The End of the Innocence

Italian translation follows below

The recent sale of Vietti to American investor Kyle Krause is one of the most shocking events I have seen in twenty years of visiting Piedmont and nearly thirty years of buying and drinking Vietti wines. For decades, Vietti has marketed itself as the standard bearer of artisan Piedmontese values – multi-generational family ownership, tradition and an attachment to the land. The question is: What does Vietti, and more broadly, Piedmont, stand for today?

For decades, wine lovers have been fascinated by the Langhe because, like Burgundy, it is one of the few regions in the world where wines are made by growers operating artisan estates that have been in their families for generations. The link with the land, the connection to the producer and the underlying humanity of the wines is precisely what makes them so special. When that connection no longer exists, the wines are less unique from what is available elsewhere. It’s as simple as that. To be honest, at times I am not sure the Piedmontese themselves fully understand or appreciate what they have. 

A Little Background

Vietti traces its history back to the late 1800s, but the modern-day era begins in 1960, when Luciana Vietti and her husband Alfredo Currado (who she married in 1957) took over the family domaine. The Currados had three children; Luca, Emanuela and Elisabetta. Luca Currado is the current CEO and winemaker. Daughter Emanuela married Mario Cordero, who heads up marketing, while Elisabetta is not involved in the business. When Luciana Vietti and Alfredo Currado retired in 2000, Luca Currado and Mario Cordero bought the business, which they have continued to operate with the help of Luca’s wife, Elena, and other family members and staff. Earlier this month, Currado and Cordero announced that they had sold Vietti, along with all of the estate’s vineyards and the historic cellar in Castiglione Falletto, to American businessman Kyle Krause. A long time Barolo lover and Italophile with Sicilian roots, Krause tried unsuccessfully to purchase the Arione vineyard in Serralunga before buying the Enrico Serafino winery from Campari last year.

The sudden sale of Vietti, after what appears to have been a very quick courtship, continues to send shockwaves through the wine world. It was long believed that Piedmontese farmers and producers would never sell to outsiders because the locals are famously inward and any such sale would be viewed negatively. Well, today’s generation of Piedmontese owners is much more global in outlook. The Vietti sale will surely open the doors to more similar transactions. Right now, Russian oligarchs, French luxury goods firms, Asian investors and American conglomerates are among the many suitors knocking on doors looking for wineries to buy in Piedmont. And producers? They are thrilled with the news. Property values continue to go up and increased foreign investment will create more avenues for further exits at higher valuations in the future.

The Deal

Let me be clear: I am not against foreign investment in Piedmont. Far from it. There are several wineries that really should be sold because the owners are older, have health issues, don’t have heirs and/or are severely undercapitalized. None of these factors seem to apply to Vietti. Only the Currado and Cordero families know their reasons for selling. Ultimately, their decision needs to be respected, even if it is unprecedented in nature. The sale of the vineyards is especially of note considering that Alfredo and Luciana Currado toiled for decades to rebuild the family holdings that previous generations had lost. Piedmont is often compared to Burgundy, but it’s hard to imagine a historic Burgundian family selling a world-class winery and all of their vineyards to an outside investor. Leaving aside exceptional circumstances like Domaine René Engel (today Domaine d’Eugénie) this has not happened yet, although growers in Burgundy have to deal with their own challenges, the most important of which are Draconian inheritance laws that are a continual strain on families.

What I can tell you is what I am seeing all over Italy. I say that because, as much as I find the Vietti sale a huge disappointment, ultimately Vietti is a symptom of a far more serious cancer that threatens to destroy family run wineries. Specifically, people are tired of fighting against an increasingly bureaucratic environment. I lived and worked in Italy fifteen years ago. It was hard then, but it is much harder now. Making wine is tough work. It is a constant struggle against the whims of nature. And selling wine is even more challenging than making it. 

As I have written here before, generational succession is one of the greatest dangers to the future of Piedmont’s artisan estates. All too often, today’s younger generation want to wear the latest in haute couture, drive nice cars and travel the world first class. They have no idea what it means to prune a vine, rack barrels, go to sleep at night during harvest with the sound of rain on the roof or fight to make ends meet. The struggles of their parents and grandparents are largely fading memories.