Cuneo, 31 October 2021

A project developed by the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation and the CRC Donare Foundation, in conjunction with the Consortium for the Protection of Barolo Barbaresco Langhe and Dogliani

The first ever Barolo en Primeur was a great contest of generosity. 600.000 euros were raised on 30 October during the first edition of this unique event in Italy, held at Grinzane Cavour Castle, promoted by the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation, in conjunction with the CRC Donare Foundation and the Consortium for the Protection of Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe and Dogliani. An international audience of bidders, linked up live with New York, competed for 14 solidarity projects, which were matched with 14 barriques of Barolo Gustava from the 2020 vintage.

The most generous bid was made for the Adas Foundation which is a non−profit organisation that provides pain management psychological support and palliative care at home for which € 50.000 was donate. This project was matched with barrique No. 10 for which Galloni says “one of the most interesting wine in this auction. An extremely classic Barolo from the Grinzane area, featuring floral, spicy aspects, red berry fruit with a medium – bodied structure and wonderful energy and tonicity”

However, the most generous donation of euros 140.000 was made for the tonneau (equivalent to approximately 600 bottles) of the Barolo del Comune di Grinzane Cavour 2020, which was unexpectedly added to the catalogue at the end of the auction by vice−president Ezio Raviola.

The patroness of the event was Evelina Christillin, President of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities Foundation in Turin and former President of ENIT, and it was hosted by Valeria Ciardiello, a journalist who has been concerned for years with the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility. Cristiano De Lorenzo, Director of Christie’s Italia, handled the auction.

Bids for the fifteenth and last charity project will be collected on 14 November during the World White Truffle Auction, again from Grinzane Cavour Castle and in live streaming with Hong Kong: the donation will be assigned to the international charity “Mother’s Choice”, which has been working to help orphaned children and young mothers in difficulty since 1987.

Ezio Raviola, Vice−President of the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation, commented on the charity event just concluded: ”The success of Barolo en Primeur is a source of great satisfaction for the Fondazione CRC: thanks to a concerted effort in our local area, which has involved extremely prestigious ambassadors of wine and art, we have created a unique initiative, capable of linking a product like the internationally renowned Barolo with projects of great social value. As of today, we are looking forward to the 2022 edition, with the aim of introducing new features that will further enhance this initiative”.

Matteo Ascheri, President of the Barolo Barbaresco Langhe Alba Dogliani Consortium, added: ”The Barolo En Primeur charity event, made possible thanks to an important CRC Foundation project, was a fundamental starting point for the definitive enshrinement of the Barolo appellation on the world stage. Barolo, already appreciated and well−known all over the world thanks to the relentless work of its producers, was donated for the first time in Italy in the ‘en primeur’ mode. As a Consortium, we will be committed to involving the producers of the Langhe for the next edition of Barolo En Primeur, to make its presence felt even more on the international stage.”

Finally, the project has been promoted not only in Italy but also in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the UK in association with the Langhe Monferrato Roero Tourist Board, which will organise the Global Conference in Wine Tourism in Alba in September 2022.

This is the successful outcome of an event which for the first time in our country has combined the prestige of an Italian wine with solidarity and the en primeur method. It involved some of the great exponents of the international wine world, such as Donato Lanati‘s Laboratorio ENOSIS Meraviglia − which was tasked with the entire wine−making process − and Antonio Galloni, who took part from New York. The world−renowned wine critic and CEO of Vinous attached to each barrique an NFT (Non−Fungible Token), a digital certificate of authenticity guaranteed via blockchain.

Barolo en Primeur, as reiterated by the organisers, is set to be repeated next year and in the following years, also with the personal involvement of the producers, and is sure to become an unmissable international event for enthusiasts, collectors and benefactors.

At the end of the mandatory ageing period starting in January 2024, 300 bottles will be obtained from the donated barriques, which will be numbered and dressed in a label created exclusively by Giuseppe Penone. The work of art by the Italian artist and sculptor is an unprecedented drawing of a vine leaf (the botanical) combined with a hand (the human), a visual synthesis expressing the intimate tie between the wine and its producer and conveying the core elements for creating quality: intelligence, courage and love. In other words, culture, work and creativity.

Among the beneficiaries of “Barolo en Primeur”: the project of education through art and the search for gender equality in China of the East−West Philanthropic Forum (EWPF), the platform for intercultural collaboration on the issues of climate change, conservation, sustainability, education, women’s leadership; the project to acquaint children and families with contemporary art and sustainability promoted by the Rivoli Castle Museum of Contemporary Art; the project for the restoration and valorisation of the 17th century Cantinone of Villa Arconati, on the outskirts of Milan, by the Augusto Rancilio Foundation, an organisation for study and research in the fields of Architecture and Design; the project for the promotion and recovery of traditional knowledge and the landscape of the Alta Langa by the Alta Langa Cultural Park, a non−profit organisation for the promotion of the Alta Langa aimed at fostering the socio−economic, cultural and tourist development of the area; the Thesaurus Monviso project, which aims to regulate the commitment of young people in the socio−cultural and environmental spheres in the area of the Monviso Valleys, implemented by the b612lab Association of Saluzzo, an international organisation for the promotion of youth policies, and finally Opera Pio Barolo.