Pasqua shows how pairing art with ultra-premium wine secures growth

Veronese family-owned company Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine has highlighted how art, quality and creativity play an important role across markets when positioning ultra-premium wines.

According to the winery, art stimulates strong emotions and these are integral to how younger demographics consider brands such as wine to fit their lifestyle choices.

Speaking to the drinks business, Pasqua CEO Riccardo Pasqua said: “Art, especially in its more contemporary and immersive form, has the power of breaking any language and culture barrier and the power to hit the audience with strong and unforgettable emotions. Regardless of how deeply you understand it or love it, contemporary and immersive art will give you emotions. And indeed, emotions are very much easy to pair with our world of wine – which needs to be, in order to attract younger generations of drinkers, more ‘lifestyle’ than ever. In our vision, it is the right time to communicate in a disruptive, bold and unexpected way, blinking an eye towards the younger generations.”

The company has since presented a manifesto for ‘Pasqua, House of the Unconventional’ in a manifesto that described its vision to be a research laboratory and a space for dialogue as well as a hub for creatives.

The family firm recently stated that Pasqua, House of the Unconventional is the embodiment of a bold spirit that displays a keenness for innovation and curiosity about the world and explained that these qualities inspire its philosophy, vision and daily actions. As such, the winery is a place “where tradition and research converge, where history doesn’t lock you in the past but continually pushes you to look forward and beyond”.

World famous poet Arch Hades is the female face and central figure of its new campaign and, using an excerpt from her poetry, reiterates how “you still have time to create the you you want to be” is an overarching message that serves to remind people that there’s always time to change paths and create something new, different and unconventional.

Last year, Pasqua increased its turnover, which reached €63 million and is confirmed as one of the best performing wine brands in terms of exports (89.6%). Additionally, domestic revenues grew by 14.4% compared to 2019 and high-end wines were also driving growth in the US, where Wine Monitor research showed a +12% growth in sales of premium Italian wines.

The investments in research and development that have characterised the projects of the last seven years have led to the creation of both the Icons line, that is the collection of labels most representative of the winery’s innovative style of winemaking, and the relaunch of Cecilia Beretta, the Valpolicella hub managed by third generation family member Cecilia Pasqua, which features a collaboration with oenologist Graziana Grassini and a growing percentage of organic wines, owned by Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine since the 1980s.

As proof of the ability of vision and sensitivity to interpreting trends with most innovative and high-quality projects is also the performance recorded by the rosé segment: the category increased from €1 million in turnover in 2014 (3% of total) to €6 million in 2019 and to €9 million in 2021 (14% of total turnover).

Pasqua explained how the premiumisation trend has become crucial to the future of the industry, identifying how “over the last 10 years our winery doubled the size of the revenue in value – reducing volumes by approximately 30%,” noting that “it was and it is a project of repositioning towards the premium and ultra premium segment”.

He revealed that “last year (2021) was the first time when the majority of revenue (53%) was made by premium and ultra premium wines (a.k.a. from £12-15 and up in a wine store)” and reiterated that “the Pasqua vision is to bring the revenue stream of high quality projects and premium wines from 53% to 75% of the total” and “thanks to significant investments in vineyards, technology, communication and most importantly – people” this meant that the company has already learnt that its talents are its “biggest and most precious asset”.