Marzia Varvaglione as the head of the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (Ceev)

The Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (Ceev), which represents industry and trade wine companies in the European Union, bringing together 25 national organizations (including Federvini and Unione Italiana Vini - Uiv), and covering, with its members, more than 90% of European wine exports, has a new president and it is Italian. Appointed to the summit of the European wine entrepreneurs is Marzia Varvaglione, who, with her brother Angelo and sister Francesca, represents the fourth generation of Varvaglione 1921, joining her father Cosimo at the helm of the Apulian company, one of the most innovative wine cellars in Italy, which is a reality with more than 100 years of history and covers 400 hectares under vine, from which 65 million bottles are produced, distributed in at least 65 countries around the world.
Marzia Varvaglione, who succeeds Mauricio González-Gordon, is the first woman to assume this position and the youngest ever. Formerly president of Agivi since 2023 (Association of Young Italian Wine Entrepreneurs) and a member of the UIV Council since 2020, Varvaglione, from Apulia, born in 1989, has a degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Milan, advanced studies in Lugano, Lausanne and London, and a Wset Level 3 Award in Wines, and has worked in the family business, Varvaglione 1921, since 2013. “As we go through one of the most difficult times in decades”, Marzia Varvaglione said in the statement reported by Ceev, “it is more important than ever that the wine industry remains united. Together with the Ceev team and members, I am fully committed to leading our industry through these difficult times and overcoming the challenges that lie ahead during my presidency”. Ceev board members also include the name of Piero Mastroberardino, a producer in Campania and vice president of Federvini.
For Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) president Lamberto Frescobaldi, the appointment of Marzia Varvaglione to the Ceev summit “brings a breath of fresh air: she will know how to ferry the sector through this critical moment for European wine, and we are proud that bringing this position back to Italy is the expertise not only of the first woman president, but also of the youngest person to hold this position, testifying to a sector that, today more than ever, needs to be dynamic, responsive and projected toward the future”. Frescobaldi added that “President Marzia Varvaglione has presented an excellent program shared with the European federations, which addresses all the crucial issues for the development and health of the sector. They range from the defense of wine to the competitiveness of businesses, from the need to adopt strategies to reverse the trend of consumption also by speaking to young people in their own language, without forgetting to support generational turnover. Added to this is the strengthening of the organization in its representativeness and advocacy role, in pursuit of the goals of the Strategic Plan 2023-2027. A programmatic plan as ambitious as it is necessary, which reaffirms the commitment already undertaken by the Ceev on community and international tables. And precisely for the close work towards the European institutions and the long-term vision on the future of the association, as well as for strengthening the dialogue among members, I thank, on behalf of the entire Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), the outgoing president Mauricio González-Gordon and the entire working group”.