Luca Fontana, Brand Ambassador Cantina MESA

Luca Fontana

In this interview, Luca Fontana, Brand Ambassador of Cantina MESA, shares his love for the wine of Sardinia.

What do you do?

Well, my friends tell me that I’m paid to drink and eat. However, more precisely, I promote the wines of MESA winery to the people: customers, sommeliers, restaurant staff, owners, and potential buyers. It’s a peculiar job. There’s a commercial side, but the real core is to explain our philosophy, history, and the uniqueness of our terroir and production. In a nutshell, I try to give a client or a wine lover a profound reason to choose MESA’s wines.

How did you get into the industry?

I was a copywriter and a ghostwriter. My engagement in MESA winery started when my uncle Gavino –the founder of the winery- called me to write the back labels text. After a couple of years, he had to make some changes in the company, and I left my job in Milan to move to Sardinia and take responsibility for the family business. And I began to travel all over the world to promote our wines. In 2017, MESA became part of Santa Margherita Group, but my role has not changed.

Share a story from behind the scenes.

I’ll share about a small event that was both funny and pleasant. At the beginning of my experience in MESA, before the merger with Santa Margherita Group, I was in a restaurant for lunch. The waiter – who recognised me – was recommending our Carignano del Sulcis DOC Buio to a client. Despite the description of the wine and the winery, the customer did not seem to recognise the wine nor the grape variety until the waiter brought to the table a bottle of our Carignano Buio. Only when he saw the label on the bottle, he recognised it and exclaimed: “Ah, it’s Buio!”. This made me smile: he knew nothing of Carignano, he did not know Cantina MESA, but the wine was already known and appreciated. Even today, Buio is Cantina MESA’s most iconic wine.

What food memory from your childhood or travels stands out?

Once a Michelin-starred chef told me, “Mommy’s cooking is and will always be the best cooking for every one of us.” We were talking about the best meatball in the world, and we agreed that mama’s meatballs are unrivalled! This is the food memory of my childhood… together with homemade tagliatella. 

My mother is a housewife, and when I was a child, I spent many days cooking at her side. I simply loved it. I can’t forget the pleasure of preparing homemade pasta. Start by mixing eggs and flour and then rolling the pasta dough. And, the icing on the cake, the tagliatella! (Not spaghetti, please! That’s a terrible mistake). With the bolognese sauce simmering slowly, it was an astonishing carnival of smells in the kitchen! 

Regarding my travel, I can’t say there’s something standing out ’cause I know that each country and each kitchen has their own peculiar and gorgeous dishes. Therefore, I can’t list the most impressive (for my palate) dishes I’ve tasted in each country I visited. I remember a really peculiar tasting in Australia: it was an ant. This ant, I don’t remember the exact name, is really high in Vitamin C, and it has a very citrusy taste. Australian Indigenous people used it as a traditional cough and cold remedy. I can’t say it has been the best food tasting of my life but it certainly was interesting.

What’s the best/ worst part of your job?

The best part is to travel and meet people involved in the food and wine business, enlarge my knowledge about these topics, and discover new tastes and old traditions. I’m fascinated by the history of a specific wine or recipe. For example, I found it simply unbelievable to find in a country over 10 000 miles away one of the most known recipes of my homeland. The Babi Guling in Indonesia is comparable to the Sardinian porchetto! We use myrtle, thyme and rosemary. They use coconut water, ginger and garlic. However, we both look for a succulent suckling pig with crispy skin and juicy meat. It is not a recipe brought over by immigrants. Each of these two distant and different islands and cultures had its own roots.

The worst part is facing the prejudices, preconceived ideas, and gospel! I don’t like those who say, “this is the best wine,” for example. It might be your favourite, on that, I can agree.

One of Luca Fontana‘s favourite food and beverage pairings?

I hope not to fall short of expectations, but my favourite pairing is pizza and beer! Pizza drives me simply crazy. One of my favourite pairings is a real Neapolitan pizza (the original one is absolutely unequalled) with a crispy and cold lager or pilsner beer.

