Renzo Cotarella

* 16 Nov 1954, Italian, Winemaker

I have the chance to meet Renzo Cotarella during his collaboration with the Gaggenau Sommelier Award 2018 in Zurich. He is chief enologist and CEO at Marchesi Antinori, the family owned company that has been producing wine since 1385, and that was amongst the first wineries to bring Cabernet Sauvignon to Italy in the 1930s, leading to the creation of the “Super Tuscan” wines. Renzo is a passionate man and travels frequently to his teams of winemakers and viticulturists in Italy, Chile and the U.S. He doesn’t believe in centralizing operations nor in creating fine wines via Skype in order to maximize profits. “Ultimately, it’s only about the quality of the product, its soul and identity. We are a family owned business. That makes things sometimes more complicated but at the end of the day, much more simple”.