Dopodimonti: another Italian winery lands in California
Recently, a new winery, that from “Il bel Paese” decided to cross the borders to reach California, was introduced to the guests of the famous Italian restaurant “Drago Centro” in downtown. Everybody could taste different wines accompanied by the experience of the sommelier Michael Shearin and by the chef and owner Celestino Drago and his renowned cuisine. The event has also seen the participation of the new Consul General of Italy Giuseppe Perrone, warmly welcomed by all the participants.
The Domodimonti Winery is in the heart of the wonderful Montefiore countryside, province of Ascoli Piceno (Marche) and is owned by the Bellini family: the cultivated varieties are Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Petit V erdot, Pecorino, Passerina Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The first year of production was in 2004: even if the vines have been productive for more than fifty years, a great work was made, during this time in order to replace the old original vines and plant new ones.
The Domodimonti winery, thanks to the experience and professionality of the internationally renowned oenologist Carlo Ferrini, stands as a landmark and guide in the production of natural wine, minimizing the use of additives. Their focus is on the specific aspects of a sustainable growth, which include water conservation, soil improvement, erosion control and the most recent integrated techniques of pesticides. The wine gets old in French
oak barrels and depending on the wine can stay inside them from 3 to 14 months before being sent to different distributors.
We had a conversation with Marco Scapagnini, general manager of Domodimonti for the US, Canada and Central America. To understand a little more about this wine qualities and about his future plans particularly in the USA.
Can you give us a definition of Natural Wine? Which are its characteristics?
The Natural Wine is more a philosophy than a simple certification. Our company has decided to become a “sustainable farm”: the energy is produced by solar panels, we use purified rain water to irrigate the fields and our winery is zero environmental impact, because it was designed and conceived in order to reduce the visual and ecological impact on the landscape. Many characteristics are similar to those of the biological wines: yeasts and fertilizers are natural and are not mixed with sulphites in the wine, we only add a little sulfur dioxide at last before the capping to create a sort of “barrier” between the wine and the cork in case of shaking during the transportation.
When did the Domodimonti start its adventure in the US?
The winery started in Canada with an office in Montreal, at the end of the 90s. The Bellini family owner of the company is, as a matter of fact, Italian Canadian. The new project instead began one year ago starting from New York and New Jersey. Now we are in Los Angeles, because we know that in California people are very interested in natural products. California will certainly be the market where we are going to invest more in the following months.
Which goals would your winery like to reach in the USA?
High quality and competitive prices are our two strongholds. We have opened an American import company without entrusting third parties. We import directly and we later sell our wine to local distributors keeping under control the market evolution and the safeguard of our brand. This allow us to be very competitive in the US market.
Marco Di Carlo
contributor
