Starting a new brand is always a challenge-a challenge with respect to the outside world to be sure, but also a challenge to oneself.
Often it seems that the obstacles and difficulties you come up against are the order of the day. However, I have never had any doubt about what I wanted to do and in which direction I wanted to go.
I belong to this wonderful land and my roots grow deep here. I have a deep connection to Monforte d’Alba, where for more than 20 years I have been making wine with the help of my father Roberto Vezza, who is also the estate’s oenologist. My enthusiasm for this job is surely in the family genes–it was already part of the DNA of my ancestors who tilled the soil long before machinery existed, when everything was still done by hand. It’s not for nothing that the phrase “la tèra a l‘è bàssa!”- meaning ‘the ground is low’ – was very familiar to my family. The physical effort of maintaining the vineyards was matched only by the fatigue at the end of every day when the growers returned home after a hard day’s work.
I like to recount these stories of my predecessors to honour the memory of those who made founding the cellar possible. Now is finally the time for me to plough my own furrow-with courage and pride-to express who I am and my way of tilling the soil and making wine. When I look back, I get a glimpse of the road I have followed and I know that my vocation has saved me at critical moments. It has encouraged me to grow as a person and get to know aspects of myself that I would never imagined existed when I took on this challenge.
What gives me the most satisfaction is being in the vineyard. I fall in love all over again with the dawn that I see every morning, with every shiver that I feel on a January afternoon, in shoes that slip on the frozen snow. As I walk through the vineyard, the sight of the vines ‘crying’ when life begins again in March can move me to tears; the sight of a roe deer suddenly leaping into view always makes me hold my breath.
But being a winegrower also means facing the sadness of losing a harvest to hail or to a year gone wrong.
It also means enduring the scorching July sun to the point of nearly fainting. Indeed the idea for a new label came to me as while I wandered among these vines, a label that would reflect the values I hold deep inside–these values that I would like to communicate to the people who are interested in understanding my reasons for launching this new brand and all that it represents.
I chose four symbols for two reasons. The first is to recall my family and my four children, who are the source of my energy and as well as being the generation of the future. Each of them has a singular, distinct character that at the same time is influenced and modified by the others–by the close connection between sisters and brothers, themselves undergoing continual growth and change. From them came the idea of the four classical elements from which–according to the Greeks-everything including life was made-water, air, earth and fire.
According to Socrates and Aristotle, every substance was composed of a different combination of these elements. My own story, my values and my family-all are gathered together and represented by these symbols on the new label.
The first of these, WATER, is the source of life and conveys the idea of sustainability. I have expressed this via the dragonfly, which lives in water during the initial stages of its life before becoming a fully-fledged insect Water reflects a return to nature and to “cleanliness”- to respect for the land and the people who live on it. Achieving sustainability is a lengthy process that requires great effort. Water reflects freedom, awareness and the metamorphoses that lead to development.
To represent EARTH, I chose the Murazzano tower in Alta Langa, because my personal history is also linked to this place. Both Monforte d’Alba and Murazzano are ancient Roman villages. Both have a characteristic tower that overlooks the vineyards. The tower is a symbol of rising toward the heavens and our hopes for the future; it is also a symbol of protection and defence.
To represent FIRE, I have chosen the phoenix, the legendary bird that rises from its own ashes and returns to a new life. Not only is it a symbol of rebirth, but also of resilience-that capacity to confront the difficulties and obstacles that life confronts us with.
I’ve represented the AIR element with the image of Cupid, symbol of life and love, of purity and spirituality. This connects with the moral beliefs that are the foundation of my values, the land, with living beings and with plants and nature. All of this is founded on respect for the environment and following the ethic of organic management in the vineyards.
All of this is summed up in my labels, which represent my accumulated experience and my journey towards the future. Every child dreams of the future and imagines the person he or she will become. I have always thought of myself as the commander of a ship: a fearless woman at the helm, armed to the teeth. If life has shown me that fear is a necessary emotion, it has also taught me that one can be captain of the ship without the use of arms; for me this means having my hands free to embrace my four children, because they are the most wonderful gift I could ever receive.
