Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1399
50 / the tasting panel / july 2009 Blue Reviews 50 / the tasting panel / july 2009 Brand Awareness A Fork in the Road Bivio Italia scooters down a new path by David Gadd S ome brands have legs; Bivio has wheels. "We wanted something non- traditional that could still be seen as an Italian icon," says Alex Dessouky, 585 Wine Part- ners Marketing Manager, speaking of the look for the company's new Italian wine label, Bivio Italia. 585 Wine Partners of Sonoma, CA, worked with San Francisco branding agency Voicebox, who created the catchy scooter label that distinguishes Bivio Italia from other, more traditional Italian brands. "We wanted to create a fresh modern look in the Italian category," adds Dessouky. The zippy scooter sets the tone for this free- wheeling brand, the fi rst non-domestic wine creat- ed by 585 WP, whose other brands include California- grown Red Truck, Russian River's Picket Fence and Steelhead of Dry Creek Valley. Bivio—Italian for "fork in the road"—was launched last year with a Pinot Grigio from Tre Venezie , as well as a DOCG Chianti and a Tuscan Red blend, all priced at about $12. Going beyond traditional, Bivio takes a fresh new direction in Italian wine. 585 WP found the perfect collaborator in Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV), one of the key vineyard-holders and wine producers in Italy, with 3,000 acres under vine in Italy's pre- mier wine-growing regions. "Because of our partnership with GIV and their exceptional sourcing ," says Dessouky, "more than one- third of the fruit for the Pinot Grigio is from Collio; this gives the wine a structure and minerality that you don't normally fi nd at this price point." Similar quality is found in the reds. The Sangiovese that goes into the Chianti is from a vineyard bordering the Classico region, and the winemaking facility itself is in Chianti Classico. "We think of this wine as a Classico- level wine at a Chianti price," says Dessouky. And the Cabernet and Merlot blended into the Tuscan Red are grown in Chianti Classico. Winemaker Marco Galeazzo works under GIV winemaking chief Chrisitan Scrinzi to craft the wines at facilities in both Tuscany and the Veneto. Thanks to the strong distributor network employed by 585 WP, Bivio is already found in all 50 states. The enormous popularity of Pinot Grigio with American consumers has certainly helped, but as Dessouky notes of this varietal, "the amount of competition is stag- gering." That hasn't kept Bivio from making scooter tracks into some prestigious on-prem- ise accounts. An industry panel convened by Sandy Block, Corporate Wine Director of Boston's prominent Legal Sea Foods group, chose the Bivio 2007 Pinot Grigio as the res- taurants' by-the-glass Pinot Grigio. The wine has become Legal Sea Foods' number-one by-the-glass pour, and the 2008 vintage has already been selected for the same place of honor on the list. With successes like this, 585 Wine Partners is already planning to expand the Bivio range, according to Dessouky. "Our partner is based in Verona, in the heart of Prosecco territory, so a Prosecco will probably be next." That should add fi zz to a brand that already has plenty of zoom.