The Fondazione Vino Patrimonio Comune created together with the sustainable and authentic supply chain

The objective of the project is to protect authenticity and promote the sustainability of Italian wines. The business research worlds met in a parallel vision, which materialized into creating the “Fondazione Vino Patrimonio Comune”. The project has been founded by Federvini (Italian federation of wine industries) and the Alleanza delle Cooperative Italiane-Agrialimentare (alliance of Italian agri-food cooperatives), to consolidate the value of Italian wine and contribute to the defense and support of the heritage of Italy's winemaking companies. The collaboration is not merely for representation, as specified and clarified in the statute, but rather it aims to defend the wine sector, starting from scientific bases.
The project was presented at the Ministry of Agriculture in Rome, and the roles of the new Foundation were also revealed at that time. The first mandate as president of the Vino Patrimonio Comune Foundation has been conferred to Marcello Lunelli, vice-president of Cantine Ferrari, while Luca Rigotti, president of Gruppo Mezzacorona and wine sector coordinator of Alleanza delle Cooperative, was appointed vice-president. The Foundation has a joint Board of Directors representing the two founding organizations, an Executive Committee and a Scientific Committee made up of representatives from the research.
The non-profit Fondazione Vino Patrimonio Comune project was created upon the awareness of the value of authenticity, which aims to offer an answer to the associated companies needs, as well as providing a reliable tool available to professionals in the wine sector. The Common Heritage Wine Foundation intends to support businesses and the National wine supply chain, in general. It will endeavor to study the authenticity and sustainability profiles of products, businesses and territories. Commitments and skills have improved in the vineyards and in the wineries, bringing the public closer to responsible consumption, however, there is “still much to be done in terms of promoting the intangible elements of wine, starting from its centuries-old historical and cultural impact. This latter point, by virtue of the development of the Foundation's project, will guarantee new growth prospects for the sector”. The path of the Fondazione Vino Patrimonio Comune, which is taking shape now, actually started with its first embryonic phase in 2020, and its preliminary study on the variability of the stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the must/wine water ratios, in relation to the main natural variables of the agronomic and oenological process. The pilot project defined the isotopic profile of the water of musts and wines, thanks to which the first experimental Vino Patrimonio Comune 2020-2023 database began to take shape. Starting from next year's harvest, the study will expand even further, involving a greater number of players from institutions, research, businesses, certification bodies and commercial stakeholders in the wine world.
President Marcello Lunelli said that the “Foundation created by producers for producers aims to strengthen and consolidate the value of wine and its viticulture as an ambassador of Italian style throughout the world. It is an ambitious project, a pioneer in its conception, and it aims to give a dynamic direction to the system that will contribute to defending and enhancing the heritage of winemaking companies. It will also support the safe start of the winemaking ecosystem’s technological and organizational innovation project towards sustainable development models that safeguard quality and profitability along the entire value chain. We intend to connect companies, consumers and the market to public institutions responsible for research, protection and enhancement of Italian wine production, and the top performers of organizations, consortiums, research institutions, supply chains, companies and the trade world”.
The Foundation will “give greater protection to the wine world and the value of businesses. We have found common ground, for research and not representation, which will allow us in the future to defend and develop indices and parameters to bring our products to world renown, defending them along two lines: authenticity and sustainability. Authenticity expresses the origin and genuineness of the product. Sustainability, instead, is expressed in three pillars: environmental, social and economic. The wine world is mature, and it has the will to create correctness based on scientific data that is unequivocal, to confirm the origin of our products and their authenticity. The Foundation does not have the function of union representation, but its purpose is to defend the wine, which at this moment definitely needs the world certify its authenticity”. Luca Rigotti, vice-president of the Foundation, specified, “we have found a need to interpret an evolution in the sector, mainly in consumer tastes, as well as sensitivity towards sustainability, healthiness of the products, the ethical aspect in work, the production phases, and the authenticity and traceability of the wines.
Federvini, part of Confindustria, is the federation that groups together three product categories. These include the wine world, focusing especially on large entrepreneurial families, creators of iconic brands and the top players of Italian wine exports; the world of spirits, made up of the large multinationals in the sector and the small family and artisanal distilleries, which make our Country great in the field of aperitifs, liqueurs, bitters and spirits; and finally, the world of vinegar, and in particular Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI. The Alliance of Italian Agri-Food Cooperatives is a National coordinating organization, made up of the most representative associations of Italian cooperatives in the agricultural and agri-food sector (AGCI, AGRITAL, Fedagripesca-Confcooperative, Legacoop Agroalimentare).
Federvini and Alleanza delle Cooperative Italiane Agroalimentare together represent over 60% of the turnover in the Italian wine sector - that is, 7.8 billion euros out of a total 13 billion euros, more than 60% of National wine production, and 30 million hectoliters out of a total 50 million hectares as well as over half of the sector's employees, 11.000 out of a total 22.000 employees.