Wine and investments, here is Le Cerraie, winery-hub of Tenute del Cerro (Unipol Gruppo)

The sustainability, environmental and economic, of wine companies, passes through the vineyard and the cellar, in the first place. But logistics will also be increasingly important, as many have claimed for some time, and considering the times we are experiencing, between skyrocketing costs of transport and raw materials, and difficulties in finding it, make it very clear. The frame that makes the 10 million euro investment of Tenute del Cerro, the agricultural and wine company of Unipol Gruppo, even more important, which recently inaugurated the new Le Cerraia winery in Montepulciano, land of Vino Nobile, which will be a real hub dedicated to bottling, labeling, aging and storage of the wine of the entire production of Tenute del Cerro, which brings together the Fattoria del Cerro (which, with 181 hectares of vineyards, of which 93 registered in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, is the largest private producer), La Poderina in the land of Brunello di Montalcino, the Monterufoli Estate, in the Pisano, located between Val di Cecina and Val di Cornia, Colpetrone in Montefalco and the Tenuta di Montecorona, between Todi, Assisi and Perugia, in the heart of the Via Francigena, for a total of 4,500 hectares of land owned, of which almost 350 are vineyards, and a total production of almost 1.5 million bottles, half of which in Montepulciano, 500,000 in the land of Sagrantino di Montefalco, 200,000 in Montalcino, of which 65,000 from Brunello, and the rest in Val di Cornia, between red and Vermentino, ed).
An important investment, that of the Le Cerraie winery, which “is part of a broader strategic vision that focuses on nature and its best local expressions - explains a note - with the aim of enhancing their characteristics to produce some of the best most popular Italian brands in the world. The new winery is aiming at improving and expanding the production and storage capacity of Fattoria del Cerro and the other estates”. “Tenute del Cerro represents for Unipol Group a company of absolute prestige, which incorporates those values of bond with the territory and respect for the ecosystem that are very important to us” - comments Gian Luca Santi, Business Development and Corporate Communication General Manager of the Unipol Group.
“The investments we continue to make go precisely in this direction and are then reflected in the absolute quality of the production, also certified by the awards obtained at both Italian and international level”. In detail, the structure was built with green construction techniques and is equipped with photovoltaic panels for energy production of 100-kilowatt hours. The design building is characterized by a roof in wood pulp panels which, in addition to enhancing the aesthetic aspect, has the function of thermal insulation for a consequent energy saving. Inside, a fully automated bottling line and a temperature-controlled wine storage warehouse have been created. Six columns have been positioned along the perimeter for fast electric charging. The work is part of a series of projects that Tenute del Cerro is currently implementing for the continuous quality improvement of the productions and the relative environmental sustainability: from the replacement of old vines with new high-density ones to the purchase of agricultural vehicles 4.0 for a better usage of water resources, from the enlargement of the rainwater collection basin in the Fattoria del Cerro estate in Montepulciano to the organic conversion of the Monterufoli estate, with the first organic production of Vermentino 2021. In order to face the increasingly frequent drought events in recent years - a very present issue - the rainwater collection basin has also been enlarged, passing from 40,000 to 95,000 cubic meters of capacity. Basin that allows the usage of rainwater instead of public water sources for activities such as, above all, the irrigation of vineyards.
“Our goal is to seek excellence, and we try to do so in all the phases of the processing of our wines - explains Antonio Donato, dg Tenute del Cerro - starting with the production in the vineyard, with very low yields to get the maximum ‘qualitative expression, to arrive at all phases of production, storage and sale to bring our wine in the best way to the final customer’s consumption. The new cellar of “Le Cerraie” represents the realization of an important project for Tenute del Cerro, to make the entire supply chain process efficient, from the moment it is produced to when it is delivered to customers. In the design phase we paid a lot of attention to the issue of sustainability, we are a company that produces wine and for us it is a very important issue. The goal that Tenute del Cerro has - Antonio Donato explains to WineNews - is to enhance the local production of the denominations in which it exists. The first investment was made in the vineyard, with a crop and vineyard renewal plan, which started in 2016 and will end in 2025”. But, as mentioned, we invest on many fronts, from logistics to sustainability, to technology. What companies that look to the future do.