Between change, confidence and great wines in the glass, Langhe looks optimistically to the future

The Langhe of wine is looking to the future with confidence, with great Barolo and Barbaresco wines, but not only, in the glass, reflections on the future made up of many changes guided by values such as ethics and sustainability in the vineyard, in the cellar and in work, and with a market that has the wind in its sails, despite everything: these are the messages coming from “Grandi Langhe”, an event organised by the Consorzio di tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe Dogliani, led by Matteo Ascheri, and the Consorzio di tutela Roero, headed by Francesco Monchiero, with the support of Regione Piemonte and the support of Intesa San Paolo, which yesterday, in the Ogr - Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin, brought together 2. 000 professionals and wine lovers from 15 countries around the world, who came to discover the new vintages of 226 producers from 11 denominations in the Langhe (with Barolo, the area’s main wine, also featured in the March 2022 issue of the monthly newsletter “I Quaderni di WineNews”) and Roero, and to discuss a future of wine that respects the environment and people at the conference “Changes. Environment & Ethics in the Langhe of the future”. In an event that, said President Matteo Ascheri, for the territory, could become in the near future “the Vinitaly of Langhe and Roero”. “Turin is a location that we have somewhat neglected for years, it is an important, epochal passage and also full of meaning. We have great faith in it”, said Ascheri, in a video reported by “La Repubblica”, “also for the evolution of “Grandi Langhe”. We would like “Grandi Langhe” to become the Vinitaly of Piedmont. For years we have been going to Verona (Vinitaly, ed.) and it has always been interesting for us, but I believe that now is the time to make choices. We have the maturity, we have the products and the producers who can ensure that we present ourselves adequately and independently. Turin, the big city, the Ogr - Officine Grandi Riparazioni di Torino, all this allows us to be totally independent. The objective is exactly that. Our time slot is the end of January, so from 2023, we will be back in this period, which is also strategic for presenting the new vintages. Therefore, for a whole series of factors, there is the potential for this event to truly become, for our territories, what Vinitaly was for Italy”.
An event to which the Langhe territory, in particular, has arrived with the wind in its sails. “2021”, Matteo Ascheri told WineNews, “was surprising both in terms of the market, with a 22% increase in sales for Barolo and Barbaresco, and 15% for all the denominations as a whole, with the 66 million bottles sold being exceeded, but also for an excellent harvest in terms of quality and quantity. And 2022 has got off to a good start. Obviously, we are concerned about the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which we hope will soon be over, but it is more of general concern, because for us these markets are not so important, while they are for others such as the US, UK, Canada and Germany, where things are going well”.
A future that passes through promotion, with the next two major events being the “Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening”, in Los Angeles, on April 28 and 29, with almost 200 Consortium companies presenting the new vintages of Barolo (2018) and Barbaresco (2019) to overseas professionals, and “the second edition of the Barolo en Primeur Auction, on October 29, 2022”, added Ascheri, who also stressed the desire to invest more in communication and promotion of the “Langhe” denomination, the umbrella of the entire territory.
A territory that, in the conference “Changes. Environment & Ethics in the Langhe of the future”, the conference addressed fundamental issues such as environmental, social and economic sustainability, as well as the ethics of the work that revolves around wine, from the vineyard to logistics. New models of vineyard management were outlined with talks by Federico Spanna, Agrometeorology Section of the Piedmont Region, Osvaldo Failla, Professor of Viticulture at the University of Milan, and Roberto Cavallo, CEO of Cooperativa Erica and agronomist, moderated by Federico Quaranta (the historic voice of “Decanter” on Radio2 and of the TV program “Il Provinciale”): models not only capable of managing emergencies, but above all able to find, in the concrete knowledge of the specificity of the territory, the starting point from which to plan risk forecasting and prevention activities in the short and long term and that make use of technologies supporting the circular economy in the vineyard and in the winery.
While Alessandro Durando, President of Confcooperative Cuneo, Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, President of Federdoc, and Claudio Naviglia, CEO of Humus Job, explored the criticalities of worker management. It emerged that “it is an ethical duty to intervene to pay attention to all the actors in the chain, in order to encourage regular job placements and ensure protection and dignity to thousands of workers. In this sense, projects such as the network of companies Humus Job, set up in 2021, offer a model where the concept of collaboration prevails, a place where supply and demand meet and where specific co-constructed training can be carried out”. The path of change towards the Langhe of the future, then, cannot fail to pass through finance that is attentive to the needs of the supply chain and the territory, and through logistics, as explained by Massimiliano Cattozzi, head of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Agribusiness Department, who presented the new Agribusiness Department, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s center of excellence dedicated to agriculture, designed to assist operators in the supply chain in all phases of development and to support investments in new business projects denoted by a strong focus on sustainability and the circular economy. Another fundamental aspect will be the change on the logistics front, discussed in depth by Roberto Moncalvo, President of Coldiretti Piemonte and Andrea Beggio (Sandri Trasporti): “with millions of bottles handled every year, transport has a considerable impact on both the environment and the thousands of inhabitants and tourists of the Langhe. This is why Ecolog was set up in 2021, the project aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and heavy traffic, which in the test phase alone involved 54 companies with 312 movements (1000 pallets), highlighting in just a few months significant positive effects both for the environment and for outdoor tourism and cycle tourism”.
“Grandi Langhe 2022”, commented Matteo Ascheri, “has highlighted not only the excellence of our production, but also the great sensitivity of our winegrowers who, despite these difficult months, are committed to the environment and to people. The results achieved so far are only the beginning: with Changes we have opened a debate to identify paths that can be traveled collectively and that are based on shared values, in order to act concretely towards the construction of a future characterized by respect for the environment and ethics”. “This was an extremely important edition, marked by mutual attention and constructive exchange”, added Francesco Monchiero, President of the Roero Consortium. “The changes that have affected us in recent years have contributed to placing even greater emphasis on the territory, not only as a production area but as a unique resource to be protected and enhanced. And it is precisely with this in mind that we are working on Roero Days 2022, to be held at the Reggia di Venaria on May 22 and 23, an event that will once again bring together operators, enthusiasts and opinion leaders in Piedmont in an exceptional setting”.