Novellino: A toast to Filipino wines

Varietals of wine and their corresponding descriptions can run the gamut of the entire alphabet — from "austere", "barnyard" and "cigar box", to peppery and spicy Zinfandels. Not surprisingly, making real sense of wine could involve confusing, complicated, and time-consuming study.  Certainly, there are the pitfalls. Starting off with a wine one does not like, for example, can cause one to abandon the Bacchanalian adventure altogether.  But on the flipside, finding a drink that one truly enjoys will do much to encourage exploration of what writer Ernest Hemingway calls “one of the most civilized things in the world.” For Filipinos who tend to favor sweetness when it comes to flavor, however, Bel Mondo Italia Corporation’s Novellino wines might provide a good start as they embark on what could be called a "spirited" adventure.

“For beginners, sweet wines are easy to like,” says Vicente “Nonoy” Quimbo, president and founder of Bel Mondo Italia Corporation.  “Novellino wines are light and refreshing — suited for tropical climes such as ours, and best enjoyed when chilled.”

That Quimbo’s assessment of the Filipino’s taste preference is on point is supported by Novellino’s inclusion in the Superbrands of 2006. The Novellino brand continues to be a top-seller that enjoys brisk sales — even outselling foreign-made wines of the same class. The sweet, sparkling and effervescent wines that contain 4.8 to 7.5 percent alcohol are now also exported to California, Vietnam and Dubai.  Currently, Novellino comes in 14 sweet or dry variants and consumption of the product has increased significantly.

The success of the Novellino brand is a testament to Quimbo’s determination to succeed. He recalls that there were many doubters when he first embarked on his winemaking business. Unfazed by the skeptics, however, he engaged the expertise of Italian wine connoisseur and oenologist Franco Nosenzo, who came from a wine-making family in the Piedmont region. Starting with large quantities of imported grape juice, Novellino wines are partially fermented to produce wines that are effervescent, fruity and sweet.

“The issue of pricing had to be carefully considered so that our wines would be accessible to a wider market,” adds Quimbo. “Moreover, to build brand awareness we conduct massive sampling in our outlets (including supermarkets) and spend more on advertising than all of the other wine brands combined.”  That Novellino is now a household name is proof that the strategy was successful.

To keep up with market demand, however, Bel Mondo Italia Corporation needed to increase production. And thus, it recently launched its new state-of-the-art winery at Camelray Industrial Estates, Canlubang. The 1.3-hectare facility houses the wine production, research and development and storage facilities.

The inauguration was attended by corporate partners and guest of honor Senator Manny Villar.  “By building this plant, we look toward the future. Our capacity has tripled and we can be more aggressive in international markets. The vision is not just to be the market leader in the Philippines, but also be the leader worldwide,” says Villar.

“When we started the business, people thought we were crazy,” recalls Quimbo laughingly. “And now that we’ve built this plant, some people still think we are crazy.”

But with the unprecedented success of the Bel Mondo Italia, the reality is that a significant and lucrative segment of the market is crazy, too. That is: crazy about Novellino wines.