Can you briefly introduce Frescobaldi and its international history?
Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi is a private, family-owned company rooted in Tuscany, with a history stretching back to the late 1800s. The current company was formally established in the late 1980s, when the family heirs chose to consolidate their agricultural and viticultural assets into a single, unified entity. With revenue of €170 million, 95% of which is generated by wine, Frescobaldi has established itself as one of Italy’s leading producers of premium and iconic wines.
In Italy, Frescobaldi manages its own distribution, delivering directly to restaurants, wine shops, and fine food stores. Internationally, the model is fundamentally different: we rely on a network of exclusive importers, one per country, which we consider full commercial partners. Exports now account for between 67% and 70% of total revenue, spread across more than 80 countries.
Our model has not changed over the years. We find the right importer, sell them our wines, and they distribute to restaurants and retailers in their country. It is a very clear model.
What was the most formative decision in your international development?
Without hesitation: choosing the right importer in each market. Frescobaldi does not own distribution companies outside Italy, except for a vineyard acquired in Oregon for local production. All international partners are independent entities, with no equity ties to the group. We call them commercial partners because the relationship goes far beyond a simple commercial transaction: market intelligence sharing, vintage updates, co-built sales strategies, mutual visits. It is a long-term relationship grounded in trust and performance.
It is a very important relationship, without any equity exchange. We manage the business together, share information on countries, on wines, on sales. It is a partnership without financial ownership.
Which international success are you most proud of?
Being one of the first Italian producers, if not the first, to join La Place de Bordeaux, the Bordeaux wine trading network that distributes fine wines globally. This was made possible by the Masseto brand, the most prestigious wine in our portfolio, produced from a single plot in Tuscany and one of the most expensive Italian wines in the world. Masseto is a brand entirely distinct from Frescobaldi on the label, the Frescobaldi name does not appear, yet the group is its owner and steward.
We were one of the very first Italian producers on La Place de Bordeaux, thanks to Masseto. It gave us access to international markets that our traditional importers could not reach: the finest Michelin-starred restaurants, the most discerning wine cellars, the clients who seek only iconic wines.
Among the 80 countries where Frescobaldi is distributed, the United States holds a special place. The U.S. accounts for approximately 15% of the group’s total revenue, making it the undisputed #1 export market. It is also in the U.S. that Frescobaldi made its only foreign production investment, acquiring a vineyard in Oregon.
In the U.S., if our volumes and revenue continue to grow, we might consider creating our own distribution structure. But that is a three-to-five-year outlook, not something for tomorrow.
What has been your biggest challenge internationally?
Finding the right importer in each market and knowing when to replace one that is no longer delivering. It is frequently the case that importers fail to meet expected results, and we must then navigate a transition.
Finding the right operator in the market is our only objective. Finding them, motivating them, and supporting them. We change importers very frequently, every five or six years, because they do not reach the level we want in their country.
Having a strong importer is not enough. You need your own on-the-ground representatives, brand managers, who work alongside importers to animate, train, and energize the local sales force, ensuring wines do not simply sit in a catalogue.
If you leave your wines with an importer and forget about them, you will get no results. The importer has many wines to sell. You need your own people in the field to energize, support, and train. It is non-negotiable.
How do you manage geopolitical risks in your international operations?
By the nature of our product, wine is produced three or four years before it reaches market, and through a distribution model delegated to local importers, Frescobaldi maintains relatively limited geopolitical exposure. Russia, for example, has never represented more than 3% of revenue. The impact of the war in Ukraine on the group’s results was therefore marginal, a maximum of 0.6% in lost sales. Geographic diversification across 80 countries provides a natural buffer.
There is not much we can do in the face of geopolitical risk. We hope to find the right partner in each region and grow the business with them as best we can. We produce wine three or four years before it hits shelves: you cannot change everything.
The introduction of 15% U.S. tariffs on Italian wine imports is a more concrete challenge. Our response has been pragmatic: splitting the burden equally between the producer and the importer, 7.5% each, while raising selling prices by more than 10% to absorb part of the cost. The result: a slight erosion in profitability, but no fundamental threat to the business model.
What model will be favoured in the future for international development?
Our model remains unchanged, it is the same everywhere in the world: an exclusive importer in each country, activated by deployed brand managers. The only exception under consideration is the U.S., where volume growth could justify, in a few years’ time, the creation of a proprietary distribution structure.
Perhaps in the U.S., if volumes grow sufficiently, we will try to move to a proprietary distribution model. But only two companies in our sector have done it.
What role does Altios play in your international strategy?
The partnership with Altios has been running for approximately ten years. It addresses a very specific need: deploying brand managers in the most important markets, primarily the U.S. and China, to work full-time alongside local importers. These are brand ambassadors who know the wines, the estates, the terroir, and can train and motivate importer sales teams. Without a trusted partner capable of recruiting and managing these profiles locally, we cannot build a permanent structure without owning costly subsidiaries. Altios fulfills precisely that function.
Altios helps us find the right people and manage our importers. We need our own people in the field to energize our importers around our wines. If you leave them on their own, you get no results. They have too many wines to sell.
The same role Altios has played over the past ten years is what we expect going forward: helping us find the right people and manage our importers. If it works, let’s keep going.
To succeed internationally in our business, you need people: people who know the wines well, who understand the markets, who can assess the competition and provide the right guidance to manage partners. If it works, stay the course.
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