A cellar that is above all a choice that stems from the heart. A family, and a shared vision that combines innovation and agricultural tradition. Between vineyards, skills and international markets, time becomes a strategic value. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviews Andrea Razzaboni from Cantina Ventiventi
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Taking your time, in the real sense of the word. Because it takes time to do things well; a whole life, and even a second life. There it is, the story we are about to tell you is that of a second professional life that encompasses many other things such as a close-knit family with a visionary father and three sons working together, a love for the Emilian territory where their roots lie and that of gratitude. There is the desire to build and to do so to the best of one’s ability.
Company profile. We find ourselves at the heart of Emilia, where the plain opens up to tidy vineyards and time seems to pass at a different pace, slower yet not less intense. The experience of Cantina Ventiventi takes shape here, between Modena and Bologna. A name that already tells the story of a passage, a threshold, a new phase. Because this is not only an entrepreneurial project, but both an arrival point and a re-starting point at the same time. A dream that has become an actual project. The father Vittorio Razzaboni, together with his three sons, is building a company step by step - a business that now covers dozens of hectares of vineyards with a production that focuses on quality even before numbers. Everything stems from a passion for wine. “My grandfather and my aunt had a fixtures company, then my father started studying revolving doors for banks. This idea proved a winner, and was followed by the development of cash management machines also for banks. The company grew from 7 to 180 employees. But this other business, i.e. the winery, is a choice that stems from the heart. We started this project fully aware of taking the right steps at the right time,” recalls Andrea Razzaboni, a 29-year-old oenologist born in Bologna and owner of the family business alongside his brothers Riccardo (born in 1994) and Tommaso (born in 2003). The vineyards cover 30 hectares out of 70. The company was set up in 2020, the year of the pandemic when everything came to a standstill. Or almost everything. The soil is characterised by a high clay percentage that helps with the longevity of the wine giving it more structure.
Between tradition and innovation. Ventiventi currently employs around 22 people, with peaks depending on the season. Wine is not only an agricultural product, it is the expression of a territory and of a shared vision. “We did not want to simply make wine, but to build something that truly represented us, that spoke of our land and of our story,” says Andrea Razzaboni. Once again, time. That becomes the raw material. Time to study the soil, to choose the variety, to observe the seasons. Time to invest in technologies that help monitor all phases of the process without ever losing the essential features of the agricultural work. Time to build a team. Today, Ventiventi is a structured reality that combines agronomic, oenological and commercial skills with an approach that is both traditional and innovative. “The challenge is finding a balance between what we have inherited and what we want to build. Innovating does not mean erasing the past, but rather interpreting it in a new way,” points out Razzaboni. Hands, mind, heart - these are the three elements at the basis of the work carried out every day. The hands of those who work the land, the mind of those who make the plans and the heart of those who believe in what they do. Ventiventi also becomes a place to connect. First of all with the territory, but also with those who choose the wines, savour them and bring them to their table. From Blanc de Blancs to Rouge de Noirs, passing through Rosé and ancestral wines, every bottle is part of a broader narration. Ventiventi has chosen to make wine tourism the key point of its strategy, as it is aware that illustrating its story in a direct and transparent way is the best way to strengthen its identity. “Our objective is to establish a bond. We do not just sell bottles, but an experience, a piece of Emilia,” says Razzaboni. This approach also translates into an increasingly stronger presence on the international markets. If we look ahead to the future, the trajectory is clear, that is to grow, without losing coherence. To invest in sustainability, in technologies that reduce the environmental impact, and in increasingly efficient production models. But, most of all, to continue putting people at the centre. So everything circles back to the beginning, to the time it takes to do things well. To the choice to not take short-cuts. To the capability of restarting when others stop. In a world that spins round faster and faster, they have chosen a different path. Because, in the end, the true value does not lie in the speed with which one grows, but in the quality of what has been built.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
