Zonin might have been a strong Italian brand linked with quantity and not quality but this is changing as Subhash Arora discovered during his interview with Pres. Gianni Zonin during Vinitaly at their stand and later their headquarters in Gambellara. Arora again met him in Delhi when he was passing through Delhi on April 29th, 2006 to inaugurate the branch office of Banca Popolare di Vicenza, a cooperative bank based near Venice of which he is the President.
 When I told Mr. Gianni Zonin that his may be a popular, big Italian Wine brand but it was linked with low-end industrial wines, he did not flinch. ‘When I entered the family business 49 years ago, customer wanted cheap wines. We followed the market. We started by selling to the supermarkets and people think it is a low quality product. Others were selling to the restaurants where the image is essentially different. Besides, during the last 10-15 years there has been a change in the taste of our customers and our quality has accordingly been improving significantly. It will take some time to change our earlier image', he said proceeding to talk softly but passionately about Zonin, a company he has been heading for 49 years.
The story of Zonin, the largest private vine growing and winegrowing Company in Italy dates back to 1821 when ‘my family started as a viticulturist family, growing and selling grapes seven generations ago. A hundred years later, my uncle Domenico Zonin started to develop the family business of a new winery making wine, grappa and brandy, in 1921. Within 2 years he had won 4 gold medals for his Gambellara wine made from 100% local Garganega grapes.' Gambellara is located in the province of Vicenza , in Veneto region and is almost midway between Verona , the seat of Vinitaly and Venice . It has been the company headquarters since inception. DOC Gambellara is one of the 4 appellations of Vicenza .
I was interviewing Gianni Zonin at the special meeting organised by my friend and the professional co-jurist at the International Wine Competition, Franco Giacosa who is the Technical Director of the 80 million Euro Zonin Empire, spread from Piedmont to Sicily with a vineyard also in the Thomas Jefferson Country, Virginia in the USA . Franco became a good friend during the 5-days of the competition. A special dinner had been organised one day by Frank Schoonhoven, another co-juror from Holland, at the fantastic wine cellar in the basement of Enoteca Vini, a wine-lovers' Mecca in Verona, where we put to good use the word ‘going dutch'.
Franco was one of the dozen of us who could barely squeeze in around the dining table. He had not only arranged the dinner using his influence with the owner but also organised some excellent Zonin wines. During the conversation when we were enjoying the local cuisine matched with some delicious wines, I broached the subject of quality and brand perception of Zonin which is considered to be ordinary wines at decent price. Franco told me I should meet his boss who would love to share his vision and my perception about their wines. And the stage was set for a special session on the following Sunday morning.
The defining moment in the Zonin Story was in 1970. They were already a big company producing 23 million bottles with annual revenues of 7-8 million Euros. The story continues with the production of about the same number of bottles . But the revenue at 80 mill Euros is a whopping ten times higher, even though the price of same levels of wine produced earlier increased only marginally over the years.
Reasons for higher revenues are not difficult to trace. Not only did the company embrace new technology in fermentation tanks, automatic bottling etc. in that period, it started the acquisition spree in other regions.' We realize that our customers wanted wines from several regions of Italy . It is not enough to produce the best wine in Veneto . We need to offer from our stables wines from Piemonte, Tuscany, Sicily and the other popular reasons so the buyer does not have to look elsewhere for his requirements.'
Ca' Bolani in Friuly was the first addition in 1970. This was followed by many others including Castello d'Albola in Tuscany , Monte Oliveto in 1982 for Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Tenuta il Bosco was purchased in Franciacorta to meet the demand of sparkling wines made with traditional method. The property Gianni is most proud of is the Rocca di Montemassi in Meremma, 25 miles South of Bolgheri and known for the legendry Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Gaja. ‘I think our estate is better located than even these sites because it is situated in the mining area and a lot of minerals which are great for wine cultivation', he says with a beaming smile.' We are the first ones in the fields near the plains and it is easy to maintain very healthy grapes-especially Sangiovese. Same goes for Merlot, Shiraz , Cabernet and our indigenous variety Vermantino. Our award winning Sassabruno 2003 was the first harvest out in the market and with 80% Sangiovese it was a DOC wine.'
Zonin is also very excited about their Sicilian property, Feudo Principi di Butera. It is another historic estate where ‘we plan to promote the island's indigenous varieties like Nero d'Avola and Insolia along with the international varieties which grow so well there because of the Mediterranean climate', he adds.
Gianni works very closely with his brothers, sons and nephews who he is trying to imbibe his philosophy to. At the age of 29 he started working with his pipe-wielding, non smoking uncle, Domenico Zonin who had the rare distinction of living through the whole of 20 th century (1899-2000). With diploma in enology and a degree in law he shared the vision of wine producers like Angelo Gaja and Piero Antinori who were busy re-writing the history of Italian quality wine making, chanting the mantra of better quality with lower yields. He also believed in owning his own vineyards and vinifying own grapes with better control over quality.
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