This is a tale about many hands which form a strong, reliable chain, which is consolidated by friendship, by love of the land, by hard work and by solidarity. It's an open circle which has the flavor of a fairy tale set on a farm. It is the interlocking tale of a group of wine producers from the Langhe Region. It starts from the magic moment of harvesting and the realization that from those wonderfully special Nebbiolo grapes and even from the brownish ones there is an opportunity to build a new hospital for Emergency in a war zone and to save a little piece of the Amazon forest at Otonga in Ecuador. While from the neighboring vineyard where Barbera grapes are ripening, another scheme can start towards the Kami Region in Bolivia to provide electrical power or schools for children in remote villages in Kenya. This is what Insieme is all about. It is a small but steady scheme based on wine production to help others. It is small because there are only eight wine producers from the Langhe hills who contribute to it; it is steady because each year on St Martin's Day, which marks the end of the farming year, that is, November 11th, the accounts are settled and part of the proceeds from a "charity" wine, which the eight producers have called Insieme is allotted to a needy cause.
Based on the principle of step after step these selfless producers have donated a huge sum, around half a million Euro, in the course of seven grape harvests. The money has been split into 42 big and small projects but all equally significant.
Yes, you got it right! Eight wineries who alone without any administration or PR costs have managed to put Insieme this sort of money which comes to one billion Italian Lire in seven harvests. This is real country style common sense. Yes, it came from these eight Langhe farmers. "We are experiencing a significant period in our lifetime. Between highs and lows, prosperity and market contractions, people like our wines and we are selling them worldwide. We could sit back and enjoy our success but we are not the sort who put on airs and forget their humble origins nor the hard work we put into it to do our best and at the same time respect the land. Through the Insieme association we are giving someone in the world or nearby a helping hand". This is what Elio Altare, who is among the leading Barolo producers says; and it is thanks to him that he brought together initially seven, later nine, and today's eight producers from La Morra and the neighboring area in this initiative. Among the members there is his neighbour, Mauro Veglio, then Federico Grasso, Giuliano Corino, Carlo and Lorenzo Revello, Gianfranco Alessandria from Monforte, Beppe Caviola from Montelupo and finally Paolo and Giulio Morando (who have been admitted among the Barolo producers as representatives of the Moscato world).
Their common denominator is that they are small to average size producers (on average between 50,000 and 100,000 bottles a year) they farm their own land and that they are aged from 30 to 50 or thereabout. They all firmly believe in what they do and how they do it but keep a low profile and for heaven's sake "let's not overdo it" - which is there unwritten motto.
At the start, seven years ago at the «Salone del Gusto», that is the International Food and Wine Fair held in Torino, some of the members of the Slow Food association had ironically christened them "Elio and the low yield producers": since Elio is the founder and low yield is their production philosophy. Insieme is the fruit of each producer's interpretation because there is actually no Insieme wine as such. Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto grapes which are the regional classics, are blended with cosmopolitan varieties of grapes like Cabernet, Pinot Nero and Merlot. The formula varies, some age the wine in barriques others less so. There are eight different arrangements of the same wine symphony: they use a simple label with the name Insieme printed in gold and details about the producer.
Many wine shops carry the whole collection of eight bottles in one wooden box. Each producer contributes on average € 5 for each bottle of Insieme wine produced which goes into a legally constituted fund. Wine dealers, distributors, importers and wine lovers who believe in the scheme also contribute annually. Insieme money boxes can now be found at the cash desk of restaurants managed by Insieme friends to collect funds from customers who have tried the wine and want to contribute to the producers' initiative.
The idea of providing aid through wine is catching on even abroad. In Austria a group of wine producers is setting up a similar association called «Zusammen», which means Insieme in German. The list of financial interventions shows the work done both near and afar. In the last few years thanks to Insieme a playroom for children of single mothers has been built by a cooperative group in Alba. Further aid has been given to two very special missionaries: Father Giovanni Onore, an entomologist, who has purchased jointly with a Women's Wine Association, 10 hectares of Amazon forest in Ecquador to save it from logging and Father Serafino Chiesa, a member of the Salesiano Order, who has managed to get a hydroelectric power station running once again to supply power to the homes of Bolivian peasant-farmers using equipment which was no longer used in Italy. <Emergency> was given Lire 30 million (about € 15 500) to aid children who were the victims of land mines during the war in Afghanistan: Teresa, Gino Strada's wife, collected the funds on behalf of the association at a meeting with the wine producers. Insieme has also promoted the creation of environment tracks along the Tanaro River between Alba and Asti, for trekking. The association has supported the cooperative <Pausa caffe> at Le Vallette penitentiary in Torino to set up a coffee roasting workshop using coffee crops bought directly from small producers ,n Guatemala- and it has contributed to summer stays for the disabled in mountain areas near Cuneo. Sites are selected ranging from South America to Piedmont, based on the conviction that even just one grape can make miracles. Every year, harvest after harvest, with the tenacity of Langa farmers and the strength of practical dreamers.