Wine, “Italian En Primeur” sale for La Collina dei Ciliegi which touches “quota 100” barrels

“Before that financial tool is a mean to create relationships and synergies around companies proposing different experiences: high level tastings, restoration, and hospitality, in addition to high quality wines, naturally”: it is the Italian vision of “en primeur” sale according to La Collina dei Ciliegi and Massimo Gianolli, president of the company of Valpantena, in Eastern Valpolicella, and entrepreneur of finance. Even hundred barrels of Amarone “Ciliegio” sold, cutting-edge label by company Erbin (Verona), the goal of En Primeur project with the namesake Club, started in 2018. Goal at the center of “Festa En Primeur” No. 7, which went on stage at La Collina dei Ciliegi, dedicated to members of Club En Primeur, to new potential investors, and to enthusiasts to create a sense of belonging, and share an undoubtedly suggestive place, refined combination of nature and hospitality. An occasion also to make the point on the project, present the available vintages, and new opportunities for the audience. If the first oak barrels passed from zero to one hundred in 7 years for a total of a million and half of euros, Club En Primeur members – entrepreneurs, managers, responsibles of investment funds, and of financial societies, partners of legal studies, television commentators, actors, journalists, cookers, restaurant owners or “simple” wine lovers – arrived to quota 91. Undoubtedly, an excellent result for an sale en primeur experience unique in its genre, in Italy, and which WineNews wanted to deepen with an interview to Massimo Gianolli, to understand the replicability in companies which, as La Collina dei Ciliegi, offer high level hospitality and restoration, multiple experiences for hosts, in addition to high quality wines. It is worth underlining that it is a model of en primeur, which is different from bordolese one because, in this case, the purchased Amarone is not affected by market price fluctuations: to buyers, the profitability of investment is ensured thanks to a minimal increase by 10% of shelf price year by year. “I am not aware that there are other companies which sell en primeur wine, if not limited to already bottled wines, as we do for some cutting-edge labels too”, confirms Gianolli, who, in 2005, founded La Collina Dei Ciliegi to valorize and reconvert family grounds at few kilometers far from Verona, and finally dealt with wine, and, who, since 1992, heads the listed Generalfinance Spa. “En Primeur is a project I am really proud of – explains – because I didn’t imagine to celebrate the “barrel” No. 100, and, mainly manage to create a community of people, an ecosystem of friends, ambassadors to valorize Valpantena, and a great wine such as Amarone. It is a project which involves not only wine, but all the offer of La Collina dei Ciliegi, from restoration to resort. Where Club members come back, and come also to celebrate their parties, such as baptism, and confirmation”. In addition to ensure the certain sale of almost 60% of production of Amarone Ciliegio, and to the loyalty of the audience through a club, en primeur sale involves many advantages in terms of liquidity. But, how much are they important? “As Ceo – replies Gianolli – I confirm the importance of financial aspects. It is clear that it is about consistent cash flows, but other values come first, such as passion, create bonds with the company, which is my paradise, and, then, the relationships with me, my world, and my team. This is something extraordinary. Wanting to give a message to other entrepreneurs and producers, I say that it is a very beautiful tool, but it is necessary to recall that before, there has to be heart, the bond with people around. It doesn’t have to be seen as a financial tool, either for the buyer, or for the company launching the club”. But, how does the yearly profit of 10% ensured by La Collina dei Ciliegi on en primeur Amarone function? By purchasing an oak barrel – 225 liters corresponding to 300 0,75 bottles – for 15,000 euros (price for all the vintages reserved to investors leaving the bottles in custody in company cellar), the price is 50 euros plus Vat tax per bottle, which, at the entrance on the market, will be worth 65, generating an advantage in case of resale, of 15 euros, and, therefore, of 4,500 euros on the entire oak barrel. An advantage further growing over the time. “We produce 9,000 bottles maximum per year, numerated by hand – explains Gianolli – and, for all the bottles remaining in the company, we ensure a yearly growth of the price by 10%. In case the buyer wants to resell us some bottles, he/she already knows the progression of their quotation over the year, having the possibility to get a financial return”. An example helps understand the increase in value year by year. “In 2024, I purchase an oak barrel of vintage 2022 at 15,000 euros. In 2026, the value of the bottle – as already said – will be passed from 50 to 65 euros. Choosing to leave my wine in sharpening in the company cellar, I will already know which will be the yearly price increases. For example, basing on the table that it illustrates them, if I sold my Amarone Ciliegio of vintage 2022, in 2019, I would get an increase by 37 euros on the bottle, with a Irr (Internal Rate of Return) of 50% - i.e. effective increase profit rate generated by the investment – and, a Roi (Return of Investment) of 73%, measure of the profitability on the invested capital. Therefore, I could sell it again at 87 euros + Vat tax. The financial return pushed at the thirteen year after the harvest (in our example, in 2035), lists the bottle at 103 euros with a Irr at 57%, and a Roi at 207%”. Moreover, en primeur sale of Amarone Ciliegio by the winery of Erbin enriches with an It technology, which, starting from this year, supplies the oak barrel of vintages 2022, 2023, and 2024 with a property certification (Nft, Non-Fungible Tokens). This is memorized on a blockchain – allowing to register transactions safely and transparently – it ensures authenticity and uniqueness. “This technological innovation – comments Gianolli – is the further upgrade of En Primeur project. It allows the buyer to negotiate on any marketplaces the purchased wine, which, in this way, can be ceased more times, completely transparently, and allows the company to know precisely the “passages” and oak barrels buyers, as well as the end recipient of bottles”. In 2024, en primeur sale of Bordeaux gave crisis signals following the difficulties of French Aoc (which are confirming also in this 2025, with further price decreases by many companies, also among cutting-edge names, ed). In this not so easy circumstance for wine, particularly red, also Amarone della Valpolicella could run some risks, and, consequently, its en primeur sale, even if governed by different criteria. “Yes, it could be – replies Gianolli – but, I am very sure that it will widely overcome this crisis period because there are fashion trends, alternations in consumer preferences, and, then, different matters such as that of labeling, healthy themes. I don’t think that high level quality, sparkling, white, or red wines such as Amarone, will undergo shocks. Surely, there can be risks for entry level wines, for who produce millions of bottles, cases in which market dynamics come into play. En Primeur project gives us certainty about the result, I’m not worried at all, seen the interest and bookings. It is a different model: wine is part, in the specific case, of an ecosystem of lifestyle, of way of living, eating, drinking. In this case, a bottle of wine is not bought, but a piece of La Collina dei Ciliegi to live it. This project, as others of mine, generates ambassadors, and an interested not linked to wine, but to the belonging to a club. This, according to me, is a very interesting way to overcome eventual crisis periods which allow also not reduce prices, not to make the battle with the neighbor, but, on the contrary, to create value through the club”. During “Festa En Primeur”, also two new projects were presented, i.e. “Ouverture”, to purchase in preview lots of bottles of the most representative wines of wine project of La Collina dei Ciliegi (Prea Bianco Verona Igt, Prea Rosso Verona Igt presented on the occasion, Peratara Valpolicella Superiore, and the same Ciliegio Amarone della Valpolicella Docg) at a reduced price, when the vintages of wines are not on trade yet. On the contrary, “Nunc est bibendum” gives the possibility to create a wine tailored by the choice of rows in vineyard – for a surface of half hectare – to the vinification, and sharpening, starting from tastings with samples by pool, and blends of single parcel microvinifications to get 2,700-3,300 bottles, basing on vineyard and cellar works defined with agronomic and enologic team of the company.