2020 is coming to an end, a year that saw us working in a context never experienced before. The positive sign, however, comes to us precisely from the commitment in our vineyards and olive groves to which we have strongly dedicated ourselves during the months of lockdown, allowing us to plan 2021 with renewed enthusiasm.
First, I would like to thank all of those who have been at our side concretely, by purchasing our products, throughout the year: importers, distributors, private customers (you know who you are!).
The agronomic activity has always been carried out on a regular basis including the planting of 1 hectare of new vineyard. The vintage was exceptionally easy from the point of view of diseases both in the vineyards and in the olive groves, however it was characterized by a strong and prolonged drought. In the vineyard, this adversity caused a substantial loss of production, while the autumn rains allowed for an extraordinary year for the olive grove both in terms of quantity and quality.
Despite the inevitable difficulties, we welcomed the epochal changes and accelerations due to Covid to reposition the company digitally and to improve the relationship with consumers and the services dedicated to them. The main novelty of this project was the opening of the Online Shop, through which it is possible to purchase a selection of products and experiences, also thanks to its integration with delivery platforms.
But 2020 was for us the year of the launch of all the wine and olive oil tourism activities, a project that we presented on June the 6th, with the occasion of the first Maliosa Day, in which we welcomed visitors in the vineyards and in the olive groves and we talked about the new activities: Picnics, StarsBOX experiences, organic EVO oil and natural wine tastings, trails for trekking lovers, e-bike tours and yoga lessons.
A common thread unites all our experiences: the desire to create together moments of well-being in the open air. Nature, therefore, but also technology with the creation of a booking portal on our website, through which it is possible to find all our experiences and book them directly.
In recent months we continued the usual collaborations with trade associations and in particular with “Donne del Vino”, and with “Movimento Turismo del Vino Toscana”, which have seen us enthusiastically participate in all their proposals.
We supported the relationship with customers and the press by participating in various Webinars and Facebook Lives both in Italy and abroad, in particular with the USA.
In 2020 we have also achieved many awards and prizes related to the 2019 harvest of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, in the main national and international competitions.
In October, our packaging was in the news, winning the Touchpoint Identity Award (Green category). We have rethought the labels of our wine “Saturnalia Rosso”, which now tells, directly on the bottle, the points in which the, “Metodo Corino” is articulated. Our new label won the prize, precisely for the ability to express in a synthetic and clear way all the elements that lead to the creation of La Maliosa natural wines.
On the research front, I collaborated with Lorenzo Corino on the definition of the PCR (Product category rules) for wine together with Indaco2, a spin off of the University of Siena. The result of this work was the definition of international guidelines that indicate how to carry out a sustainability analysis on wine, during all stages of production, in order to access to the EPD environmental certification.
At the end of the year, an unexpected and beautiful surprise was the chapter dedicated to me and to La Maliosa in the book “Del bicchiere mezzo pieno” (the Glass half full) by Paolo Massobrio, portraits of special people in whose “glance you can perceive a difference”.
We face 2021 re-starting from the values that have always distinguished us: transparency, tenacity and respect for the environment and the people who, by working with dedication and responsibility at La Maliosa, contribute significantly to results over time.
From all of us, many wishes for a peaceful 2021.