The perfect day off would be…

A day of total relaxation with a good book in one hand and a glass of Champagne in the other. Possibly by the pool during the break between the morning game drive and the afternoon one. Me and my wife, Mariagrazia, love safaris. 

A day in the life of Luca Fontana is…

When I’m not stuck with paperwork, I visit clients (usually with a sales agent). Sometimes I’ve to plan master classes, wine and dine at restaurants, taste in wine shops, and welcome guests who visit the winery. I basically take every possible step to make Cantina MESA and our wines better known.

What does Luca Fontana do for fun?

Reading is my true passion. When I can, I travel with my wife Mariagrazia. I also really enjoy strolling with our two dogs and watching them play on the beach or in the bush. 

What’s something you’d like guests to know about MESA?

I’d like people to understand the hard work and the efforts hiding behind each bottle of our wine. The meticulous care we put into the management of the vineyards and the passion we invest in winemaking. I must admit that I’ve been lucky: when my family sold the majority of the shares to Santa Margherita Group, they embraced our philosophy and supported us in improving it.

How has the pandemic changed your perspective or the way you operate?

It hasn’t been easy to endure it. We’re mainly focused on the trade market. The biggest part of our business has been affected. We looked for new ways. We sorted out new strategies and markets. I hope a situation like this won’t repeat, but still, it hasn’t been completely negative and unuseful. We learnt something and tried to make the best of it. You know, you always have to see the glass half full. As my job is based on human relationships, it has been really difficult. Thanks to technology, I was able to meet Monica Tindall online, have a meeting with my sales force in Rome or Berlin, and make online tastings with wine lovers. Still, sitting face to face while tasting and talking about wine or making a “Cheers!” clinking the glasses is a different story.

What’s something you’d like people to know about being a brand ambassador as a profession?

You need to have a lot of qualities. You have to be curious, humble, passionate, patient and honest. It’s a nice job ’cause usually, people involved in the wine and food business are very pleasant but don’t let yourself be fooled by the idea that this job is just travel, meeting people, eating and drinking. I’m not just the ambassador of MESA winery. I have the task of being the ambassador of my terroir, my island. I feel the responsibility to illustrate and train people about our millenarian history and centenarian culture of winemaking. You can’t just talk about wine aromas or full-body, skin-maceration or vineyards training system. It’s more, it’s something deeper. 

What’s your view on the MESA scene in Sardinia?

Our homeland is our first market, and we will keep taking care of it as we’ve done since the first day. Sardinia is a key for us. A lot of people come to visit the island to enjoy their holidays from spring till the end of Summer, and our presence in the right place is strategic. At the present time, we’re improving our hospitality system, and as soon as possible, we’d like to open the door of the winery to local people as well as tourists.  

What practices do you currently implement or hope to implement in the future to work towards social responsibility and sustainability?

Sowing of plant seeds in autumn for cover-cropping in spring, weed removal done by machine only, fertilisation using only organic material, utilisation of sexual confusion technology, use of antagonist insects to balance the presence of species representing potential damage, almost exclusive use of copper, sulphur and organic substances for treatments against fungal attacks and other harmful insects. For a long time, MESA winery has had an organic approach to vineyard management. We strongly believe in the benefits due to green practices. For the vines, for the wines, for our workers, for the consumers, for the earth. We have built a water purifier that allows us to transform the processing water into irrigation water. Thanks to this system, we can now save and reuse about 3,000 m³ of water per year: quite a big deal in a very dry area like ours. Last step; a few years ago, we also started to use kaolin to contrast the negative effects coming from global warming. We won’t ever stop to work for better sustainability.

What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?

First, we’ll close the best summer season in Sardinia. Then, I have to carry out already-planned business trips in Europe. Last but not least, I’d like to enjoy my holidays in Africa before Christmas. These are my goals before 2023 arrives.

Read more interviews such as this one with Luca Fontana here, and stay up to date with the latest food and beverage happenings in KL here.