The problem
Forty thousand voices that go unheard
Italian wine producers number between forty and fifty thousand. Taken one by one they have limited means: an institutional website, a few fairs, a local distributor. The result is that the quality of the product and the ability to make it known do not move at the same pace, and the gap widens the further one gets from the place of production.
On the other side there is a large and knowledgeable audience. From Australia to Germany there are enthusiasts who follow Italian wine with a dedication often greater than that of the people who make it, and who travel every year to taste it where it is born.
Between these two sides an intermediary is missing. The historic guides of the sector — paper catalogues updated once a year — no longer play that role: they are expensive, static, and speak almost only to the trade.
The answer
An intermediary, not a retailer
Grapes Italy sits exactly at that point: between the producer and the final consumer. It does not make wine, does not buy a catalogue from third parties and does not build an online shop. It builds communication: profiles, stories, a magazine, a consultable atlas, and a direct channel where a person answers.
The selection comes from direct relationships with producers, built over forty years of work in trade. That is why the range within reach is wider than the size of the company would suggest.
Who is behind it
Fabrizio Morgese
A trade agent for over forty years, he lives in Campobasso, in Molise. For ten years he ran a wine bar restaurant, and for years he has kept this project on hold, waiting for a technical counterpart to build it with.
The working group counts three people. Proposals are discussed with a sommelier before they reach the public. Molise is the starting point, not the boundary: the stated horizon is global.
Fabrizio Morgese — Campobasso, Italy
The stages
Where Grapes is heading
The site is the first stage. The following ones are already defined: they are listed here in the order in which they will be built, without dates, because a missed date is worth less than a stage delivered.
- Live
The site in four languages
The atlas of wines, the regions, Tintilia, and a direct channel with a person.
- In preparation
Grapes Magazine
A magazine about Italian wine and food specialities, downloadable in several languages, laid out in-house and with an archive that stays consultable.
- In preparation
Grapes Tour
Wine tourism organised with a tour operator: winery visits, tastings, and hospitality for visitors arriving from abroad.
- Planned
Grapes Store
The full selection, orderable independently, supported by a logistics base already operating in the wine trade.
- Planned
The application
Access from a phone to the whole Grapes world: atlas, magazine, requests.
- Planned
Grapes wine bars
Venues where the selection is tasted, not only read.
Contact
A question about Italian wine gets an answer.
Messages are read by a person and answered as soon as possible, in Italian, English, Spanish or French.
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