The Fantini wine group has made an incredibly important move abroad and thus opens up to new and extraordinary growth prospects: in recent days, they have acquired the property of the former Venta la Vega winery in Spain, a prestigious boutique winery that will allow Fantini to plan a development previously unimaginable, with the possibility of decupling their current Iberian production within a decade and further increasing its already high qualitative level.

The news represents a turning point for the wine group that since its beginnings in 1994, starting from Ortona in Abruzzo, has gradually become a leader among exporting companies in Southern Italy, thanks to a careful policy focused on the highest quality and marketing research. The acquisition of the former Venta la Vega does not contradict the consolidated business model that Fantini has successfully pursued over the years - in summary: not owning vineyards, but establishing agreements with local wine growers, supporting them with young and selected oenologists and thus forming a "federation" of wineries, mostly scattered in Southern Italy, where vine care is entrusted directly to those who know all its secrets - but integrates and becomes functional to the outstanding results obtained in recent years precisely in Iberian territory.

In Castile, precisely in Alpera, the wine group landed in 2021 by associating Finca Fella, a mosaic of 1,300-1,400 total hectares, dedicated to heroic agriculture, located between 900 and 1,250 meters of altitude with very old vineyards. This allowed them to launch bottles that have achieved flattering and surprising results both in terms of sales and quality. "Finca Fella is growing so rapidly that we felt the need to be able to increase production volumes while continuing to elevate its already high qualitative levels" – explains Valentino Sciotti, founder and CEO of Fantini – "We always remain faithful to the boutique winery concept, which is never linked to quantities but to the ability to work with maximum attention to details. By growing more and more, we risked no longer being able to do so". Hence the important acquisition. The former Venta la Vega winery will integrate into Finca Fella, also adopting its now consolidated brand.

This involves 60 hectares of land. But more importantly, it's a modern and structured winery with strong development potential: suffice it to say that today Finca Fella produces just over a million bottles per year, while these numbers can now multiply up to 10 million (in total, today, Fantini's overall production is 22-23 million bottles, "in 10 years our Spanish subsidiary could become the group's largest company"). The acquisition, in addition to allowing Fantini to equip itself with an important vinification asset, will also associate the wine growers already linked to the winery, a reality within an 800-hectare estate of which 231 are vineyards.

Sciotti explains: "We have always said we want to grow while simultaneously growing the territories where we operate, through agreements with people who already work them. We always want to be an opportunity for all the areas where we arrive and for the farmers who have been working there for generations". This will be the case here as well. The Ex Venta la Vega winery, like the Finca Fella vineyards just a few kilometers away, is located in one of the most wine-growing regions, but also one of the least known for the sector: Castilla-La Mancha. Specifically, it's in the Alpera-Almansa area, a few kilometers from Albacete, in the southern part of the region, less than six kilometers from the Comunidad Valenciana, an hour and a half by car from Murcia, slightly less to reach Alicante's sea: nothing like the mainstream wine Spain of La Rioja or Catalonia, of Duero or Andalusia. Perfect Fantini style: in recent years, they have always valued the extraordinary nature of marginal and neglected productions in Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Sardinia.

Almansa is a small paradise for grapes: the estate, located at the foot of the legendary mountains known as El Mugrón, constitutes the largest single plantation of Garnacha Tintorera variety in Europe. It is located at 1,200 meters of altitude, which favors the creation of distinctive natural microclimates; but water is scarce, forcing heroic but excellent quality agriculture, because the conditions are perfect for producing unique wines. The vineyards are very old: "True heroic viticulture" - highlights Tommaso Ciampoli, founding partner and company administrator – "The vines must survive in almost complete water absence. So they remain low, practically at ground level, the harvest becomes something extraordinary. The density is extremely reduced, three meters by three; yields per hectare are truly minimal; the quality, however, is stunning".

Sciotti reiterates: "We felt the need to prepare ourselves to manage growth because we always want to guarantee the increase in the levels of attention, processing, and quality that we can boast today: it's the main element that explains our success and we certainly don't want to lose it along the way. To achieve this result, we needed a much larger and more technological structure", exactly like the one just acquired. "I believe tremendously in this choice, also because Finca Fella wines are winning prizes everywhere they are presented and achieve incredible sales performances in every market they enter. We are very, very enthusiastic about our Spain project, which means wines with an absolutely exceptional quality/price ratio". Such is the success that Fantini - a company that exports 96% of its production abroad - has already been forced to bring its Finca Fella bottles to Italy as well, given the great demand.