Schenk Italian Wineries in Piedmont, partnering with Cantina Vallebelbo cooperative

Investing in wine territories means, first and foremost, “putting down roots”, acquiring vineyards and wineries. But the wine roads are endless, and there are those who prefer to focus on original collaborations, even between leading private entities and cooperatives, such as the one that sees Schenk Italian Wineries, the Italian division of the Swiss-originated group led by Daniele Simoni, join forces, forging a partnership with Cantina Cooperativa Vallebelbo, founded in 1956, which today has 500 hectares under vine in the heart of the Langhe region, 150 of which are planted with Dolcetto, Barbera, and Nebbiolo grapes, with 150 vine growers who contribute high quality grapes, to produce wines in the heart of the Langhe.
“A collaboration agreement that sanctions and consolidates a relationship that began already in 2018 for the production of a line of Piedmontese wines with great potential: Casali del Barone. The original project”, a note explains, “was developed starting from the king of Piedmontese grape varieties, Barbera, creating an important and traditional product but with a very modern and innovative style, fruity, soft and intensely colored. Following its appreciation, the range was expanded with the addition of the great classic wines of the area: a Barbera d’Asti Superiore, a Barolo, a Nebbiolo, a Barbaresco and a Bianco Langhe, all bottled at origin”.
“The official signing of the agreement comes four years after the beginning of the collaboration between our two entities. Years in which, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic emergency, product development has never stopped, achieving a rewarding improvement in quality and consequent growth in production and sales volumes. A success that stimulated the need for both parties to strengthen the partnership with a more comprehensive and long-term formal agreement, confirming the esteem in which we hold each other. Cantina Cooperativa Vallebelbo is a solid, serious and quality-oriented reality, both in the vineyard and in the winery”, explains Daniele Simoni, CEO of Schenk Italian Wineries, “a perfect partner, absolutely in line with the operational philosophy underlying our business. To produce excellent wine, it is essential to be able to count on real, passionate and competent people, capable of grasping the needs of the market and harmonizing them with the rhythms of the land and nature, and then translating them into sincere products. We are therefore very pleased to continue on this path together, pooling the experience of our technicians and the cutting-edge technology at our disposal, in order to produce wines capable of achieving ever more exciting results”.
“The collaboration with Schenk Italian Wineries has allowed our wines to reach a wider audience of international markets”, comments Cristiano Amerio, president of Vallebelbo. “Our winery is increasing its focus on quality every year, and thanks to this collaboration we will be able, in a shorter time frame, to offer the market innovative products while maintaining a strong territorial connotation”.
The agreement involves close technical and technological collaboration between the Cooperative Winery and Schenk, where the latter has been assigned a dedicated space in the cellar, with its own barrels for the maturation of selections from the Casali del Barone range. A further step of development for Schenk Italiana Wineries, in a path that has seen the company, historically dedicated to bulk wine processing and bottling, and which has its main Italian headquarters in Ora (Bolzano) become a producer, first with the development of “territorial” brands thanks to important collaborations with top local producers in the Italian regions most suited to grape growing, such as Alto Adige, Tuscany, Veneto, Sicily, Piedmont, Puglia and Abruzzo; then, with the acquisition of the wineries “Bacio della Luna” in Vidor (Valdobbiadene) and “Lunadoro” in Valiano di Montepulciano (Siena). Until, with a different formula, precisely, the Langhe, with Vallebelbo.