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Home > Spotlight
Marchesi De' Frescobaldi, six centuries of wine
Roma - (Adnkronos Multimedia) - "Wine? It is part of our roots. Our family has cultivated vines and produced wine for six centuries, and I am sure that this will continue for centuries to come". Tiziana Frescobaldi, 41 years of age, Tuscan, directs the family firm Marchesi de' Frescobaldi (www.frescobaldi.it), presenting herself with a very determined attitude, as well as warmth. Hers is not an easy job. The firm produces almost 10 million bottles per year and exports almost 70 percent, remaining as one of the international leaders for high quality wine competing on the international market, where the actual dollar exchange presents a daily challenge. "We need - as Tiziana Frescobaldi explained - to understand the development of the markets, to go along with their rapid changes. We must update continually, otherwise we will fall behind in a world like that of wine, changing fast. And all of this without losing one's own identity."
Tiziana is not keen to talk a lot about the Frescobaldi Group. "Of course, from the management point of view - she explained - ours is actually a group, but only taken under this one profile. In fact, I believe that we need to keep a strong hold on the identity of the land which has produced these wines and to safeguard their character, together with the philosophy which guides our production". Some of these Tuscan wines, Chianti especially, are those most appreciated and famous in the world, such as Castello di Nipozzano, Montesodi, Luce. Sales of more than 65 million euro coming mainly from production in Tuscany, with the only exception of some vineyards in the Collio area in Friuli which produce white wine. There are three chosen areas: Chianti, Montalcino and the Tuscan coastal area where, in a joint venture with Robert Mondavi, the Californian king of high quality wine, the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi firm produces Ornellaia, considered by many to be one of the finest wines in the world.
Where are your export markets? What problems do you have with the dollar exchange rate?
"Above all the United States and North Europe, with special emphasis on Germany. But we also export to France and to Canada, mostly Nipozzano and Remole. Of course the present euro/dollar exchange rate is not favourable for us, although it does give us the opportunity to adapt to market development and to carry out our work in a better way".
You have six centuries of tradition behind you. How have you built up such a solid company?
"The real wine-making business actually began during the period following the Second World War. During that time the old family estates were transformed into authentic agricultural enterprises, and it was the end of the sharecropping system that prompted my family to venture onto a different scene. Already in the past special vines were being cultivated, aimed at the production of quality wine, but only in a very small measure. Those early years for my family were not at all easy: turning over to vines the hundreds of hectares of land which up till then had been dedicated to quite different cultures needed resources. Many other Tuscan families in that same period ended up by losing their lands. But with a certain degree of obstinacy we managed to do it. By the time of the Seventies, our specialised vineyards covered 500 hectares".
Today the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi vineyards amount to one thousand hectares. What will your investments be for the future?
"Our goal is to further improve the quality of our products. Already at present we are periodically replanting a major portion of our vineyards, and we aim to consolidate and also improve our position on the markets. For this reason we count on achieving a complete replacement of our vines over a ten-year span. Our choice will be to use plants which produce less but which are planted in greater density. In this way we can continue to maintain the present quantitative levels of production and at the same time significantly increase the quality".
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