Dr Francesco Bellini, who lives in Montreal, co-founded BioChem Pharma, the company that discovered the antiviral AIDS drug, Epivir. After selling out to Glaxo, he was able to establish his own winery, Domodimonti, south of Ancona in his native province of Marche in central Italy. Geoffrey Dean visited him there.
Francesco Bellini
Was it always your ambition to produce wines?
For sure, it was always a dream to make your own how you want it. We have produced wine in our family for ages – my father, grand-father and great grand-father did. It was wine for themselves. Then when I got married – I had left Italy for Canada by then - I started to make my own wine, although we had to buy in the grapes. Eventually, I got lucky in life, and I said ‘why not make my own wine for me and friends on a larger scale?’ I started to look around, and this opportunity came around. It was an old derelict winery, maybe 40km from where I grew up. Originally, I only wanted a small setup, but from small it became medium, and now it’s becoming large.
Have you always thought Marche’s reputation for producing quality fruit was under-rated?
I always knew it. My best friends from Tuscany, who educated me in the wine business, told me that lots of grapes and juice for wine made in Tuscany and other places come from here. Marche grapes are real good grapes – they are mature, and full of flavour and sugar. The vineyard site here is immaculate – like nature made it. We are at over 500m and have cooler nights.
Domodimonti
What are your plans for Domodimonti?
If I start something, I back it up to be successful, and that’s what I’m doing. We‘ve showed we can make good wine, I’ve showed that I can hire good people and that we can sell the product. The business plan calls for us to break even next year and make a small profit the year after. Then to come into real profit. We should sell about 150,000 bottles next year and then gradually go up to 600,000. We have planted more vines but they are not ready yet. Montepulciano is the centrepiece in this region – it is a great grape and makes fantastic wine. Pecorino and passerine are very interesting whites, and we use as little sulphur and chemicals as we can. We currently use organic fertilizer but eventually it will be just manure.
How much is your total investment in the winery?
I think it’s about 20 million Euros. I had to do something in my life. I don’t spend it with the women and I don’t spend it playing cards. The capital is still here in the winery. The funny thing is that you may lose money on it, but if someone comes along and likes it, you may make a profit if you sell. But I’m not planning to sell – I’m hoping I can acquire another 20 hectares in the next few years to plant.
Is wine your main passion?
Actually, my big passion is my work. I love what I do in the health field. Playing with life and death is a feeling that not many people have felt. We were the people who invented the cure for AIDS. We’ve saved a lot of lives.Magic Johnson was dying until he got our product. But wine is my next biggest passion. Then hunting and fishing.
How did you come to discover epivir?
We were lucky, lucky, lucky. Usually, the virus mutates when it’s attacked and can’t be recognised any more. What was interesting about the mutation in our research was that the viral load never went back to base-line or zero. We concluded that the virus eventually had to mutate to a new form which was not as powerful as the first form. We discovered that about ’88-89 and the drug went to market around ’94.
How often do you get back to Italy?
I was 20 when I left for Canada, and I used to come back very little. Now I have my own plane, I come back more often – almost every month last year. But although it’s going to be a difficult time for a lot of wineries, we are lucky here that we have the financial resources. I also have a brilliant young winemaker in Mirko Morbidoni, and one of the best consultants in Carlo Ferrini, who comes here once a month. Robert Parker said something was missing from my wines, and gave me three names. Out of these, I picked up Ferrini.
Your wines are selling well in North America, but how about the UK?
The UK is a market which is very important for us. For us to penetrate the British - and especially London - market is prestige. It would help us to do well in other markets. All three of our wines we submitted got recognised at the Decanter Awards, so next year, we’ll put in more. It was a big achievement for a young winery, as 2005 was our first vintage.
GEOFFREY DEAN ON THE HARVEST IN MARCHE IN 2011
Published: 21 October, 2011
A blisteringly hot August in central Italy has led to a fall in grape production of 10-15% in the region according to one of the leading winemakers in the Marche. Mirko Morbidoni, the man behind the Domodimonti wines that are catching the eye of wine judges in the UK, said that some of the hottest temperatures he can remember obliged him to start harvesting in early September.
"Last year we did not finish harvesting the montepulciano until November 5, but we did by early October this year," Morbidoni told Harpers. "In August, we had 40-degree days for two to three weeks when it does not normally go above 30 or 35C. It was exceptionally hot...and the same in Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio with production down for almost everybody."
By picking early, Morbidoni was able to ensure that sugar, and consequently alcohol, levels were not too high. "We have 13.5 to 14% alcohol, less than the previous very hot year, 2007, when it was 14.5 to 15," he continued. "In general, we have better quality grapes - the concentration can be very great, especially in our petit verdot and our two white grapes, passerina and pecorino."
It was not all good news for Domodimonti, whose 45 hectares under vine lie in the picturesque hills south of Ancona on the Adriatic coast. Some vineyards were hit by, of all things, hail in August, leading to a 40% loss of fruit in the affected areas. Consequently, the winery, which is owned by Dr Francesco Bellini, the scientist who played a leading role in the discovery of the anti-AIDS drug retrovirol, will see its annual production reduced from 150,000 to around 125,000 bottles.
Morbidoni, 32, is forging a reputation as one of Italy's most talented young winemakers. "I am a perfectionist," he admits. "I can't say if my wines are better - different yes. Our motto at Domodimonti is 'amore per la nostra terra' or 'love for our land.' We have a way of producing wine in a traditional way."
That includes no added tannins nor acid in the wines; no reverse osmosis to reduce alcohol; mechanical rather than chemical filtration; no use of additives for stabilization or colouring; and around half the permitted levels of sulphur. As Dr Bellini likes to tell you, "Drink as much of my wines as you like in the evening, and you will not wake up with a hangover."