While a winemaker’s post is certainly a fascinating and rewarding one, it also carries a great responsibility. Especially in the case of Alessia Antinori, whose family has been making wines for more than six hundred years. Yet, despite the reach legacy of Marchesi Antinori Srl company to preserve, she seems to be very future-focused, always looking ahead.
To learn that and more, we sat down will Alessia at Phuket’s Amanpuri, where a dinner featuring Antinori wines was about to take place. What results is this exclusive interview.
Maciek Klimowicz: Welcome to Phuket. I understand this is far form your first visit to Asia?
Alessia Antinori: I was living in Asia about 10 years ago. And it was actually the first time someone was representing Italian wines in here, which I think shows how open-minded and innovative Antinori is.
MK: So moving to Asia was stepping ahead of the game?
AA: Yes, and in that I compare myself to my father, who did the same in the 1950-60s in Rome and Naples. I instead moved to Hong Kong, but not so much for Hong Kong itself. There, just like in Bangkok, Singapore and Taiwan, people were already familiar with wine and had knowledge of it since at least 20 years, but there were many other countries in Asia that had no idea about wine and were very challenging. While in Hong Kong, I opened up many new markets for us.
MK: This was 10 years ago. Has the landscape of the wine market in Asia changed since?
AA: There certainly is more knowledge about wine in Asia now. People travel aboard, many study aboard and they are exposed to wine. When they come back home, they bring that knowledge with them. Back home, they want to be better cared for by distributors, they want a better selection and to have an opportunity to try different wines.
MK: Talking about different wines – what’s the style of yours?
AA: The stale of Antinori wines can be described using a variety of words. Quality – obviously we are obsessed with it in all our wines. Consistency – we always strive to achieve consistency in quality. We are also known as a very solid brand and this has made a big difference in difficult times and allowed us to always come back up. Another important characteristic of our wines is personality – they have a backbone, structure. And last but not least, there’s the elegance. And please don’t ask me how you produce elegant wines; there is no rules or recipes.
MK: But who should know if not you?
AA: Well, I always say that elegant wine is like an elegant woman; you simply know the elegance is there. And that’s what we’re looking for, to produce this elegance, which is also the most difficult thing.
What is also extremely important for us, is to give each wine an identity, to show where it came from. Each of our estates has its own winemaker, its own vineyard manager. And while they follow the philosophy of Antinori, each is run on its own, to show this link to where the wine came from.
MK: What about you? You share the responsibility for Antinori with your two sisters, what part do you play?
AA: I studied winemaking so I am a winemaker and actually make my own wine in an estate inside Rome – a very unique wine, which was made by my maternal grandfather and was very famous in the 60s and 70s. It’s a very small production, organic since 1950s. It’s a great experience, but while I’m doing it by myself and it’s very challenging I can always count on support form my sisters and other members of Antinori team.
At Antionri itself, I take care of sales and marketing in Asia and in the US. And I think this is very important for a family owned company such as ours, to understand every aspect of running it – from winemaking to sales and marketing.
MK: When did you join the company?
AA: Officially, I joined when I was 22, but of course I was living with wine all my life. I was observing harvests, going to fairs since I was 15.
MK: This is the first time that the women of Antinori are so deeply involved with the business. How does it affect your wines and the way the company operates?
AA: Women can bring a lot into wine – when it comes to wine-making they are more sensitive, to the sales they can maybe bring a bit more patience.
MK: And will your wines be more feminine than in the past?
AA: They already are! Well, some of them are, and some of them are less, because I think it’s important to have equilibrium. I spoke about elegance previously, a very feminine thing, so of course it is impotent to us. But who knows where the next, 27th generation of the family takes us. These will be the 6 grandchildren of my father and we will see if they will be all involved in the company.
MK: Do they have a choice? Did you?
AA: Absolutely! They do and so did I.
MK: So what was the choice that you had to make, between wine and what else?
AA: History of art, I love art and contemporary art is my hobby, I’m a collector.
MK: Talking about hobbies and spare time, how long are you staying in Phuket? Is it a business visit or a holiday?
AA: I’d love a holiday, but I need to be on my way home tomorrow. I have to make a confession though, I have two kids at home and I had an opportunity to take a morning flight tomorrow, but I opted for an evening one, so I’m looking forward to this one-day stay at Amanpuri.
