At Changes 2024 the theme of the value of community and identity of wine territories. Explore owners’ perceptions of out-of-land investments and their inclinations toward selling and protecting community value.
Wine lands, in Italy as well as abroad, are increasingly the object of the attention of investors, industry and financial, seeking new opportunities for capital infusion, acquisitions and resource allocation.
The Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani wanted to address the issue in the 2024 edition of Changes, a time for debate and discussion on major issues related to the world of wine and its production organized as part of Grandi Langhe, the two-day event of presentations and previews of new wine productions from Langhe and Roero.
Langhe (not) for sale
The theme of the day, “Langhe (not) for sale, community identity and value,” was chosen to explore and analyze these trends, to assess the sentiment of winery and vineyard owners with respect to whether or not their businesses should be sold. The Langhe, in fact, as well as other areas of Italy where wines of the highest value and quality are produced, are in the spotlight because of the high symbolic and economic value of their territory.
“We chose to focus on this topic,” explains Matteo Ascheri, president of the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani – to understand, in the face of exogenous dynamics related to valuations and prices of valuable land for wine production in the world’s most vocated areas, what were the positions of Langhe producers with respect to investments, which we defined as external to the local fabric and to deepen the vision that the producers themselves have of our territory, so as to highlight the risk factors and opportunities related to the transfer, or not, of wineries and land in the different family generations“.
This interest may risk distorting the market and lead to speculative phenomena, depending also on the generational transition. A situation, therefore, that calls for attention to the needs related to the protection of terroir, also understood as community, and the preservation of competitive identity.
The conference
The conference began with a talk by Bruno Bertero, President of the ATL Langhe, Monferrato and Roero, who framed the contextual factors and trends in the development of the Langhe “brand” including tourism, and from the presentation of the research “Langhe (NOT) for Sale,” carried out by the Center for Research on Community Development and Coexistence Processes (CERISVICO) of theCatholic University of Milan and Brescia and coordinated by Prof. Maura Pozzi and by the researcher Adriano Mauro Ellena.
The study was conducted in three phases: a qualitative and quantitative survey initially connoted the figure of “Large External Investors (GIE)” with respect to two clusters: the Junior (under 40 years old) and Senior generations in family wine enterprises in Langhe. Next, focus groups were used to explore the vision and identity of the Langa area to highlight what factors limit or hinder the hypothesis of business sales. Finally, the administration of a questionnaire aimed to test the connections and interrelationships between the factors that emerged in the previous steps and sales propensities.
Junior and senior producer positions
The results that emerged show how the issue is experienced differently by different family generations. Juniors view investors from a complex and structured perspective-not monolithic, but differentiated with respect to various types (investment funds, multinational corporations, large groups, individual investors)-carriers of industrial projects and strong capital endowments. Seniors, on the contrary, have a more unambiguous view of “outside” investors who operate for speculative purposes and driven by pure trend and financial logic. Different psychological processes are activated for both clusters depending on whether the investors belong, or not, to the wine sector.
Especially interesting is, out of what can be considered stereotypes, the position with respect to the sale of the Junior’s company who see it as a community issue i.e., one that affects the identity and value heritage of the area and therefore should be weighed and evaluated from a collective perspective and of strong attachment to the roots of the Langhe. Seniors, on the other hand, make it a business issue because they identify with it to such an extent that they connect the sale of the business to the sale of part of themselves.
The round table
The topic was explored in the round table discussion led by journalist Valeria Ciardiello, as well as by the president of the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani Matthew Ascheri, also from Massimo Romani, CEO of ARGEA, by. Francis Mulargiu, of the Mamoiada Wine Association, and by. Maximilian Cattozzi, Head of Agribusiness Management Intesa Sanpaolo.
“It is not possible to think of development and growth ,” said Matteo Ascheri – that does not come from maintaining the distinctive values and quality that have made the Langhe, over the decades, an excellence. When I think about tomorrow I imagine more than growth, in terms of production, an increase in quality, made by people, wineries and values. Comparisons with other areas cannot be made in terms of development model. It is the people, their traditions and their stories that count. This is the heritage that we must pass on to future generations so that we can guarantee them a prosperous tomorrow“.
The phenomenon of external investment
Therefore, the phenomenon of outside investment must be monitored, and adequate support must be provided, as Massimiliano Cattozzi of Banca Intesa pointed out, to companies and their owners facing new investments or considering divestment of their business.
“The model we believe is a winner ,” said Massimo Romani . – is that of a proper mix of outside investment, made, however, in the logic of continuity, and direct involvement of former ownerships and a fabric of companies, often family-owned, that keep the social fabric and values intact. A coexistence of souls that can ensure the best future for the territories“.
The experience of Mamoiada in Sardinia
Territories also differ in size and production capacity, such as that of Mamoiada in the Nuoro area. “It was only in 2000 that we began bottling our wines, and today our association has 40 producers who have signed a protection specification ,” said Francesco Mulargiu – to enhance the product and work of those who have chosen to promote our reality. In this we feel somewhat similar, with due comparisons, to the Langhe, because the passion and attachment to our social fabric is the same as I found in visiting the Langhe wineries and what I think is the plus that ultimately makes the difference even in wine and the way of telling and experiencing it“.
The opportunities of corporate finance
Enhancing and safeguarding territorial identity to maintain a unique and distinctive heritage of farming and business culture. “For us, it is a source of pride to contribute to the reflections initiated ,” Massimiliano Cattozzi, head of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Agribusiness Department, said in his speech. – who care about the Langhe and their own productions of undisputed excellence, the pride of our country. A reflection on the future of this territory that, through the Agribusiness Department, a national network dedicated by Intesa Sanpaolo to agriculture and a qualified interlocutor for the sector, can take the form of targeted advice, including on the role that new generations of wine must assume in order to respect traditions And seize the opportunities of corporate finance between digital, ecological and business sustainability transition“.
568 member wineries, 10 thousand hectares of vineyards in the protected appellations divided as follows: Barolo 2214 hectares; Barbaresco 812; Dogliani 761; Diano d’Alba 209; Barbera d’Alba 1672; Nebbiolo d’Alba 1125; Dolcetto d’Alba 927; Langhe 2396 hectares (including 939 Langhe Nebbiolo). 66 million bottles produced. There are nine protected appellations (Barolo, Barbaresco, Dogliani, Dolcetto di Diano d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Langhe, Dolcetto d’Alba, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Verduno Pelaverga).
250 member wineries, 1,300 hectares of vineyards, 7.5 million bottles. A protected designation that is expressed in 5 types (Roero Bianco, Roero Bianco Riserva, Roero Rosso and Roero Rosso Riserva and Roero Spumante).
