PAOLO PANERAI, PUBLISHER AND WINEMAKER, TALKS ABOUT ROCCA DI FRASSINELLO AND ITS THREE WINES. BUSINESS, ENOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE AND IMAGE FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED FRENCH-ITALIAN JOINT VENTURE WITH BARONS DE ROTHSCHILD

Baron Eric de Rothschild was not present in Milan for the “premier” of the company from the Maremma, Rocca di Frassinello. But that didn’t bother Paolo Panerai, publisher and owner of Castellare di Castellina, who spoke enthusiastically, entertaining journalists and employees with the aid of Alessandro Cellai e Christiane Le Sommer, the two enologists of, respectively, Castellare di Castellina and Domaines Barons de Rothschild. And Panerai used the occasion to emphasize what he considered the most part of this endeavor, repeating the concept many times, that this is a completely autonomous company, 100% independent. Panerai noted, “A while ago, I saw a documentary on penguins.
The father and the mother help the little one to find food until it is capable to do so on its own, after which it is abandoned. Rocca di Frassinello is like this: it has two parents, Castellare di Castellina and Domaines Barons de Rothschild, but it must be able to operate in full independence”. But how did this project begin?. “Not from a large, but a small idea. Me and the Barons Edmund de Rothschild, the cousin of Eric and important shareholder of Château Lafite, had developed a friendship through business issues; at Edmund’s death, this bond continued with Eric. One day I spoke about an area of the Maremma between Bolgheri and Scansano where the ground, thanks to research conducted by Ezio Rivella and Gianni Zonin, appeared to be similar to that of Chianti and Montalcino. An area that was little known, where the terrain cost relatively less than the other mentioned and much more famous zones. I focused on the hill area near the town of Giuncarico, I took Eric to see the Terminuzzo farm, the nucleus of Rocca di Frassinello. From there, one can admire a magnificent view, an amphitheatre of cork forests – always an indication of an ideal area for vineyards – and Mediterranean brush, about 250 hectares of which is cultivated, from four divided farms. It took two years to unify the farms, and the first vineyards were planted in 2000”.
In 2003 the Primus di Frassinello was released, one of the first encouraging vinifications in which the elegance and fullness desired by the two enologists can be already be perceived. The 2004 is the first official release of the company’s three labels. Panerai insisted on speaking of the price even when confronted with dispute: “over the past years many investors have entered into a world of wine attracted by the possibility of good profits, and we have witnessed a politic of insane prices that have caused exaggerated earnings. Edmund de Rothschild said that, if the costs of amortization, promotion, etc., are subtracted from a bottle of wine, it does not cost more than 3,000/4,000 lire (in the era when there wasn’t yet the euro) to produce. We, even here at Castellare di Castellina, have tried to maintain reasonable prices, so much so that we are growing while many others are losing; and for Rocca di Frassinello, the philosophy is the same. The third wine, Poggio alla Guardia, costs 6 euros from the cellar; the second, Sughere di Frassinello, 9.90 euros; the first, 16.90”.
Panerai points out that these prices are incomparable among other wineries. But what does the total investment operation add up to? Panerai gave this answer: “I am not telling, not because I don’t want to, but because the work still continues. The wine cellar, designed by architect Renzo Piano, will be ready in spring 2007. We are at the likes of several million euros, obviously; if the five-year business plan is to be respected, the first profits will come in 2008 or 2009 while cost depreciation will take at least 20 years. I emphasize that it is the first time that two companies from the two most important winemaking countries in the world, Italy and France, are united to give life to such an important project”.
Francesco Beghi