Brescia Agriculture Department Unites Viticulture Entities in New Institute

For several weeks, the Provinciaal Department of Agriculture has been relocated to the new premises of Villa Barboglio, which has been completely restored. This move, as stated by the Department Head Giampaolo Mantelli, was carried out smoothly, without disrupting normal daily activities. A change of venue — said Mantelli — happened thanks to everyone’s availability, overnight, without causing any inconvenience to users, which will naturally improve the functionality of both the Department and its users.

Goals and ongoing projects

After the final arrangement of the Department Head’s office, Mantelli is now working toward another significant objective: the unification of two entities with very similar purposes in the viticulture sector, the Ente Vini Bresciani and the Centro Vitivinicolo Provinciale.

Reflecting on his appointment — explains Giampaolo Mantelli — he has been nurturing two major projects for unifying the agricultural sector. The first focused on the dairy and meat supply chain, leveraging the work carried out over the years through the Centro Rilevamento del latte, utilizing the expertise of our veterinarians in monitoring milk quality, also applied to meat quality.

With the unification of the two centers, dedicated to milk and meat, a first goal has already been achieved. The other objective currently in progress, with the full support of the Provincial Administration, is to unify the wine sector as well.

The Brescia wine sector — which is achieving extraordinary results both in terms of the quality of products from various production areas within the province of Brescia and the increase in quantity of the products, as well as the growing global appreciation of our wine.

My ambition — continues Mantelli, president of the Centro Vitivinicolo — is to merge the Ente Vini with the Centro Vitivinicolo, creating a single institute, which could also be called the “Instituto per la Viticoltura Bresciana”, a name to be finalized later.

This will allow all competencies currently held by the Ente Vini and the Centro Vitivinicolo to be consolidated, establishing a single reference point for all of Brescia’s viticulture.

It aims at maximizing training efforts. Incidentally, Brescia will host in 2001, on the initiative of the Province of Brescia’s Department of Agriculture, the first and only master’s program in viticulture at a national level.

Further research will be promoted; in the vineyards around Villa Barboglio, we have all the clones found in our province, some of which are no longer in production elsewhere in Brescia.

Efforts will also be made to strengthen the image of our viticulture and wine products, not only within the province but especially beyond Lombardy’s borders and nationally.

All of this will be accompanied by a strong intention to create as many synergies as possible, to make the best use of available financial resources without waste, harnessing the expertise of involved organizations, and providing a single interlocutor for our farmers operating in the viticulture sector.

This merger is scheduled for 2001. In this regard, I have already met — concludes Mantelli — with all the presidents and representatives of the Consorzi della provincia di Brescia, who not only shared this ambitious project but also stated that finally a real plan for Brescia’s viticulture is emerging.

Work is now underway on the statute, which will be submitted for final approval at the relevant assemblies.