When Valdobbiadene winery Canevel Spumanti teamed up with lifestyle and fashion brand Diesel on an exclusive Prosecco launch, it was with the denim designer’s ‘Only the brave’ motto in mind.
Raffaele Boscaini, marketing director of parent company Masi Agricola, recalls discussions which led to the collaboration. Diesel’s tagline ‘only the brave’ was to be reinvisioned in a wholly new format – something “democratic and popular”, like Prosecco.
The result, Casa Canevel Diesel Prosecco, is nothing if not a brave attempt to shake up the category. A fully organic single fermentation fizz, the extra brut Prosecco is the result of a lengthy and natural process.
“The goal was to start from experimentation; making a wine that fermented just on the sugar given by the grapes, not the sugar that we add to have the second fermentation and make it sparkle,” says Boscaini. “At the end of the day, it’s much more natural, more close to what happens naturally.”
Vinification of the grapes, 100% Glera sourced from selected organic vineyards, takes place continuously. Free from added sucrose, the process uses nothing more than fermented grape must. The sparkling wine’s residual sugar level is as low as 5 grams per litre.
“You have a wine which is really sharp, extremely dry, with nice acidity, and very crisp in the mouth,” says Boscaini. “Something that can be appreciated by ‘only the brave’ people.”
Masi Agricola’s Export & Travel Retail sales director, Pier Giuseppe Torresani, adds: “Some mainstream consumers will be surprised by the fact that it is dry and sharp and crisp, but it will fascinate others.”
Packaging of the product brings together older, more traditional elements of bottle design, with embellishments of fluro green and gold to surprise and excite drinkers.
“Green is okay for organic wines, but this strong fluro green is definitely unusual,” Boscaini comments. “Then of course what is quite evident is that the signature of Diesel in the label is very much visible.”
Casa Canevel Diesel Prosecco is a project inspired by a shared vocation for sustainability.
“We see sustainability with all the aspects of the same philosophy. So not just the environment, but even the economy, and social sustainability,” says Boscaini. “We are a company that has been working for seven generations – next year it will be 250 years. We have grape growers that have partnered with us for three or four generations – over 100 years of relationships – which is part of that sustainability.”
The Prosecco has been produced in a limited and numbered quantity, with 15,797 bottles for the year 2020 being released. The new sparkling is also one of the few Masi Agricola offerings to be launched exclusively on the Travel Retail Channel.
Torresani says: “It is surprising for the consumer to see Diesel on a bottle of wine, but at the same time this is what makes it interesting, unexpected, and eye-catching on the shelf of a crowded travel retail scene.”
The decision to launch the product on this channel took into account Diesel’s place in the market as an “internationally renowned” brand. “Travel retail is the ideal place to sell this product, because it is an exclusive channel,” Torresani explains.
Masi’s previous travel retail-exclusive products include Masi Nectar Costasera Amarone Classico, Masi Nectar Campofiorin and Canevel Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut Black label.
The Canevel Prosecco’s place high up on the premium travel retail shelf is the perfect chance to “raise the position of Prosecco”, according to Boscaini.
“Year after year it has become more and more a battle of price and discounting,” he says. “In terms of position, the sales are good and the volumes are growing, but the prices are very low.”
In contrast, the positioning of price for the Casa Canevel Diesel Prosecco is high, justified by the product’s “uniqueness”. And its place on the premium shelf, a bid to raise Prosecco’s position in the international market, invites only the brave to indulge.
