Federico Zanella is only 33 years old, but he is already at the helm of one of the most strategic realities for Italian wine exports to the United States. CEO and president of Vias Imports since 2021, he analyzed the present and future of Italian wine overseas to the microphones of ilNewyorkese.
Vias is the leading exporter of Italian wines to the United States, with a history that began in 1983 thanks to the intuition of his uncle, Fabrizio Pedrolli. “Vias was born from the idea of bringing Italian wine to America,” Zanella explained, “and it is a 40-year history made of passion and love for wine and the producers behind the labels.
Zanella and the company’s approach is clear: select and promote small and medium-sized Italian companies that produce quality wine, focusing not only on the product but on the story that each bottle can offer. “If we want to start right from the origin of the product, wine is very much linked to what is the history and tradition of the populations. Going to the present day, in perhaps more blunt terms, selling a wine that tells the story of a producer, of a family, of a territory, is what then manages to differentiate you from the masses.”
With a focus on transparency: “Transparency is about honesty of telling, being able to tell the story behind the label. In such a fast-paced world, consumers tend to overlook what a wine manages to represent. As a result, being able to value the hard work of the producers and the passion they put into it is crucial. There, the transparency is right there.”
Zanella recognizes that consumers, particularly younger consumers, are increasingly attracted to the narrative attached to the products they buy. This is also true in the United States, where the market is divided between large retailers and a still robust network of small independent liquor stores. “The American market is still largely in the hands of independents, and that is where Italian wine from SMEs can still have its say.” Despite competition from spirits, beers, and seltzers, Vias’s CEO says he is confident: “I think it’s a cycle, and that it will be back to doing well in the short term.”
A crucial node for the future, however, is political and trade instability as a result of the tariff issue. Zanella is blunt: “In this scenario making plans, making budgets, making forecasts is practically impossible. The greatest damage so far has been done by uncertainty. It is not the duties themselves: those, good or bad, having a number, one can decide how to deal with them, how to deal with them. But uncertainty also creates shadows in the eyes of the consumer, who then tends to consume and spend less.”
Amid announcements and denials, the wine industry looks with apprehension at the governments’ next moves. “If we are billing less, Italian wineries are billing less. We are all in the same boat. It is to be hoped that a pact will be reached as soon as possible and that it will be fair for everyone.”
In his account, Zanella also reveals his own personal journey from management engineer to manager of a family business with deep roots but international vision. “It makes me very proud to carry on the story that my uncle started. We work together very well with my cousin, and I am happy with where I am.” For him, wine is first and foremost a human environment, made up of stories, relationships and identity. And Italy still has much to offer in the world, as long as we know how to tell our story better: “We have to go from being remembered as those of the dolce vita to actually being a synonym for excellence worldwide, which we are moreover. The question is just how to communicate it.”
The article Wine as storytelling: Federico Zanella, the man who brings bottled Italy to the United States comes from TheNewyorker.
