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A successful first year of sponsorship leads to Fantini Group’s decision to extend the partnership
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Fantini Group’s president Valentino Scotti: “We are breaking barriers with ISN”
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Andre Greipel: “Hope to celebrate many times with Vini Fantini next season”
Vini Fantini and Israel Start-Up Nation are pleased to announce they will continue and expand their partnership for another year. The ‘best Italian wine producer’ and the ‘fast-developing WorldTour team’ are like wine and cheese: they fit perfectly together.
Vini Fantini (now Fantini Group) President Valentino Sciotti: “Having our winery’s name on the back of the bib-shorts and on the jersey is an amazing thing to see in photos, videos and live broadcasting. It creates so much worldwide visibility for our brand, with a team that is hitting the ground running. It creates the awareness that we, as a global winery, want to have.”
Especially the German sprinter Andre Greipel is happy with having Fantini Group onboard. “I am a fan of Fantini Group. I sometimes enjoy their great wines and I recommend them to friends. We certainly hope to celebrate many happy occasions with Fantini Group next season.”
Team-owner Sylvan Adams also expressed his happiness by saying ‘l’chaim’. “It is fantastic to have Vini Fantini extending with us.”
Sciotti saw Dowsett win from the ISN bus
It would have been immediately apparent to anyone who met Sciotti at a race this season that ISN X Vini Fantini is a passion-driven partnership. 
Valentino was, for example, right at the scene during the Giro d’Italia when Israel Start-Up Nation won its first race in the WorldTour. Sciotti was on the bus watching with ISN’s staff members when the exciting finale – starring Alex Dowsett – started.
“I remember Dowsett and Matthias Brändle coming back to the front group, after being dropped on a short, steep climb,” Sciotti says. “And then they started attacking their competitors straight away. The atmosphere in the ISN bus was electric. Everyone was together supporting their riders.”
Goosebumps
The man behind the company, which has been awarded the title of ‘Best Italian Winery of 2020’, continues: “When Dowsett got a gap, I sensed nervousness (will he make it over the last climb of the day?) and excitement (we can get our first WorldTour victory!). Everyone was standing around the soigneur with the phone, watching the race quietly.”
When Dowsett entered the final straight with a significant advantage, Sciotti and the others checked themselves to see if they were dreaming this historic moment. “Then there was an explosion of emotion – we started hugging each other and jumping around from excitement.”
“This was a great display of what Israel Start-Up Nation is all about,” Sciotti says. “They never gave up, worked so well together and got a huge result in my national race. It was so inspiring – I had goosebumps.”
‘The Giro? It’s the most important time of the year!’
The goosebumps also had to do with the way he fell in love with cycling. “My mother always watched all the stages of the Giro d’Italia. When I started to work, I spent the first money I earned on my first, second-hand racing bike. From there my love for the sport, and the Giro d’Italia in particular, developed.
Sciotti: “My experience in cycling has taught me that this sport is an excellent way to promote our products and brands all over the world. My dream is to see more globalized cycling, especially outside European countries. Israel Cycling Academy caught my attention over the last few years for just this reason.”
‘ISN is, like Vini Fantini, all over the world’
“I have always seen Israel as the most multiethnic and multicultural team of this sector. Israel Start-Up Nation has the ability to expand the interest in this wonderful sport in Israel. The project is so good that it was natural for me to continue my adventure with people that I now respect and appreciate more than ever.”
The Fantini Group has also begun selling their high-quality wines in Israel. “We have seen that our wines are getting more and more popular in Israel, since we started doing business there. We believe that supporting ISN is appreciated by the fans in Israel.”
Kjell Carlström, ISN’s technical director, is – just like Sylvan Adams – very happy with Sciotti’s decision to continue. “Vini Fantini’s decision to continue our mutual journey is a clear indication of a team with fans and riders from all over the world can promote an international brand like Fantini Group.”
According to Sciotti, ISN is all about breaking barriers. “I truly believe in this fantastic project. ISN is on the verge of becoming one of the best teams in professional cycling. They promote the true meaning of sports, while being open to all and bringing together so many different nationalities. It suits our brand’s image perfectly. We export our wines to over 85 countries around the planet, including Israel, and therefore ISN is simply the perfect choice.”
About Vini Fantini:
Vini Fantini is the key brand of Fantini Group, the biggest boutique winery of Italy, born in Abruzzo in 1994. In only a few years, it became the leading company in Southern Italy with wineries in 6 regions of Italy (Abruzzo, Puglia, Basilicata, Sicilia, Toscana and Campania). The Group today produces 24 million bottles, 96% of which are exported to 87 countries, including Israel and with a turnover of over 74 million euros.
The meticulous attention to detail, the targeted marketing strategies for each individual product, and oenological proposals appreciated in over 87 countries around the world confirm the desire of Fantini Group to be true protagonists of the rebirth of wine in Southern Italy. This tireless search for perfection has allowed Fantini Group to win numerous national and international awards. The Group was named “Best Italian Producer” in 2020 by Mundus and also in 2016, 2017 and 2019 by one of the most important guides in the sector the “Yearbook of the Best Italian Wines” by Luca Maroni; elected “Producer of the Year 2017” by the Belgian journalist Alain Bloeykens; Moreover, the wine Edizione Cinque Autoctoni – the company’s flag – has been judged “best wine of the year” for 14 times; over 90 gold medals and international trophies have embellished, in recent years, the company’s showcase, including “Wine Spectator Top100”.
