Two natural winemaker associations VinNatur and Vi.Te – Vignaioli have joined forces in a year that is proving to be one of the most uncertain years in our living history.
A rapprochement of two of the most important natural winemakers in Italy took place in August 2020. The presidents of the two associations Angiolino Maule and Gabriele Da Prato met to lay the foundations for a shared path. “It was a meeting that had been in the pipeline and wanted for a very long time and has finally materialised,” they said.
Among others, they discussed what are natural wines, when can a winemaker be truly an artisan when very often it is a trend or commercial project?
The need to clarify the movement and to join forces in order to succeed was evident to the two associations.
Collaboration is the best way forward to give greater authority to the natural wine sector and to its message, and for this reason we have already started to consider the criteria needed for a winery to be accepted. We need objective third-party evaluations, combined with increasingly close monitoring of the member wineries, in order to guarantee the credibility of the whole movement.
The next step will be a wine fair organised by both associations together – a stand-alone event, not linked to any existing tastings – which will also give a message of positivity and hope to the sector.
“We natural winemakers are alive. We have so much desire to share and explain our work, our vineyards, and our wines,” the two presidents said.
“Right now it is impossible to place this event in the calendar, due to the ongoing pandemic, but the possibilities are many, and when the opportunity finally arises, we will organise it,” they said.
The decision taken by the two associations to follow a common path, brings together over three hundred winemakers and their wineries, who will finally be able to affirm all this with even more clarity and determination with a single voice.
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