How to Build to Last

{Arianna is from the southern part of Sicily,} {started 20 years ago,} {started her domain with one hectare} {along a 3,000 year old road called SP68,} {also the name of her most well-known cuvée,} {and now is growing not only wine,} {but also all the good stuff coming from Sicily.} {So there's capers,} {there's citrus,} {there's vegetables,} {olives, my personal favorite.} So... {Thank you.} {Welcome, please.} Ready. Enjoy. Well... {I'm very excited.} {I'm a farmer so,} {let's say,} {I don't find myself in front of all these people every day,} {a little less.} {I will talk about my story and this} {love story I had with wine,} {for almost twenty years now.} {But above all I prefer to speak in Italian because if I have to} {connect first of all with myself and then above all with you,} {I will do it in my native language.} {For me, talking about wine is like talking about love.} {That rebellious love,} {a little bloody,} {a bit controversial,} {In my opinion,} {which we have all reached in life.} {That love that if you can't interpret it well,} {to decipher it,} {because you basically lack the tools,} {It also makes you fall several times.} {But if you can then transform,} {if you can then understand and also move on,} {it's that love that also gives you the chance in life} {to be able to do a lot.} {Above all, to understand yourself and move beyond.} {And it is above all that love that} {allows you to build that in life} {your story piece by piece.} {My story began around...} {20 years ago and even a little more.} {I was 18-19 years old.} {I was at the University of Milan} {to take samples in a vineyard.} {Then I decided to study viticulture and oenology} {and I was in a land that had this same type of soil,} {but this soil was red,} {so my shorts and socks ended up completely stained with it.} {It was summer,} {it was very hot and they were stained with red earth.} {Another time I met the red earth in the} {my life was when I played tennis at 14 years old.} {I had to give up tennis then.} {because basically I didn't have peace of mind} {that I have now.} {or at least that serenity that slowly arrived in life.} {Above all, I decided at that moment in my life to change sports,} {to enroll in athletics and run 100 meters.} {Because those 100 meters gave me the opportunity to unload} {much faster and turn blocks into power.} {which were basically not the} {starting blocks of those 100 meters,} {but they were the blocks I had in life.} {And so athletics helped me a lot at that time.} {Basically, little by little, I found myself again.} {At that time I decided to do oenology and viticulture and if} {at the same time as university they studied very conventional oenology,} {very industrial,} {the models were those of the 90s,} {those of the technology of large companies,} {but above all of those who no longer spoke of} {agriculture and of those who no longer felt agriculture.} {At the same time I was lucky enough to meet a} {couple of friends at university and the weekend instead} {of having too much fun we had fun in a different way.} {we went to visit artisan producers,} {producers who at that time were looking after a piece of land,} {but above all a piece of sky.} {Those producers who were like custodians to me.} {What is a farmer after all?} {He is a custodian of a portion of land,} {of a portion of land and if there was no agriculture} {and hence this multitude of guarded lands,} {there wouldn't even be our landscape if you think about it.} {What is landscape after all?} {It is the set of cultivated and non-abandoned lands,} {it is the set of sea,} {woods and forests.} {This is our landscape and if I think about it} {Italian landscape this comes to mind,} {Thousands of small cultivated appreciations come to mind.} {In those years I basically started dreaming about my places,} {because then I went to Milan to go to university} {and I started to miss it,} {not the lack of parenting,} homelessness, {but basically the lack of} {places I had lived in since I was little.} {But there comes a time when you want to escape from Sicily,} {because basically everything is too tight for you,} {sometimes we didn't have the cinema,} {there was no library,} {I grew up in a small province,} {so my biggest wish was} {that of going to discover this world.} {But only when I moved away from this} {I felt a strong need to return to the world} {at home and above all to do it in my country,} {in my city which is called Vittoria} {and from there start with my dream,} {because it was a city that ultimately sent me many challenges.} {With the wine and the varieties I work with,} {which in particular is Frappato,} {Frappato of Vittoria,} {I always say we held hands.} {I needed a lot of variety,} {a variety that had stratification,} beauty, elegance, {maybe I wouldn't be the person I am today,} {basically without the Frappato,} {but maybe Frappato also needed} {a person who would pick it up with pride,} {that he took it around the world a little and did it} {to taste differently and to do it with love,} {with sensitivity.} {This is what I tried to do.