3.3 Luciano between promotion and market

Meanwhile, Luciano's gaze was beginning to open to the world, both at an organisational level and at the level of promotion and market. He himself tells us: "In that period, I had the Confcoltivatori's Alba office looking after my administrative and tax matters, the organisation that today is known as the Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori (CIA). At the CIA office, informational and organisational meetings were frequently held, dedicated on the one hand to production schedules and, on the other, to market matters. At the CIA office I met many Langa and Roero wine producers. Among these, I always recall with pleasure the figure of Renato Cigliuti from Neive, with whom I developed over time a pleasant friendship and a fine working relationship. He resembled me in character: like me he spoke little, was very reflective, and appreciated the strategy of small steps".
To speak of those years, of the daily difficulties and the initiatives they had undertaken together with Luciano, the meeting with Renato Cigliuti himself proved illuminating. It is he who breaks the ice and begins to speak.
"In 1978," – Cigliuti recalls – "in that world in ferment at the Confcoltivatori, a figure arrived who was destined to bring a notable acceleration to our development process: it was Giorgio Rivetti, who at the time worked as a technical oenologist supporting the companies associated with the Confcoltivatori. I knew his father — "Pin der Mancin" — as his nickname went, born Giuseppe Rivetti. He had a wine estate at Castagnole delle Lanze and mainly produced Moscato d'Asti. Dynamic as he was even then, Giorgio Rivetti had set his mind on creating, together with other producers linked to the Confcoltivatori, an associated group to begin promoting the wines of small estates on various markets. Born as an idea that was all to be verified, the project of creating an associated group gradually took its first steps in that very 1978: Bartolo Mascarello and Luciano Sandrone represented Barolo, Sergio Vezza, Luigi Pelissero and the undersigned Barbaresco, and the Damonte brothers Roero. The Rivettis were to represent Moscato d'Asti." Getting them all to agree was not easy: each had his own rules to propose and enforce, expectations were high. The statute was a serious matter and had to be written properly. In the end, however, they tried to be practical and so already in that 1978 the association "Piccoli Produttori dei Grandi Vini del Piemonte" was born, with the aim of enhancing small agricultural enterprises and promoting their wines born from the work of family units engaged in the cultivation of vineyards and the resulting cellar activities.
In 1982, on the occasion of one of these meetings, they decided to participate with a shared exhibition space at Vinitaly in Verona, the wine fair launched a few years earlier and which was already establishing itself as the fundamental appointment for the entire Italian wine sector.
Meanwhile, production at Luciano's small estate continued to grow and so he understood that he had to find other ways, beyond word of mouth, to sell his bottles. Therefore, after consulting with his wife, he decided to join the "Vinitaly project" and participate in the collective stand to present his Barolo at the Verona fair.
But there was another problem, and one not easily solved: Vinitaly started in the middle of the week (on Wednesday) and concluded the following Monday. Luciano could be present in person only on Saturday and Sunday when he was free from work.
"Pondering day after day," – Luciano recalls – "I finally found the compromise solution: I came to an agreement with my friend Renato Cigliuti from Neive, who would substitute for me on the days when I had to remain in Barolo. I agreed to give him a few bottles, which he would display and have tasted and — if he found some interest — on Saturday or Sunday I would be able to reach him to meet with any prospective buyers. The surprise came on the third day of the fair, Friday afternoon. With a phone call Renato Cigliuti announced that there was a small, young American operator — a certain Marc De Grazia, with whom I would then work for many years — who was interested in my Barolo. Apparently, he wanted to buy the entire batch outright.
So on Saturday morning I set off for Verona with great curiosity. I was mainly interested in getting to the bottom of the situation. I found myself facing a very young man, even somewhat naïf. A completely different person from the one I had imagined: an established buyer with good experience. Therefore I decided to take time and informed Marc De Grazia that I needed a few days to decide. We agreed that we would meet again at a future fair, the BIBE in Genoa, scheduled for the following November. Meanwhile, also during my stay at Vinitaly — on Sunday to be precise — I met another importer, this time from Switzerland, more mature in my eyes. He was Wyhus Belp AG, based in Belp, near Bern."
The curious way in which they met him is recounted by Renato Cigliuti himself: "At that time, I knew a Swiss orthopaedic surgeon who every year spent his holidays in the Aosta Valley. On those occasions, he would willingly stop in Neive, at my cellar, to buy a few bottles. During that Vinitaly of 1982, it so happened that I met him in the very pavilions of the Verona fair. After mutual astonishment, the customary greetings and a few pleasantries, that Swiss friend of mine asked whether I was interested in exporting to his country. When I replied affirmatively, he told me to wait for him in my exhibition space where he would come by with someone who could probably suit my needs. So, after a while, my Swiss orthopaedic friend returned to the exhibition space of the Piedmont Region and introduced me and Luciano to his importer friend. This was none other than Wyhus Belp. At first, Belp proved hesitant. He was not sure he could successfully import and distribute our wines in Switzerland. After some uncertainty, he decided it could be done."
"Also Wyhus Belp," – Luciano adds – "wanted to buy my Barolo. Since I had already started my contacts with Marc De Grazia, I proposed to Belp the purchase of half my Barolo batch. So we decided that for the decisive step we would meet at the BIBE in Genoa the following November."
So, in November of that year, Luciano met the two importers at the BIBE in Genoa and convinced them to purchase his Barolo fifty-fifty. As for the price, Luciano was unyielding: 8,000 lire per bottle (just over 4 euros), without discussion. In this way the foundations were laid for a market collaboration that with these two importers would prove lasting for several years.
But the surprises or uncertainties were not yet over. And it is Renato Cigliuti who reveals some less well-known aspects: "Naturally, Wyhus Belp did not buy wine only from Sandrone. He also bought from me and from other producers in the group. At the time we did not realise that we had destined to a single buyer a wine quantity of a certain size, and so, after a few days, we began to worry. 'What if he doesn't pay?' we asked ourselves. 'What could we do?' We decided to cut through the problem, so we went to Switzerland to see how and where he distributed our wines. So a few days later we set off by train on our first trip to Switzerland. And within a few hours everything became clear. We were reassured and, to celebrate that deal having gone well, on the wings of enthusiasm we went for a boat trip on Lake Zurich. It was an adventurous outing that many of us still remember today, all these years later. A slightly risky trip that we would never have repeated".