The Veronese company is working on a sales and production strategy that is increasingly adherent to the combination of Valpolicella Orientale’s territorial iconicity and international recognition
Diversification, brand adherence and work on international markets. These are the guidelines on which Famiglia Castagnedi, the Veronese reality of excellence and owner of the historic Tenuta Sant’Antonio brand, is working to cope with an increasingly complex international context and anticipate many of the challenges of the sector. Over the past year, the Castagnedi brothers’ company has drawn up a Master Plan that has directed the efforts of all organisational departments towards
- Diversification of market channels: entrusting each product to the distribution channel that can adequately and effectively enhance it according to its degree of interaction with a specific target audience. Tenuta Sant’Antonio was consolidated in the Horeca target, SCAIA’s positioning in the large-scale retail trade was considerably deepened and strengthened, and new foreign importers specialising in sustainability were sought for TÉLOS. The primary objective is a tailor-made distribution that allows for an expansion and streamlining of sales operations, as well as a diversification of risk that broadens the distribution audience for each product in a given vertical.
- A tailor-made brand: given the increasingly conscious, well-defined consumption choices and the link with values and identity of a specific brand, the company has initiated a brand awareness process with greater verticalisation and recognition of individual brands on the market by targeting specific, targeted consumers, stimulating and consolidating adherence to the brand identity both among importers/distributors and directly among consumers.
- Quality Project: the valorisation of the excellence of Tenuta Sant’Antonio’s Single Vineyards has resulted in iconic Signature Wines that bear witness to the most intimate identity of the Valpolicella Orientale terroir:the Soave VIgna Monte Ceriani, the Valpolicella DOC Superiore La Bandina (93pt Vinous – Antonio Galloni, 92pt James Suckling) and the Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG Campo dei Gigli (95pt Vinous – Antonio Galloni, 94pt James Suckling, 3BICCHIERI Gambero Rosso), multi-awarded by the world’s most prestigious critics. To achieve this, other work has been undertaken, such as the “Nature Project” and Research & Development activities in both the vineyard and the cellar. Finally, a new aesthetic and communicative perception has seen the revisitation in a premium key of the labels of the Family’s great whites and, shortly, of TÉLOS, and will be completed in 2025 on the occasion of the company’s 30th anniversary with the Valpolicella and Amarone labels.
- Internationalisation: exclusive international activities have seen Famiglia Castagnedi at the table with the world’s most prestigious oenological signatures.Tenuta Sant’Antonio’s best Signature Wines were selected from the very few labels present at the event organised in Miami on 1 March by one of the world’s most authoritative Wine Critics, James Suckling, which was attended by over 7000 international participants – mostly operators -, while the Great Wines of Italy will be held in New York in September.Among the most appreciated products was Amarone Campo dei Gigli, awarded 94 points by the critic. In London, in February, Decanter’s Italy Fine Wine Encounter was held, representing the value of Valpolicella Orientale and the elegance that wines such as Amarone can bring to the table of the world’s most important marketplaces.
“We must have the courage to innovate, identify our style and take it abroad as an authentic ambassador of our territory: that is why we are directing all the functions of Famiglia Castagnedi towards concrete, coherent and well-defined objectives,” says Armando Castagnedi, owner of the company together with his brothers. “By carving out wines that are a reflection of our distinctive traits – verticality, cleanliness, drinkability – and making them available to the specific preferences of individual targets, we want to put the consumer at the centre of an experience that involves them in a sartorial manner: this is our challenge, which we are working on together with professionals, distributors and Wine Lovers.”