 for the very first time. We started this new project not following a purely economic purpose but just because we felt the need to be engaged in a business-life choice. We want to leave a cured and healthy soil and do no harm to our territory, we love our region and we do want to preserve its beauty. We have also noticed some improvements and changes since we decided to leave the chemical products, used for some of our grapevines, and substitute them with sulfur and copper. Surely it is an innovative field for our business but we are glad and proud to have chosen it, and to continue to improve and change following this direction. We intend to continue with this path and to preserve the territory in which we have such strong roots.

Tommaso Danieli