Do what you love Label Design by Bureau F

Culture

Serafina Quota

A couple of months ago we met Yvonne, a larger-than-life personality, creative, inspirational and so much fun! After a legendary evening in one of Yvonne's rental properties, we heard the stories of all the adventures and challenges of setting up the cultural association “Quota”.

Let me first introduce Yvonne Amann, she is the mastermind behind the cultural association. She loves country life and creative people. She also firmly believes that good design – right after good music – can save the world. Here is her story, in her own words:

"After numerous attempts, a lot of trial and error, many exhausted exchanges, and even more wine, our cultural association was born!

It’s been almost 30 years since the association first caused a stir between the vineyards of the Langhe and the wild landscapes of the Alta Langhe. We were welcomed by the distinctive inhabitants of this very special part of Italy; at first, viewed with suspicion, but quickly embraced with open arms.

We made friends mostly through renovating the old estates, on numerous evenings in various bars, or by enjoying extensive feasts in local restaurants. On rare occasions, whilst enjoying these nocturnal adventures, we were also introduced to the wild boars!

As a guest in one of Yvonne's houses, you are automatically a member of the association and thus contribute to the success of the project. We bring new life to abandoned estates and maintain forests that grow on steep slopes around our land. The wood for your evenings by the campfire and the cozy hours in front of the stove all come from our own cultivation.

Creative people change the world

We believe that creative people can change the world for the better, people who have a real interest in what surrounds them, and the remainder of our financial resources are used exclusively for cultural purposes. The doors of our workshop are open to anyone who is looking for cultural exchange or the chance to unleash their creativity.

As a member of the association, you have access to our estates and the adjacent land so you can enjoy beautiful hikes and even help yourself to a few grapes in the vineyards. You will also be free to put your creativity to good use in our cultural workshop, where in addition to participating in workshops, you can exclusively taste and purchase our wines and even work in the vineyard.

Wine

As wine producers, we would be economically doomed if our ventures were to be held to conventional harvesting practices. The vineyards are steep, for example, so everything has to be done by hand. In addition, the vineyards are surrounded by forest which doesn’t make things any easier. There is a reason these environments are called “Vigni di eroi” - the vineyards of the heroes. The harvest is always uncertain (although there’s no uncertainty about the passion that goes into each and every glass).

Part of the harvest is bottled in magnum bottles and just like the contents of the bottles, the packaging is also of particular importance. Every year, we invite new designers who live in our homes for a period of time as Artists in Residence. They are inspired by the area and ultimately record their experiences through their label designs.

Our guests, or rather our club members, bring life to aging walls and fresh momentum to sleepy villages. They surprise us and inspire the locals with their open-minded approach and appreciation of the uniqueness of the environment we are in. To celebrate them and hear their experiences firsthand, we launched Serafina Quota, a collaborative and unique travel guide. Here, our guests share their local discoveries, from mind-blowing gastronomy to honest agriculture, authentic craft businesses, and exciting wineries.

Anyone who contributes to Serafina Quota gets their membership automatically extended by one year as a thank you".

Cultural Workshop

In the wonderfully authentic Borgata Casale, a small hamlet between Dogliani and Belvedere Langhe stands a stately country house that has called for new content for many years. The Cultural workshops and studios are now housed here.
Storage rooms for finds or materials discovered during the houses’ renovation are located in the old walls. A printing crucible now stands in place of Piedmontese cows in the renovated stable. A darkroom fits perfectly into the analog rooms, and then there is the cozy kitchen with a wood-burning stove.
At Serafina Quota they are more than happy to share the rooms and workshops with like-minded people. With creative people who want to take a break from everyday life to live and work in unfamiliar surroundings for a while. In the cultural workshop, people should come together to work, exhibit, network, and – last but not least – enjoy.

„Do What You Love“

The forests, meadows, and vineyards around our Bocciarda are steep and difficult to manage. Such projects are financially uninteresting, but the effort is still worth it.

Pinot Nero, Barbera, and Riesling are grown in our small vineyards. It is a project close to our hearts that offers exciting opportunities for our creative winemaker friends Gianfranco Alessandria and Mauro Veglio. They support our cultural association with their know-how, their experience, and their workforce. We want people to come together, network, and work together. Therefore we would like to invite graphic designers to take care of the packaging of our wines. Every year we look forward to creative people who want to design labels for our wines with joy and passion. In return, we offer a unique network and extraordinary accommodations in Langhe.

The environment shapes the result and the contact with the people who live and work here. We cooperate every year with like-minded restaurateurs and creatives who share our vision and enthusiasm for unconventional projects for the presentation of newly designed wines.

Spreading the joy

After visiting Serafina Quota we were inspired, and we felt creative… but we had to figure out how to channel this creativity. Listing the magical houses of Serafina on the Plinius website was not doing it justice. We had to do more to really get across what a truly magical and inspirational place this is. We have therefore decided to dedicate a weekly post & online article to all the different initiatives there have been in order to inspire others. Stay tuned!

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Related Travel Guide: Serafina Guide