} {So we held hands and slowly} {we slowly moved forward together,} {with that pride that was a bit} {different and above all new twenty years ago,} {which I never heard often in the words of many Sicilians} {who instead spoke about their land rather} {distantly, almost reluctant to show pride in it.} {Where were we?} {But where did all this pride come from?} {This pride came from the words,} {from the experiences of producers who first} {they have looked after my land.} {I'm talking about names like Marco De Bartoli,} {but also great Italian producers like Stan Corradi with Rinaldi,} {Elizabeth Foradori,} {Elena Pantaleoni,} {Giovanna Morganti,} {people who taught me} {to look at this world with a different sensitivity} {and I learned a lot from them.} {I definitely lacked experience,} {I had no sales behind me,} {but I had a strength,} {a necessity.} {Basically maybe I also needed to find} {from a void that I had fed in a certain} {moment of my life a project that would fill it} {and so I had listened mostly to people who} {they did this work in a profound way,} {I had learned from them and so there} {you realize that the artisan gesture} {is the most important thing and what is the craftsman?} {Basically the craftsman is that person who in} {very naturally it weaves its web little by little} {piece by piece, making the head work in sync} {with the eyes but they are eyes that can also be closed if you want} {because that gesture is so natural that he would continue to do that} {thing continuously simply following the scent of what will be.} {So the craftsman is someone who does this in a natural way,} {who has learned but continues to do so in a} {natural and for me wine is a bit of all this,} {it's simply a gesture that comes naturally to me} {and the frappato is the friend who accompanies me.} {These twenty years for me have been full of encounters,} {in my own,} {of awakenings,} {of difficulty and if the first ten I ran a lot because I had from} {twenty to thirty years old so for me everything was about eating life,} {the last ten have been} {years in which I tried to build,} improve, {motivate, include above all.} {so I started from a totally individualistic project} {that maybe I needed it to be like this otherwise I wouldn't have pulled the} {strength from nowhere else and then pass it on to others.} {For me, wine has had a totally transformative power,} {I finally managed to transform this life after} {these years of apnea and above all I understood that} {I had to change this project into something that slowly} {plan could include others as well.} {Whoever lives a dream every day in life, so if you are a farmer,} entrepreneur, restaurateur, dreamer, {farmer you usually have a very poor relationship} {with the limit and I had and still have a very poor one} {relationship with the limit because every day these} {limits you try to overcome them basically you try to} {go far ahead and sometimes these limits are also the} {people who come into your life with their desires,} {with their logic,} {with their own strength,} {with their experiences and with everything they bring with them} {inside and then slowly you realize that this} {you can only have it included if you acquire tools,} {if you gain knowledge,} {if you also acquire that ability to dialogue but} {sometimes we can't always communicate with everyone} {because often projects like these or like those that} {Today we heard there are also projects of dissent,} {they are projects in which certain times and certain days you have to} {even don't listen to anyone but you just have to move on} {and then I understood that the only one} {possibility was to acquire tools,} {at that moment and today I have no other choice} {if not to acquire tools.} {I was born in Marsala which is a town in the west of} {Sicily but I grew up in Vittoria and Vittoria is a place} {which I sometimes call the Bronx a bit because} {actually when I started making wine I found myself in} {a time when my generation was totally running away,} {who was born in '82,} {in '83 he escaped from Sicily because} {he had to go away,} {basically we were in Vittoria also the only enclave} {who had also rebelled against Cosa Nostra,} {that is, Vittoria, the mafia was not called Cosa Nostra but it was called} {Stidda since we were rebels so the people of Vittoria are a bit} {rebels and I say this for better or for worse.} {So I found myself in a context of Sicily that was} {a context in which when I started to travel again} {he talked about how Sicily was a little bigger and out in the sea.} {was submerged by the mafia and as I saw it} {The change over the last twenty years has been wonderful.} {We are six million people in Sicily and we have been} {also very conquered so we are a little Arab,} {we are a bit Norman,} {we are a little French,} {we are a little Spanish and this conquest,} {This being continually conquered has never given us} {the possibility of carrying forward our projects and therefore} {we were also a somewhat modest people in many respects.} {In the end, I like to push these limits a little every day and} {so I really like the fact of being conquered because it's all} {But part of me definitely likes to go beyond all of this.