The Marchisio Family and Fivi, Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (Italian Federation of Independent Winemakers). A growing reality: genuine wines, artisanal productions. This is the key to the success that crowned the 11th edition of the Piacenza expo, fair-market of independent Italian wine. Exceptional numbers: 24,000 visitors for 870 producers. «A real crowd bath», confirms Fabio Marchisio, back from the two-day event held at the end of November. «A perfect opportunity to meet wine enthusiasts and professionals: they want to know the wines directly and also the people, the territories behind each label». Today Fivi is a large Italian reality: 1,400 associated winemakers, 13,000 hectares under vine. All medium-small, family-run wineries. Distinctive trait: absolute quality, utmost accuracy, enhancement of biodiversity.
«Independent Winemakers are a central element in the Italian wine economy and culture», recalls Lorenzo Cesconi, chairman of Fivi, a body established in 2008 to promote and protect the work of the winemaker and fine productions. «For us, joining Fivi was a natural thing», admits Sergio Marchisio, a pioneer of winemaking in the Roero. He was the first to plant Arneis in Castellinaldo d’Alba, the first to make bubbles (classic method) from it. Not only that: the first to vinify Nebbiolo in amphora (the award-winning Valmaggiore). Organic and biodynamic, the Marchisio Family has experimentation in its DNA. In addition to Nebbiolo, it now also produces Roero Arneis in amphora, along with the last two bets: Pinot Noir and Riesling. Small quantities, which testify to the desire to never stop.
Fivi’s is becoming a kind of community of choice. And the first to notice it are the many visitors to the Piacenza fair-market. Rare grape varieties, special processing. Simplicity and cleanliness, loyalty to territories. All values that aim to make the winemaker a true interpreter of his land, thanks to an exceptional ambassador: wine. The exponential growth of Fivi, say field specialists, confirms a trend toward the pursuit of excellence. In a globalized world, wins of succeeds in asserting sincerity: its own and that of the product. Unique stories, all to be tasted. Like the Marchisio Family’s labels: unmistakably “made in Roero”, but with an extra edge. The one that comes from the ability to let the territory speak, in a natural way, thanks to a special instinct: to help the wine express the best of itself, from surprise to surprise.
