When it comes to wine, the link with the territory is crucial. Every bottle tells the story of the land where it was produced, the climate, the labour and the passion. In this interview, we are exploring the value of regional identities, teamwork, top-class research as well as a unique attitude.

Enrico Serafino, Parma Calcio's Club Partner, has a lot of points in common with the club: respecting the land, boasting their own unique identities, and embodying emotion and passion. In this scope, Nico Conta, Enrico Serafino President has spoken to us about all of the above characteristics to help us discover what it really means to produce a wine that authentically captures its origins.

IDENTITY

“For me, the link to the land is key. Wine is born from the ground, from the soil where it grows and forms, and when I speak, I try and avoid the term 'tradition', as it is limiting in my opinion. What really counts is the link with the ground and the environment in which it grows. In fact, the vine is probably the plant that best transforms the characteristics of the soil into its fruit. It is almost like an animal that interacts and adapts to the place where it lives.

Our work in the winery is not to add, but to maintain and preserve what nature has given us. It is a delicate process, and true quality in wine happens in the first days of the process. For this reason, the winery is a place where we must rigorously control certain elements: temperature, the healthiness of the environment, the speed of work, the protection from oxygen and so on. Every detail counts, exactly like in a football team that's playing well when all the players are organised on the field'

TEAMWORK

“There is not only a single element that goes into creating our excellent wine: it is teamwork that makes the difference when everyone contributes. The ground is certainly our 'father', but every step we take, from the vineyard to the winery, must be supported by experts who have all the technical skills required. We are lucky to have such a professional team where everyone works for the shared goal which is an excellent product.

The quality of the wine, therefore, is the result of teamwork, a shared contribution of agronomists, oenologists and all the other professionals involved in the production phase. Even in this case, it's like a football team: only when everyone plays together towards the same goal can you achieve the best result'.

EXCELLENCE

'Working towards excellence is something we strive for every day. Every year is a new opportunity to improve, to refine the minute details and to raise the bar even further. We do not settle: excellence is a path that never stops. Every choice we make from planting the vine to the management of the grape harvest is done in a way to improve the quality of our wine without ever settling. Every small improvement that we make is key to continue upping the quality of the product.

Excellence, as a continuing process, requires patience, attention and dedication. We never reach the 'goal' as we continue making new and more ambitious ones. Every year, we look to become better and to respond to the expectations of everyone who loves our win.'

EMOTION

“My work, and that of everyone in the winery, is based on emotion. It is emotion that makes us all work out best, and it keeps us pushing to overcome difficulties. Every bottle that we produce is the result of a collaboration between nature and humanity. When you see the fruit of your work grow and mature, you always feel deep emotion. It's like when you see a child grow up: you get this feeling which is tough to describe, but it make it feel like all the work was worth it.

Every harvest, every step in the winery, is done with passion which makes every bottle unique. The wine is more than a product but a reflection of the passion of its creators, their emotions and their intuition. If there wasn't passion, wine would simply be liquid in a bottle. But with passion, every sip tells a story, it's an experience and a unique moment'.

AVANT-GARDE

“For me, working with that cutting-edge means the ability to innovate, to bring something new, to make something no-one has before, something that can be available to all producers. Innovation is one of the keys to improving, to never settle. For example, we were the first to experiment with the 'perpetuelle sbagliato®' (perpetually wrong) method in Alta Langa which, at the time, seemed risky, almost completely nonsense. But without this vision, we would have missed the emotion of a cuvée that makes us very proud.

Although it's banal, I want to underline that that avant-garde is not only a question of technique, but it's also a case of vision. It is the bravery to do something others have never tried, and the satisfying part is when you see that your idea becomes something real. An example is our Zero 140 2005, which at the moment of its release, thanks to its twelve years of yeast refinement, became the most aged pas dosé method wine in the world. Today, seven years later, others are following our pioneering example. This is avant-garde: trying to do better than what there is and opening new paths.'

RESILIENCE

“In the wine industry, resilience is key. It's never easy. Every year there are new, unpredictable challenges that can compromise everything. A hail storm, an error in harvest, a difficult year. Every year is a gamble. But like a football team that are facing a penalty, we must be ready to react and to find solutions. For me, resilience comes over time and it comes out most of all, in difficult times.

For example, for our Alta Langa, every year we work on 57 different plots, that are tens of kilometres apart and we monitor every vineyard with our utmost attention. If something goes wrong, we need to be ready to react. There is no time to complain and cry but we must resolve the problems and get everything back to normal. Resilience is part of our DNA: we know that we can overcome every challenge if we approach them with our skills, dedication and honesty'

ATTITUDE

“The Piedmont attitude is a key part of our philosophy. It is an approach that values quality over appearance, where we focus on the final product without showing off. We from Piedmont have a certain pragmatism: we prefer to work hard, with our passion and without cutting corners. One key example is the Fassona (cattle from Piedmont): it's an animal that couldn't work on the fields because of its weak bones and therefore it was rendered useless. However, it was then discovered that its meat is excellent. People from Piedmont, by rewriting what is 'useless', have continued to raise the animal and it has now become one of our most sought-after delicacies.

This same thing happens every day: we don't mind about going unseen, but we want to ensure the quality of our work, so that our wine speaks for itself.

This attitude is also an invitation to rediscover authenticity in a world that often focuses on appearances just like flaunted luxury times. For me, authenticity is the true luxury as it is based on true values. It is the quality born from the small details, dedication, experience. It is not price that produces quality but in fact how much we commit to our work.'

Working in the wine industry is not only a job, but a mission based on passion, dedication and an unrelenting drive for improvement. Just like in a football team, every element must work in unison to reach the shared goal: creating a product that represents and tells the story of the land where it was grown. With a touch of avant-garde looking towards the future, but roots based on tradition, this philosophy represents not only a way of working, but an authentic vision of the world of wine.