} {and so I started this project at 21 years old} {renting a hectare of vineyard land.} {Today I'm about, I'm almost 40, I'm about 38,} {among native vines,} Frappato, {Nero d'Avola,} Albanello, {Moscato and Alessandria which we call Zibibbo but above all} {over time I added to this monoculture that did not stimulate me} {more but that needed to go beyond a beautiful multiculturalism.} {I added wheat,} {I introduced other cultures and I realized} {I count on my pride on one hand,} {My ambition has always made me experience wine as an end in itself.} {The pride of making the best wine there was in} {Victory is definitely one of my prerequisites.} {I want to do the best,} {I seek the most beautiful lands,} {I try to do it in the best way but the thing that} {I realized more and that maybe it was necessary and that} {maybe my project needed was to think} {to wine not only as an end but also as a means.} {a medium that can basically tell four stories} {concepts that are then part of my daily life.} {I believe very much in biodiversity.} {Today the vineyards are full of different essences.} {For me, biodiversity is a great opportunity.} {There is biodiversity in here today.} {If we were all the same, we would all get sick in the same way,} {we would all think the same way.} {and the same biodiversity must be brought into the vineyard.} {This here you see some green manures that we have in} {vineyard because I interpret biodiversity within} {the vineyard but also outside the vineyard for which} {green manures made from 15-16 different species.} {Field beans, poppies,} mustards, peas, {mostarda, marigold, wheat that we grow.} {This is another time of year.} {It is a typical Sicilian tree.} {We started producing everything in-house} {of the company for which trying to close a cycle} {we make compost inside using the vine shoots,} {using all our findings and pruning.} {and then we indulge} {the traditional Sicilian work which is} {that of working the soil during the summer.} {We do not only apply biodiversity in the vineyard but} {all around so I slowly set up a company garden} {of about 1500 square meters where we do small} {collaborations with friends but above all my boys are starting to} {understand that viticulture is usually a small elite} {because in wine we can find} {a much simpler transformation} {they see a much more difficult part which is that of a} {agriculture made of small products that if not transformed immediately} {They will die so you need to find a solution immediately.} {We have pears,} {we have olive groves and we transform all of this into a small business} {products that we are able to sell in our company shop.} {I began to understand that I had to have or above all return} {to a model of Mediterranean agriculture as you can see me} {I found further south of Tunis I had learned from the producers of} {I had learned from producers in other parts of Europe.} {where it's definitely cooler but I realized that if not} {I was filtering all these concepts in a climate where it is very hot} {This sand from our lands reaches about 70-80 degrees} {and above all we have sirocco winds from} {Africa, I couldn't do agriculture.} {I then resumed all the old breeding forms} {I think that today the Mediterranean could become a model} {for all of us in this time of climate change} {and therefore I carry out activities such as mass selection,} layering, {all ancient things that the Arabs,} {in short, all our conquerors had brought us to Sicily.} {And I also think of agriculture as a model for change.} {Territorial where there are basically projects that can} {to change a territory, especially in Sicily, which we need.} {I collaborate with artisans,} {We recover cork from the ancient forests of our territory} {to make our caps for which 100% of the cap production} {today comes from a forest 20 minutes from home supporting the last} {craftsman from the Caltagirone area and they are both father and son.} {I collaborate with local associations because in Sicily it is} {important to associate fundamentally in Sicily we are often} {of great individualists we have a very poor capacity for} {associations for which I collaborate with associations and foundations} {Every year we publish a magazine that tells all this} {we recover ancient vineyards but above all I understood that} {the most important thing for me who was an individualistic dreamer} {was to start collaborating with people.} {Those same people who at the beginning were a} {big limit but today they are my great team} {and I hope that within my project} {may more and more new wines be born,} {new producers as have also emerged in recent years} {but for those who decide to stay we dedicate every day to training,} dialogue, friendship. {I try to convey a little bit of dream} {on a journey that will fundamentally never find its destination but} {it only stops when I decide to plant a vineyard because then} {after all, that love I told you about at the beginning of this story} {of love that I started in wine is no longer beautiful if it starts from wine,} {returns from the wine and acquires tools,} {acquires new knowledge and then} {evolve over time into something different?} {Thank you}