ZONIN: "CALIFORNIA DREAM"? ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MADE IN ITALY WINE GROUPS (2 THOUSAND HECTARES OF VINEYARDS IN ALL OF ITALY) HAS JUST OPENED "ALTEMURA" IN APULIA, AND IS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THEIR NEXT STEP: THE UNITED STATES (AND NOT ONLY)

Zonin, one of the most important Italian wine entrepreneurs, has been tempted by the "California dream". At the opening of Masseria Altemura, the Zonin Group’s new winery in Apulia (130 hectares of vineyards, an investment of 8-10 million euros, reported the journal "Il Sole 24 Ore"). Yes, because the atmosphere at the inauguration was that of one who having reached one goal, was already thinking about the next one. And of the many places in the world where Zonin, has its eyes, according to information WineNews reported, includes dossiers on Turkey, Chile, Romania and Argentina, their real dream is "America" or better still California, since Zonin already has a winery in Barboursville, Virginia.

Napa and Sonoma Valleys in California are the most prestigious wine territories in America, where 90% of the production (and exports come from and where the cost of land is similar to that of many important Italian winemaking territories, around 400.000 euros a hectare.
That is why many people are thinking about projects in partnership (and not just in the U.S. but also in China, for example), with prominent players like Kendall Jackson. Having an important base in the U.S. would mean “ skipping” many steps for Italian wine exported to the States, which in the importer-distributor-store chain "burn" 30-40% of the margin of possible profit for the wineries.