Sparkling start to the year for Argea. After having strengthened its main export market, through the acquisition of the US importer WinesU, the main private Italian group in the wine sector has inaugurated a new production line entirely dedicated to the Martinotti Method at the Priocca plant (Cuneo). The investment, amounting to over 3.5 million euros, represents a strategic step to strengthen Priocca’s position as a center of technological and production excellence for the Group, with a key role in the valorization of premium labels.
“For Argea, Piedmont represents a strategic and essential territory, thanks to its history, its varieties and the quality of the wines produced”, comments Massimo Romani, CEO of Argea. “With this new investment, Priocca strengthens itself as a reference production center for the Group’s premium offering: a place where Argea wines come to life and reach enthusiasts all over the world. This project confirms Argea’s commitment to investing in innovation, excellence and valorization of the territories in which it operates”.
Since the birth of Argea, in 2022, to 2024, the Group has invested a total of approximately 10.5 million euros in the Piedmont plants, located in Priocca (Cuneo) and Acqui Terme (Alessandria), and plans to invest a further 2.5 million euros for 2025.
Argea inaugurates the new line dedicated to the Martinotti Method in Priocca
With the new line, the Argea plant in Priocca will continue to bottle still wines, but will specialize in the production of Metodo Martinotti sparkling wines, in particular for the flagship brands Acquesi and Mosketto.
The overall production capacity of the site will reach over 40 million liters estimated in 2025 and currently the Priocca site has a total of over 130 employees.
The works, which began on December 18, 2024 and concluded on February 3, 2025, saw the simultaneous presence of three construction sites to carry out significant interventions: the removal and relocation of the building’s roof, the installation of three latest-generation machines and a complete redistribution of the internal spaces to maximize operational efficiency and adapt to the highest industry standards.
The new line is part of Argea’s medium-long term industrial plan and aims to respond promptly to new consumer trends, thanks to a targeted Research & Development approach. At the same time, the operation allows for the optimization of production flows, improving synergies between the Group’s plants. Within the industrial plan, the Acqui Terme (Alessandria) site will instead become the center of excellence for the Classic Method.
“The project was born with the aim of optimizing the technological structure of the production sites in Piedmont, improving operational flows and consolidating the Group’s strategic volumes”, highlights Roger Calzavara, Head of Group Manufacturing Services at Argea. “In the initial phase, three fundamental steps were defined: the drafting of a technical specification to correctly size the new line layout, the design of a detailed Gantt to manage the complexity of the three construction sites distributed across two plants, and the execution of the planned activities. A decisive factor for the success of the project was the identification of team leaders and the timely management of the operational teams, with particular attention to safety, given the high quantity of operations to be carried out. Thanks to strong teamwork, we were able to implement important technological innovations, share the Group’s Best Practices and standardize working methods, always maintaining the objective of continuous improvement of our processes”.
