14.4 Luciano, an authoritative way of being

“Authoritativeness was the hallmark of his professional journey. In some cases he gave the impression of being authoritarian, so confident was he of himself and his decisions. He was rarely willing to question his own ideas and had a central role in the work, and even something more. Therefore, those close to him had to be able to grasp the moment when it was clear he was open to discussion. With Luciano one had to be malleable and work psychologically to understand when was the right time to speak and reason. He rarely agreed with you at first impact, but he would take in the stimulus, metabolise it, and then perhaps it was he who would take up the reasoning again. Having a calm nature was of great help to me in finding a balanced relationship with him.”

Concrete examples of this nature of his, inclined to having the last word?

“The clearest examples were the tastings intended to create the wine blends: the comparison with me and with Mario Ronco, the consulting oenologist, was always open, even prolonged, but in the end the last word was his. Another emblematic case was that of the 2013 vintage: we had done the tastings and created the blends for the various wines. One morning, he comes to me in the lab and I ask him if I could proceed with ordering the corks. Without having gone into the situation further, he tells me on the spot that from that vintage onwards Barolo Cannubi Boschis would no longer have that mention, but would be called Aleste from the initials of the names of his two grandchildren, Alessia and Stefano. And he presented it as decided, without any possibility of second thoughts.”

How was he in relations with staff?

“Demanding, but available and attentive to the needs of others. It seemed as though his greatest desire was to save people in difficulty. He did it with many, but then he expected results, even without many words. Sometimes he also made mistakes of judgment, as happens in such circumstances, but he never changed his attitude. And so he created an entourage of faithful, available collaborators who saw him as the authoritative figure who dictated the rules that had to be respected.”

I'm tempted to ask you what he was like in relations with suppliers...

“In purchasing and selecting supplies, we were always together and we played at being partners. He was the good guy in the situation and it was up to me to play the role of the tough, rigorous one. We complemented each other. But he had his strategies: in relations with suppliers like banks and insurance companies, he preferred to meet them at the winery. Instead, when he wanted to buy or rent a vineyard, then he went to the seller's house because in this way it was he who decided when to get up to leave the negotiation. And I must say that his strategy always gave excellent results. Thus, we did all the main acquisitions together and for me it was a very formative experience.”