ZONIN HAS GONE TO CHILE FOR HIS LATEST CHALLENGE, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE VIAL FAMILY. GRAPES FROM THE TOP TERROIRS TOGETHER WITH THE KNOW-HOW OF THE VENETIAN COMPANY TO PRODUCE A NEW BRAND, "DOS ALMAS"

Zonin’s new overseas challenge is in Chile, in collaboration with one of the most important economic groups in the country, where a new brand, "Dos Almas" will be created. WineNews has discovered that Zonin1821, the largest private wine company in Italy, will bring the Venetian company for the first time to South America to the peak of the internationalization process that began in 1976 in Virginia, and has resumed business in recent years in the United States, Great Britain and China.
Partners in this venture will be the Vial family, which has interests in various branches of economy in Chile, and a yearly turnover between 4 and 5 billion US dollars.
The Vial family will provide its best vines and grapes on its 2.000 hectares of vineyards (purchased in the early 2000s) in the best terroirs of the country, from Casablanca, the Ocean area, Leyda, slightly further south, Colchagua, Maipo and Apalta.

Zonin will provide the know-how and technical supervision of his winemaker, Stefano Ferrante, marketing skills and sales network, through which bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Pinot Nero will be distributed all over the world. The top product will be a cru of Carmenere, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Apalta area. But, the real innovation will come from what Zonin considers the brand of distinction, bubbles, which for Chilean companies are still semi-familiar ground: a method called Martinotti (or Charmat) from Chilean white berries.

Could this be the first step towards structural growth in the New World of wine? It’s too soon to say, even though Zonin1821 already has a network of agents in South America that could trace the footsteps of the three commercial strongholds - Zonin USA, Zonin UK and Zonin China, which have been fundamental in sustaining growth in recent years. There are certainly many opportunities, as well as many possibilities, in a world that has yet to be discovered and opened to, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, from Australia to New Zealand, and South Africa.

As mentioned, the first time the Zonin family, now the number one private company in sales in the Italian wine world (193 million euros), put its nose outside of Italy, and as pioneers, was in 1976 when Gianni Zonin made the dream of the third US president, Thomas Jefferson, come true, establishing the Barboursville Vineyards.
It is a great wine estate in Virginia on the East Coast - 500 hectares, of which 90 are vineyards – and, at that time the project was, to say the least, ahead of its time.
It was the first step to internationalization, which then experienced other key milestones over the years, like the establishment of companies in the United States, Great Britain and China: Zonin USA, Zonin UK and Zonin China.
The impetus and support gave rise to wine sales that then became the Zonin1821 group, which is established in seven Italian regions, 9 estates and a total of 2.000 hectares of vineyards: the historic Gambellara Estate in Veneto; Tenuta Ca' Bolani (Friuli Venezia Giulia); Castello d'Albola; Abbazia Monte Oliveto and Rocca di Montemassi (Tuscany); Castello del Poggio (Piedmont); Tenuta Il Bosco (Lombardy); Feudo Principi di Butera (Sicily) and Masseria Altemura (Apulia).