Renzo Rosso and Sandro Veronesi, wine & fashion entrepreneurs on duties, consumption and wine future

Duties shaking the markets, consumption which changes, youngsters and health obsession, the new trends, but mainly the future of wine: two great Italian entrepreneurs of wine & fashion, Renzo Rosso - patron of Diesel, and of Only The Brave Group (which controls, among others, luxury brands such as Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander, Viktor&Rolf) in addition to be the founder of winery Diesel Farm, and of Brave Wine, holding with properties in Sicily, and in Piedmont – and, Sandro Veronesi, founder of Oniverse Group (which encloses brands such as Calzedonia and Intimissimi, but also the supply chain of wine shops Signorvino), and wine producer with Oniwines, and wineries in various regions (last purchase Villa Bucci, in the Marche), one-on-one with WineNews, at Vinitaly, about the most current themes of the sector.

Renzo Rosso, patron of Diesel, who, from Vicenza, made made in Italy jeans an universal icon, and is part of Only The Brave Group, the holding of fashion and luxury of which he is founder, and which controls brands such as Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander, Viktor & Rolf, and Amiri, is deeply linked to his territory: on the hills of Marostica, in Veneto, Diesel Farm rises, the “design of wine”, great passion of one of the first Italian vip-vignerons which is part of Brave Wine, the holding dedicated to wine with capitals also in Benanti on Mount Etna, and in the company of Barolo Josetta Saffirio. To Renzo Russo, WineNews asked what the world of wine should do in a moment which sees consumption dropping because one pays more attention to health, and youngsters prefer drinking other. “I come from the world of clothing in which we are already going through this moment – explains Russo – there is less flow and “traffic” because the destabilization which is occurring today for wars globally, for all the economic world and so on, made people in shops going to buy decrease”. So, what can we do? “Apply to wine world the same theory I’m applying in this moment to clothing: with consumption drop, we have to work on Crm (Customer Relationship Management) and clienteling. It means doing “education” to clients, give them all information about who you are, why you are here, all what you do, i.e. all the ingredients, all the love you put inside that bottle, and that wine glass, all these incredible things, that, we, artisans, can do. The more information given to end user, the more he is linked to you, we saw that in my “first world”, which is that of clothing, where, with less traffic, we manage to sale anyway because we increase the average bill, and people buy more because loyalyzed”.
Regarding no-low alcohol wines, Renzo Rosso affirms: “they are obviously market trends, it is certain that thinking about drinking a glass of wine without alcohol is a little bit sad, let’s say I would be quite in favor of a lower content of alcohol. About no-alcohol I think: then, why not to take a Coke or a Red Bull, it would have much more sense”. But, Renzo Rosso reflects also about duties, which, in the last days, became the central theme of the world of wine, both Italian and European ones: “I hope that Giorgia Meloni,, who is now going to the Usa, manages, also with the help of Europe – because she can’t do that by herself – to decrease a little bit these percentages which are surely heavy, and will be mainly heavy for those wineries not having a name, and sell only a product and stop. Who, on the contrary, is lucky to have a brand can work in a different way operating much more on positioning, and being affected in a lower way by the heaviness of the duty”. But, is it still a good idea to invest on wine? “Wine gives the participation to socialization, to be fine – affirms Renzo Rosso – a glass of wine gives more naturalness in the dialogue, makes you feel better, and then, what about a dinner or food, if, at the end, you don’t taste a sip of wine? For this, I’m a great supporter of wine, I’m working and investing much in our wineries under two aspects: the first is on quality because, today, we are implementing Artificial Intelligence and technology for an increasingly higher quality. I think that, with quality, one wins: in fashion, for example, I’m winning because I’m working on creativity, and I want to do the same in wine. Then, we invest also on an other aspect, i.e. making beautiful wineries: this improves the interaction between visitors and winery, it creates a good bond, it makes one see who you really are”. About the possibility to add other companies to those which he already owns, he closed stating that: “surely, I miss some jewels, I’m working on that, and I hope it arrives sooner or later”.

Sandro Veronesi is one of the most important Italian entrepreneurs, patron of Oniverse Group, ex Calzedonia, of which also the supply chain of wine shops Signorvino is part. And, which, in a journey back, from the shelf to the vineyard, he is also wine producer with Oniwines, wineries La Giuva in Valpolicella, founded in the first years of 2000s from former trainer Alberto Malesani, Tenimenti Leone nei Castelli Romani, Podere Guardia Grande in Alghero, of Villa Bucci, “pearl” of Verdicchio of the Marche, last acquisition of Veronesi family, and waiting to open a winery also in Trentodoc. About the theme youngsters and dropping consumption, Sandro Veronesi explains that young people pay more attention to health, and prefer, basing on what research states, drink other beverages. “But, we have to continue to believe, continue to invest. Crises are transitory in all sectors – explains Veronesi – and, then, the crisis of a sector is not necessarily the crisis of all companies of the sector, but who believes, who wants to go on, who has more strength, mainly inner strength to have the possibility to continue to invest, he/she can take advantage also of crisis moments”.
And, what about the theme of no-low alcohol? “I think all the bad possible – says Sandro Veronesi – because one can drink what he/she wants, but it is not wine, they are other things. One can drink Coke, Sprite, can drink anything else, but wine arises, from way back, from the fermentation of grapes, and has a small part of alcohol, but also many other things. Focusing on the content of alcohol misleads, it is completely wrong”. Regarding duties, Sandro Veronesi is optimist: “I make the entrepreneur, I am optimist of nature. Storms arrive, pass, we have to be patient”.
But, at the light of all this, and also of the fact that wine is the cultural beverage for excellence, and which is economy, work, tourism for all our territories, is it still a good idea to invest in wine? “According to me, yes – affirms Veronesi – the first miracle of Jesus is that he transformed water into wine during the wedding feast of Cana. If he had thought that it was a bad thing, he would have done differently, maybe Coke”. Veronesi wishes for the future to add other jewels to its mosaic of companies, if these “are made available, and can still be found”.