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GIOVANNI NEGRI
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Journalist,
politician, entrepreneur
A Torinese by birth (1957), Giovanni Negri left his native Piedmont at the age
of 18 to take up politics in Rome and Brussels.
As a politician, he has been secretary of the Radical Party, a member of the
Italian Chamber of Deputies and of the European Parliament, and one of the
figures in the Tortora case as well as in the referenda promoted by Massimo
Severo Giannini, founder of Osservatorio Laico (Secular Observatory).
Negri is a correspondent for the Italian newspaper L’Indipendente and
deputy editor of Il Tempo. He also writes for Il Foglio. His books
have been published by Mondadori and Ponte alle Grazie (“Il Paese del non-fare,”
“I Senzapatria”). He is an advisor to the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage
and Activities.
He has been in charge of Serradenari and its winemaking operations since 2002.
“I like writing, traveling, poring over history and pondering on the future,” he
says. “That’s why I love the world of wine at least as much as I do politics and
journalism: they are an open window on life.”
In 2006, Negri coauthored a book, “Il Romanzo del Vino” (Piemme publishers),
with Roberto Cipresso and Stefano Milioni. Robert Parker wrote the foreword.
“Wine and history, wine and Eros, wine and religion, wine and music… Wine is an
archetype of our civilization: fictionalizing it is like painting a genuine
fresco of mankind.”
Giovanni Negri spends most his time between Rome and the Langhe. He dreams of
“an Italy that enters the modern world.” “The world’s most beautiful country
deserves it,” he says.
“My goal is to build, with the help of my daughter Giulia, a winery that is both
solid and innovative—in other words, a winery that produces an excellent Barolo
and, at the same time, meets the challenge of producing a Pinot Noir capable of
competing with the wines of Burgundy. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour tried it
near Serradenari with the help of his wine expert, Oudart, at a southerly
vineyard located at an altitude of 300 meters (984 feet) above sea level. With
due respect to the count, or better yet, with his permission, we will try it
again—this time in a northerly vineyard located at 500 meters (1640 feet) above
sea level.” |
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