Piero Antinori said, “it’s a difficult moment, but Italian wine will overcome it, opening new markets”

The “noble” father of the Renaissance of Italian wine, Piero Antinori, told WineNews, “50 years ago, when I began working in this sector and in this company, the consideration given to Italian wine around the world was practically zero. Italian wine was considered the lowest quality wine that could be found on the market. The road has been long, difficult, and demanding, but I must say that, over these 50 years, the image of Italian wine has radically changed”. He led a top Italian wine company, Marchesi Antinori Winery, for decades. It is now led by his daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia, and the CEO, Renzo Cotarella. Piero Antinori, who participated at the launch of the documentary film for the 20th anniversary of Istituto Grandi Marchi, was its first president. Istituto Grandi Marchi brings together 18 top-level wineries (Ambrogio & Giovanni Folonari, Antinori, Argiolas, Ca’ del Bosco, Carpenè Malvolti, Col d’Orcia, Donnafugata, Jermann, Lungarotti, Masi, Mastroberardino, Michele Chiarlo, Pio Cesare, Rivera, Tasca d’Almerita, Tenuta San Guido, Tenuta San Leonardo and Umani Ronchi, which together total 600 million euros). Piero Antinori’s story establishes a precise period in which the change in the image of Italian wine, today at the highest levels throughout the world, began.
“If you want to specify a starting period to what I call the “Renaissance of Italian wine”, you have to go back to the beginning of the 1970s, when several wine producers realized that we had the possibility of also producing high quality wine in Italy. Up until that time, and for centuries, I would say, the main objective”, Antinori emphasized, “was to produce quantity and not quality. The Italian consumer needed to drink large quantities of wine at very low prices, and the producers followed this request. However, at the beginning of the 1970s many reasons made us realize that in our lands, and especially in our hills, we had great potential to produce quality, and the world required quality much more than quantity. There was a transformation in the consumer, too, due to the change in lifestyle because people had a greater economic possibility and were willing to pay a little more to have better quality. It was like the beginning of a period that gradually, year after year, saw an extraordinary growth in quality, and, automatically also in the image and reputation of Italian wine”.
The five decades long journey has enjoyed great triumphs, as well as very difficult moments. For instance, the actual moment the world wine market is experiencing now, of falling consumption, inflation, wars, climate change and growing health concerns, which are all slowing down consumption. Of course, one wonders whether all these critical issues together are creating more concern than in the past, for the sector. Piero Antinori, though, looks to the future with confidence. “There have always been concerns. My family has been in the wine sector since the fourteenth century. In all of these centuries there have been easy moments and difficult moments. The important thing is not to be discouraged, even when there is a particularly difficult moment, like now, for all the reasons mentioned. However, I believe that we will definitely overcome this moment. I am sure of it, if we continue to focus on the quality of the product, and continue to work as Istituto Grandi Marchi, collectively, creating a system and truly working in the same direction, among companies that share the same values. It is true that there are all kinds of difficulties and the consumption of wine is decreasing a little on certain markets. But it is also true that there are large areas in the world which have not really discovered wine yet. Sooner or later, I am sure, they will discover it, and new markets will open up that will help us overcome a moment like this more easily”. These are the words of a person who, when he began his brilliant career, went to promote Italian wine that was considered the worst possible wine. Today, instead, it has conquered the world.