LETTER TO STAKEHOLDERS
2021 was once again a “founding” year for Guido Ber- lucchi: a year full of milestones and achievements, but indelibly marked by the demise of our father Franco, who passed away on 26 December at the age of 90. The acknowledged “founding father” of Franciacorta and creator of the first bottle in 1961, Franco Ziliani forever changed the fortunes of the whole area, giving rise - with his spark of visionary brilliance - to what is now recognised in Italy and abroad as one of the world’s most outstanding winegrowing regions. In 2021, we celebrated his 90 th birthday and at the same time the 60 th anniversary of his vision: that first bottle of Franciacorta produced in 1961 and that still today – in everyone’s memory – rests in our historic cellars in Borgonato (BS). Our father guided the busi- ness through decades of profound changes in Italy, first together with Guido Berlucchi and then accom - panying and supporting us, his children, fostering that spirit of research and renewal that underpins the pres- ent-day success of Guido Berlucchi. Already in the late 1990s, ahead of our time, we exper- imented with new approaches to production - both in the vineyard and in the winemaking cellars - innovat- ing our production and expanding into new markets.
But we have continued to hold fast to our goal of pro- ducing quality Franciacorta, respecting the territory and looking after our people, who every day live and breathe the values that the organisation embodies and are our frontline ambassadors. This commitment to care is most naturally expressed in sustainability, and it is the underlying reason for preparing this 2021 Sustainability Report - the third one - where we describe, explain and publish our actions. We began charting the organisation’s course in 2007, focusing heavily on the management of the environ- mental and social impact generated by our operations, in 2013, we started converting to organic, which was completed and certified in 2016. In 2019, we com - menced systematically gathering the data necessary to prepare our first Sustainability Report, in 2020. In 2021, we continued to consolidate the hallmarks of our modus operandi, turning them into our strate- gic guidelines: adopting a people-centred approach, promoting the local territory and protecting natural resources. At the same time, we worked to strengthen our sustainability governance. The ongoing pandemic has forced us to keep the robust safeguards in place
for our employees, both through training, and by re- viewing procedures and continuously monitoring their application. The health and safety of our workers is a priority for us, not only during this emergency, and we have proceeded to improve our day-to-day oper- ations by commissioning a leading consulting firm to conduct an audit of our Occupational Health & Safety and Environment procedures. After the audit, which revealed sound management of those topics, we es- tablished the position of HSE supervisor to coordinate everyone in our organisation involved in this area. 2021 also marked the in-person return of Academia Berlucchi, the project - now in its 3 rd year - we set up to foster and share ideas and proposals on themes con- nected with Sustainability, Care for the Territory and Innovation, for a vision of a more sensitive and resilient future. This culminated in a concert by Stefano Bollard at Brescia's Teatro Grande - the proceeds of which were donated to the “Food for Soul” charity founded by Lara Gilmore and Massimo Bottura. An occasion when all of our team members were invited to share our joy for the milestones achieved during the year, or more simply to celebrate the 60 th anniversary of the first bottle of Franciacorta and the 90 th birthday of its creator. In 2021 we also continued our commitment
to sharing our Sustainable Viticulture Protocol with our suppliers, with whom we worked hand in hand. Thanks to this continuous, overarching commitment, we proudly achieved one of the most coveted goals for our industry: at the end of 2021 we were named Win- ery of the Year 2022 by the prestigious Gambero Rosso “for making history in the Italian classic method”. This award celebrates the care that everyone, in every field and department, puts into their work: together, WE ARE the Winery of the Year! And – for the very first time – we made it into the ranks of the great international wines, earning ourselves a place as one of Wine Spectator ’s Top 100 wines of 2021. We were recognised at the heights of excellence not only for our wines, but for the concerted nature of our work; we therefore wanted to dedicate this impor- tant milestone to our father, Franco Ziliani, who, as a tenacious Brescian, taught us never to give up. So many other things were accomplished this year, a notewor- thy one for us, and you will find them described in this document.
Happy reading!
The Ziliani Family
2
3
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease