An eventful end of the year for Piemonte Land of Wine, the large consortium founded in 2011 to offer the 13 Piedmontese consortia and the Piedmontese Vignaioli a point of reference for the promotion of the various denominations in the national and international wine market.
The part of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero leaves the consortium: it is impossible to make the needs of Alba coexist with those of Asti.
A decision made after the resignation of Matteo Ascheri, former president of the “Consortium of consortia”, and current president of the Barolo and Barbaresco Consortium, who declares: «In order to function well, the large company of Piemonte Land of Wine must work in unison to enhance the differences according to common proposals and which have a long-term competitive overall vision.
Since my appointment as president, which took place in July 2020, I have always tried to unite the various protagonists, implementing a synthesis that would lead to common results. The various consortia present, which rightly have a life of their own, when under the umbrella of Piemonte Land of Wine, should walk together. Unfortunately this did not happen on the part of everyone: to move forward we need dialogue, proposals and counter-proposals, the desire to do things together. I decided to resign because without these prerogatives we could not continue to work for the world of wine in a competitive way ».
A decision that caused an earthquake: «My action was followed by the Consortium Barolo and Barbaresco, and from Consortium of the Roero who will put their shares up for sale. An important sign from two realities that count in the panorama of Piedmontese wine. And they will not be the only ones to have taken this decision… ». But there seems to be a glimmer of mediation: “This type of decisions, Matteo Ascheri concludes, are not taken lightly, but are made to give a shock and to make it clear that if you want to work in a certain way, you have to do it all together, with a vision that goes beyond their own backyard. We need to promote differences all together but if we are not proactive and there is no dialogue it becomes difficult to make the Piedmont wine movement grow. Now we will see if people will understand ».
Francesco Monchiero, president of the Roero Consortium, reiterates the ideas of Matteo Ascheri: «I have been part of Piemonte Land of Wine for seven years and already in May 2020 I wanted to bring out the Consorzio del Roero. Then with the election of Matteo Ascheri as president, which took place in July 2020, we decided to continue, supporting his work.
Unfortunately he too, despite his great commitment and his vision, has come up against dull people and unwilling to look beyond short-term actions.
Piemonte Land of Wine should be a reality of strong promotion and not limit itself to obtaining subsidies which, although important, are not the only goal to be achieved.
It takes a long-term program to make the most of the Piedmontese wine world, beyond one’s own limited interests. There is a lot of difference between the mentality of Alba and that of Asti, I’m sorry to say but that’s the way it is. And this is a shame because it is the quality denominations of those areas that pay the price ».
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