How versatile is Pinot Grigio delle Venezie?

The Consorzio Tutela Vini DOC delle Venezie has appointed Stefano Sequino as its director, a decision that could help with showcasing Pinot Grigio’s potential to the world.

Sequino, who was chosen by the board of directors chaired by Albino Armani, will be called upon to manage the statutory, institutional, administrative and technical aspects of the consortium.

In his new role, Sequino will also head up a consolidated team in carrying out the promotion, communication and development activities of the North East Italy DOC.

The DOC that Sequino will oversee brings together operators in the Pinot Grigio production chain from Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Autonomous Province of Trento, an area which has 27,000 hectares of vineyards potentially destined for the DOC delle Venezie with a production of 250 million bottles/year.

Sequino, who was born in Tivoli in 1978 and graduated in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies and in Viticulture and Oenology, spent 2004-2020 working at the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies as an official of the ICQRF Department (Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and Repression of Fraud of Agri-Food Products).

In the last three years Sequino held the position of manager of the wine sector at Confcooperative and, as well as being a lecturer and speaker at numerous conferences on issues relating to the regulatory systems of the wine sector, he actively participated in the European and national comparison as well as in the working groups set up for the national adoption of sector legislation.

Speaking about the new directorship, Sequino said: “I am honoured to undertake this new professional experience and I would like to thank president Albino Armani and the board of directors for the trust they have placed in me. I will undertake to give my contribution to a particularly important project, for its economic as well as territorial dimensions, for the extraordinary ability to project the DOC delle Venezie onto foreign markets, an authentic ambassador of Italy in the world which becomes the vehicle of a versatile and accessible style which I believe should also find greater space in its homeland.”

Among Sequino’s first objectives will be the consolidation of promotional activities which, alongside visibility operations abroad, must include a strategic and structured plan for loyalty on the domestic market.

Compared to the Pinot Grigio of the Northeast, it must be considered, Sequino insisted “that the DOC delle Venezie is at the centre of a complex system, made up of its own viticultural potential as well as the volumes reclassified by the other territorial denominations. For this reason we confirm our commitment to working in a balanced manner together with the other DOs to plan and take care of the supply on a territorial level”.

He added: “Pinot Grigio delle Venezie’s natural place is in the Italian north-east and, to make the distinctive style that has made it successful around the world even more appreciated, we must work more than ever to give voice, even in the production area, to territorial identity: it is only by describing the connection with the territory that we can promote the collective cultural heritage and strengthen the unity and awareness of sharing a denomination of origin that is a leader on world markets.”