“Sanguis Jovis”, the Alta Scuola del Sangiovese of the Fondazione Banfi becomes international

From a little-known grape variety, in its technical and scientific aspects, to a protagonist of research and dissemination in an audience of not just professionals. The cultural leap of Sangiovese is due to the Fondazione Banfi, a cultural emanation of the leading winery of Brunello di Montalcino, which, since 2017, has established in Montalcino the “Sanguis Jovis-Alta Scuola del Sangiovese”, the first permanent study center on Sangiovese that is now preparing to go into the world. “Education, scientific research and communication are the three key points of our cultural project on Sangiovese”, said the president of the Fondazione Banfi Rodolfo Maralli in Rome in recent days, flanked by the president of Sanguis Jovis, Attilio Scienza and the director Alberto Mattiacci.

“The training takes place every year through the Summer School, we have already done three, and the Winter School which, however, is every two years. The first one in 2018 was a great success. Our training project in general is growing and attracts great interest, with over 100 requests for 20-25 places available each year”.

But the idea, as Maralli told WineNews, is “to take the format of the School abroad, or to let foreign students enter by adapting with multilingual teachers”.

On the second pillar that characterizes the Alta Scuola del Sangiovese, scientific research, Maralli noted that the Banfi Foundation finances research “at the highest level, two to three a year, not only in the field of agronomy but also in management and marketing”.

On the third qualifying aspect of the School, that of communication, Rodolfo Maralli said that the Foundation will also intensify its role as a “publishing house”, which has already led to the publication of “I Quaderni di Sanguis Jovis”, of which has just come out the second, entitled “Il Sangiovese del futuro - Cambiamenti tra clima, vitigno, mercato”, which brings together the conclusions of the Summer Schools 2017 and 2018. The next publishing project, which will soon see the light, will be a magazine designed to further promote the culture and enhancement of Sangiovese.

In the meantime, the dates for the next Winter Schools and Summer Schools have been set for March 4-6 2020 and July 6-10 2020. “As every year we expect - Maralli stressed - more than the places available, pointing out that half of the students admitted to the courses, among the applications chosen for students who are not occupied, will benefit from scholarships for free attendance. The only cost for them will be to arrive in Montalcino - explains Maralli - then board and lodging will be offered by the Fondazione Banfi”.

“The next edition of the Winter School - said the director Alberto Mattiacci - will focus on the values of the brand, as the brand is a fundamental corporate variable, which requires expertise, and instead, except in a few cases, in the world of wine on this aspect there is much approximation. We will teach our students - added Mattiacci - that the brand is a complex building that must be built on solid foundations and must last over time. The first day of the course we will take to the chair academics but also representatives of companies, the second day we will do more work in the field and focus on those who have built a communication plan for the brand and the third day we will see why the brand is an economic value asset”.

The President of the Sanguis Jovis School, Attilio Scienza, spoke about the themes of the next Summer School, observing that attention will be focused on the moment of ripening of the vineyard, “that month and a half in which the whole history of wine is decided. We will try to analyze all the environmental factors that lead to that fateful month and a half. This year, instead, we have worked on the theme of terroir, - said Scienza - aiming to combine theory with practice. This very crossroads is generally lacking in Italian educational culture. We took the students on the various grounds and had geologists explain the characteristics of the various plots of land and then had the various wines tasted in the cellar to understand the diversity of the products of the various soils. In the classroom you can tell what you want, but if the student does not know how to judge with his senses ...”.