Having a big courage for a 85-year-old is not so easy, but the Marquis has plenty of it to spare. It was thought till last summer that Antinori, once defined the succession deal using the Trust, had very little to plan now. Instead, he found the courage to sign a half-billion euro maxi loan from Intesa Sanpaolo/Pricoa/Simest to acquire the prestigious Californian winery Stag’s leap wine cellars. Its final price would be even higher than the contracted loan. Antinori is counting on the skills of CEO Renzo Cotarella, who has been with the company for 44 years. Yet, why would one get stuck in a huge (7 years long) debt when the company is doing well? “First of all, the average price of Stag’s Leap wines is over 40 dollars a bottle – the Marquis replied– then, controlling a direct import company makes us the masters of our own destiny. We will decide which wines have priority, and not the importer nor the distributor. This operation is the most important in our history.” And likely, from Italy towards abroad. Antinori and Cotarella have drawn up the business plan for Stag’s Leap (an 80-million dollars invoice) and the debt repayment. However, there is a 1.3 billion net worth in Italy as a guarantee. In Tuscany alone the group controls 1,800 hectares, and is present in areas such as Franciacorta, Barolo and Barbaresco, Umbria, Friuli, and Puglia. He is a myth.

The hyper-dynamic president of Italian (and worldwide) winemakers is always on the spot. The hectic pace of his days does not stop him. The last “challenge” is agreeing to co-found Domus Artium Reserve, an exclusive lounge for bien vivre lovers, aimed at entrepreneurs, gourmands, and wine lovers. This Reserve gives the opportunity to taste the best wines in the world. Furthermore, together with the French oenologist Michel Rolland, he will produce the “Quattro mani” wine, a blend of French-Italian grapes. On the sidelines of the presentation, Cotarella said: “I could not resist the proposal to accept this challenge. My daughter will now scold me for this latest commitment.” Cotarella, born in 1948, is a consultant in over 100 companies, including abroad. He is the author of more than 600 technical reports. Last September, after a heavy-rain spring and a torrid summer, he estimated a poor harvest with a drop of -12%, and then, at the end of November, a significant decline to -23%. And he humbly said: “This harvest is an encyclopedia to be studied well, since it has confirmed to us that science is the only way to save ourselves from pathogens, like downy and powdery mildew. Yet, the vineyard is an uncovered industry, and we can do very little about the climate. The vine can resist high temperatures, but not the sun rays.” He is always on the front line.

He was dedicated the cover of the Wine Spectator for the third time. This has never happened for any other winemaker. The title “Champion of Italian wine” says it all. Net of the fans of the American newspaper, Gaja remains a character with a very high and specific weight. The Wine Spectator shows a very long interview in which Gaja mainly talks about the relation across generations: between him and his father, and his children. Perhaps it is the first time he has done it in such a complete way, and it hadn’t been shared like this in a long time. His newspaper contributions have disappeared. There is one question he was not asked: how does one become so good? Still, a lot can be understood from other answers. The intersection among dedication, passion, and curiosity is behind everything. It is a powerful push that gives everyone a lecture. At 84, Gaja still works ten hours a day and does not want to take a break because “without work I would go crazy”. He has very clear ideas on what the market demands today, on considering elegant wines, differently between those who produce and those who buy and drink the wine. The ownership of it all was already transferred to his children. His ability to prepare for the future makes one understand the greatness of his character. Moreover, Gaja tells us that in addition to the climate, Italy’s wine industry will have to manage the generational transition of the many wineries approaching this phase. Chapeau.

He is always busy giving conferences, bringing around young people eager to learn everything about wine, experimenting, writing books, and raising the bar for every possible consideration about wine. He makes winegrowing become winegrowing itself, that is, the evident intertwining between the vine cultivation, the grapes that become wine, and the symbiosis with culture in the broad sense. Within there is anthropology, history, geography, meteorology, religion, language and much more. He is a very strong reference for everyone. It may happen that not everyone agrees with his visions and ideas on genetics, on the use of science in the vineyards, but there is no doubt that Italian wine owes him a lot. It is interesting to read his words on the storm that has been recently hitting the wine industry. A crisis – he says – that is beyond us. And once again the analysis is clear and wants us to react, even with drastic measures. Between a changing climate and the overturned anthropology of consumption, we need to roll up our sleeves. For Scienza, knowledge and study are the basis of everything. He is now working on a sort of compendium of his forty years of activity as a professor-researcher. Six volumes broadening from myth, to climate, to terroir and so on, with updated texts to give a sense to wine and to the world that revolves around it. He is relentless.