La Guardiense is the first global Falanghina producer: and it is not a record to take for granted, not even if we work 200.000 grapes quintals and not even if we are rooted in a territory which gave value to this vineyard and brought it, with winning export strategies, all around the world.

The Cooperative’s good fortune with the Falanghina is the result of years and years of experimentations in the vineyards, in close proximity with different typologies of territories, and of checks on the product’s longevity. The Falanghina is reacting well to the climate change, getting out of it even enhanced, but La Guardiense undertook a study path to value the possibility to intervene with techniques of genome editing on some genetic characteristics of the Falanghina, legally and without revolutionizing the typologies characteristics, strengthening the resistance to damaging agents, favoring development mechanisms which nature could realize by itself, but doing it manually to give nature time and casualty. The goal is to strengthen the genetic heritage of the Falanghina, making it immune to some pathogenic, conserving it exactly as our today’s market prefer it, without crossing the OGM boundary.

Guardiense has already had important recognitions for the Falanghina: last one of them, Falanghina Janare Anima Lavica has been awarded with the Tre Bicchieri by Gambero Rosso and an elevated recognition by James Suckling for the characteristics the volcanic minerality gives on its production range.
Given these successes, there is great expectation for the presentation, which will take place at the next VInitaly edition, of a Spumante made with Falanghina, from the same Anima Lavica line.

To deal with the market’s instability, given a great diversification of channels and markets, La Guardiense maneuvered efficiently their commercial levers, being able in 2021 to come back to the 2019 turnover levels, despite the compression of the HORECA segment situation. In front of risks of breaking the continuity of the supply due to the absence of raw materials, and despite the production’s price increases, La Guardiense is applying logical price politics with the lower impact possible on the consumer.

Foreign markets reveal themselves as great support for the Guardiense’s numbers. We have the pleasure of talking about it live from the USA, with President Domizio Pigna, who is now in Houston for an event organized with the support of the Sistema Camerale, where a confirmation of the overseas market’s interest in quality products was given. In addition to Texas, Chicago and California which are the most recent American areas to enter, the East Coast remains a well-established market for the Cooperative’s wines who is very present also in Northern Europe, especially in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Holland and Belgium. Among the countries that are reserving surprises there is also China, which – historically interested in structured red wines, such as Aglianico Riserva – is now showing curiosity towards Falanghina. In the same direction, the interest of Japan for the Falanghina sparkling wine should be mentioned. Among the markets in which to make the next forays, Guardiense has Singapore, Korea and India on its agenda.

If the foreign market does not lack its support, much remains to be done, as the President said about close markets: some Italian wine-growing areas are much more appreciated in the regional context; Campania wines sometimes happen to be better known 300 km away rather than “at home”: a task for institutions, as well as for companies.

For its market strategies, Guardiense has experimented with the added value of sharing. Its participation to The Wine Net, a network of Italian cooperative excellences, is bringing many results: the e-shop of the network, with over 120 references, is generating a good driving force for the labels of the network; and on the international market there is the possibility of putting certain professionals in common, such as that of a brand ambassador or a shared export manager. The ones that lead to the formulation of network strategies between companies are not simply cost-saving evaluations: going to the markets with a shared image means brandishing a manifesto containing one’s own value system, which helps the market to recognize in the product the philosophy that stands behind its production.