When art inspires wine: “Les Deux Lévriers” is born, a French red wine by Valter and Paola Mainetti

“Aramaicos is a project that was started a few years ago. We have a foundation in our financial and real estate group that collects works of art, both in painting and sculpture, in which wine frequently plays a central role. In particular, two pieces, a bronze head of Papposileno from the Hellenistic period and a Roman statue of Dionysus from the second century AD, inspired us to research the background of wine. And we decided to produce one, thanks to our friendship with the oenologist Riccardo Cotarella”. Entrepreneur Valter Mainetti, reference shareholder and CEO of the Sorgente Group, editor of the newspaper “Il Foglio”, and wine producer with his wife Paola, told this to WineNews, describing the Aramaicos project, in the Coteaux des Baronnies in the South - Eastern France, in Nyons, in the wake of the family entrepreneurial tradition, with interests from Europe to the USA, concentrated in the field of real estate finance, in the enhancement of cultural heritage and in environmental protection, implemented with the Fondazione Sorgente Group which houses the prestigious collection of family works of art, born in the 1930s. An oenological project in which even wine becomes art and which, with the internationally renowned oenologist Riccardo Cotarella in charge of the vineyard and cellar, has led to the birth of the Igp Coteaux des Baronnies Rouge “Les Deux Lévriers” 2017, presented in the recent days in Rome, from a selection of the best Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah grapes, aged for one year in the best French oaks and in the bottle for four long years, combining Italian and French tradition.
The Aramaicos project’s philosophy is to produce wine with art and spread it with culture as an element of social cohesion and cultural interest, as well as an expression of human creativity, in the belief that protecting and spreading knowledge of the territories’ history, art, and landscape value, combining business and beauty, represent true added value for companies. “Wine, when produced in a serious manner, is a high-quality product that embodies a series of important processes and high-level craftsmanship, and it is linked to privileged territories rich in art and viticulture, which it affects, in both Italy and France. And since high-quality wine also has added value, as far as business is concerned, its production is an important operation. Ours is for now a small production, in our group, but if the project goes well, we’ll see if we can enlarge it”, explains Valter Mainetti. Adding, on the fact that perhaps never before has Italy been betting everything on its beauty, on our historical, artistic, and landscape cultural heritage, but also on food and wine, that “I have a memory of Italy 35 years ago that was not as well organized as it is now” in preserving, communicating and promoting it, while “today I see that young people are very good and manage to combine their energy with the great traditions in the field of gastronomy and wine. More can be done on monuments and works of art because our artistic heritage is vast, but I believe that maximum effort is being made on both the public and private sides”.
For Paola Mainetti, godmother and creator of the Aramaicos project, as well as vice president of the Fondazione Sorgente Group, “the new label “Les Deux Lévriers” is the pride of our love for France and for the quality of its products". “A great red wine- explains Riccardo Cotarella - which comes from the strict selection, right from the harvest, of the bunches of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. Only the best grapes are chosen because this wine has only one goal, that of telling a wonderful territory like that of the Coteaux des Baronnies through a high-quality project. It is made entirely in France, once the grapes are harvested, they are vinified in one of the cellars with which I have been collaborating for years. What we are presenting is the 2017 vintage, the first of a long series”.