“To be Master of Wine it doesn’t just mean knowing how to taste a wine, recognizing its origin, being good communicators. The Master of Wine is a journey that, once completed, leads you to think to wine in different terms such as its stylistic, economic, social and productive future». Today Andrea Lonardi is a full part of the international wine elite, a place home to exceptional skills. A tough path, and in his case focused on sustainability.
«A very tough journey, but of absolute value. This is understood not by the final result but by the values it brings. The theoretical exam already addresses exactly this type of topic: how sustainability can be an element of differentiation, what are the social aspects connected to sustainability which is not just an environmental factor. In my research work I particularly touch on how climate change and the lack of labor have a central social relevance in our work.”
How did you specifically address the issue of global warming?
«On climate change we force ourselves to start from objective data. For some regions such as Valpolicella the global rise in temperatures has so far been a positive phenomenon, for a wine such as Amarone it has instead been a negative phenomenon. The theme that how master of wine What interests me is what can be done to address climate change.”
What can be done?
«There must be an integral approach to bring about change. First of all, ethical behavior is needed on the part of viticulture with an approach aimed at recovering biodiversity in genetic terms. For this reason, research will play a fundamental role. In our Novare estate we have just completed work to recover vines that are very resistant to climate change. A work that surprised us and made us understand how rich nature still is but we have to study and discover it. We must update agronomic choices by thinking about regenerative agronomy (to restore the fertility and vitality of soils) and the introduction of algorithmic systems that help us predict plant needs and climatic conditions. We must think that water will no longer be a good available in unlimited quantities. This is why we need to recover it and reuse it. Finally, above all, for certain wines, the more everyday ones, we must think of less impactful packaging that is definitely much more easily recyclable.”
What is the best wine we can drink from an environmental point of view?
«It is a wine that is respectful of nature, of biodiversity, and that respects the work of the people who produce it, who can no longer just be seasonal workers. There is therefore not a single factor that will make a wine better for the environment: for this reason it does not necessarily have to be an organic wine »
And the best for health?
«As a manufacturer, health must be considered as a working environment, in which we must guarantee operators to work in the best safety conditions. As a consumer, however, health is a much more delicate concept because, as we know, wine is a hydro-alcoholic drink, which however should not be demonized for this reason alone. I believe that the most interesting thing for health is to educate about moderate consumption and perhaps combined with a life full of sport.”
What do you think of zero wine?
«To date, zero wine is not legally wine. I have tasted and studied many zero wines: they are interesting projects but they are aimed at consumers other than those who drink wine. In any case it is necessary to remain culturally open and curious towards all the evolutions that concern wine”.
What is the future of wine, the one we haven’t seen yet?
«Wine can only change again and continuously. There is no recipe, you have to remain curious and cultivate the desire to make your own contribution. In general I think that we will drink less, wine will have more and more identity and will have to tell more and more about a territory, its landscape, its vines and its soils. There will therefore be less space for generic wines. I also think that the methods of consumption will change, perhaps even the gestures, although in any case it will always be linked to conviviality and being together.”
How does a wine find its place on the market?
«Even wine, like other goods of a hedonistic nature, will increasingly be a question of brand. A brand that therefore becomes synonymous with a specific territory, style, price segment and time/place of consumption. This requires a management change and I think that wine will need resources and professionalism that come from the world of fashion and lifestyle. Resources accustomed to profiling the consumer target, accustomed to thinking by asking themselves questions: who is my ideal consumer, when does he drink wine, with whom does he drink wine, in which place does he prefer to drink it and in what context”.
What is the future of Italy in the world of wine?
«I think there will be different contexts. Some very successful, others that will need renewal and, finally, others that could definitively mark time. Success will be for those who increasingly have the strength to link wine to concepts of quality and lifestyle, for those who manage to make the consumer’s mind travel through a glass of wine. In this, I am sure that some Italian territories (Barolo, Brunello, Bolgheri, Alto Adige and perhaps Valpolicella) will definitively establish themselves in the Olympus of the great denominations of the world. There could be great opportunities for Trento DOC and its potential to respond to climate change. But also for those who need to renew themselves, Italy offers many possibilities. For this reason it is necessary to understand what the Unique Selling Points could be in which the market could be interested. In this, Pinot Noir from the Oltrepò could be a surprise with ample margins for growth, but so can Valtellina and the islands.”
Let’s talk instead about lack of manpower and social sustainability
«The lack of labor is a social issue, I am an agronomist by background. We have always thought that we can have qualified labor three months a year and then we are not interested in the working fate of these people. It can no longer be like this: we must go back to thinking that to have qualified collaborators they must have the possibility of a correct salary, the right safety tools, but above all continuous work. Companies also need to be resized based on the labor factor, it’s something I have to build at home and maintain. Thinking that those who work in the vineyard can then work in the cellar and work for us 365 days a year, not just seasonally. When we think about growth we have to do it with internal staff. Otherwise the game breaks.”
In Italy there are only two of you: why?
«It is a title that is very difficult to achieve alone and like all things it requires complementarity, a working group with different profiles, it is a study model based on the Oxford system and for us Latins it is difficult and because we often think that the approach physical approach is more important than mental approach. But I believe that Latin creativity and the concept of well-being are the twist that makes us stronger than others. We learn the most rational method and approach from them, but the values of the true Italian lifestyle (education, attention to food quality, appearance and style) are strongly necessary for the master of wine path. I add sport: traveling and talking about wine must increasingly combine with physical well-being.”
Source: Vanity Fair
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