Swedish finance tastes Tuscan wines. The Exoro Capital investment fund has aannounced the 100% purchase of Tenute MonteRosola, a wine-making company in Volterra (in the Pisa province) known for producing some of the area’s most prestigious labels. A significant operation because it comes from an entity that is concluding its first transaction in Italy, but also because it is being carried out by a venture capital fund, that is to say, by an investor who is very careful to identifying companies with a high potential for growth and, more importantly, to supporting its development. The investment realized by the financial group, which was born out of the Stockholm-based Thomaeus family entrepreneurs, totaled approximately 4.3 million Euros – as reported by the MF (Milano Finanza) newspaper – and pertained to the purchase of agricultural lands, buildings, plants, machinery and intellectual and industrial property rights. Simultaneously, Exoro Capital also purchased another adjacent plot for 2 million Euros. “The operation is a clear indication that the interest that high-quality Italian assets continue to generate in foreign investors”, was the comment by Alessandra Tarissi de Jacobis, the lawyer that headed the work team that assisted Exoro Capital. Among Tenuta MonteRosola’s most reknown labels, we should mention “Corpo Notte”, a Surpertuscan that is perfected over 18 months in French oak barrels, which was awarded the gold medal at the 2013 Catavitum world wine contest; the “Indomito”, a Shiraz blend that was awarded the silver medal at the 2012 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.
According to ISTAT data, the 2012 Tuscan wine production amounted to 2.3 million hectoliters, a 7% contraction, out of a total 39 million comprehensively produced in Italy last year. The trends that emerge from the statistics, however, indicate a progressive growth of the high-quality wine production (the DOC and DOCG bottles) that, with 15.6 million hectoliters, represents 40% of the total production; accompanied by a flection in the production of table wines, whose production halved from 20 million hectoliters in 2005 to last year’s 10 million. As for sales channels, a research conducted by Mediobanca on the 2012 data provides a good picture of the current situation of the Italian wine market: the weight of large distribution keeps on growing, now representing 45% of the total, whereas direct sales are constantly decreasing (6%) and of the Ho.Re.Ca. channel(19%). The wine houses and wine bars are also experiencing difficulties (8.5%), while there is a strong increase registered by wholesalers and the internet channel, who have grown to represent 17% of the market.